Warren Buffet said that patience was the key to making money with stocks. It is emotion and impatience that is the downfall. I learned the hard way some of these lessons:
1. Don't invest more than you can afford to lose. The market is a gamble, no matter what anyone says. There are no sure bets whatsoever.
2. You don't lose money until you sell. On the "other" board, the bashers always try to play the emotion game by telling everyone how much money they've lost. You haven't lost anything unless you choose to do so. The only exception is if the company goes belly up, bankrupts and moves out of bankruptcy to new issuance of shares or is a scam with no chance of ever coming back. There was a time that Apple was selling in the 100's and then a few months later, even after a stock split, was selling in the teens. I'm sure people were crying all over the place that they lost so much money. Hang on to the stock and ten years later, after two more stock splits, it's selling in the 700's. Patience!
3. Do your own research, rely on no one else. If folks are scanning the message boards to see what the next stock to invest in, they're already lost. People lie, dissemble, mislead and bash. The next day, the same people have done a complete 180. Make up your own mind based on your own knowledge and trust.
4. Wait it out. SNDY is a pinkie. Yes, the company saw some bad times and, yes, there were reverse splits, there was and is dilution, etc. That's not the end of the chapter. There's a lot more. The company has a plan, is carrying through with it, has good products that are real, and is working with solid companies like Emergo. Solid footings.
5. Don't be greedy. Not everyone hits the stock that goes 1,000% in just a day, year or even a decade. Keep things in perspective. If you double your money, you've done very well. Tripled it? Kudos to you.
6. Long term capital gains taxes are significantly cheaper than short term. Keep a record of your buys, when and how much. A spiral notebook you buy at the dollar store and a bic pen can save you a lot of money.
7. But it and forget it. Day to day fluctuations can wear on your nerves. Add to that the message board bashers who scream that the world is ending just because the stock went down from .004 to .0035. That's only 5/1,000 of a penny! World over? No.
8. Slow and steady is better than fast and wobbly. I would rather see the stock raise a little every week over a year's time to go from .0008 to .008 than overnight. It keeps the flippers away (they're always impatient) and it speaks to a solid investment.
9. Never bank on the next PR to be the PR. It won't be. It'll help, but it won't be the golden goose.
10. Take deep breaths and walk away from the computer. Go take a walk, watch a movie, take a power nap, eat a cookie and pet the dog. Obsessive watching of the stock never helps the stock and won't help you.
11. Don't try to buy at the very bottom and never try to guess what the very top will be. You'll rarely, if ever, get it right. If the stock price is going down and you see it at 4 cents and you like that price, then buy it. So it goes down to 1 cent and you kick yourself…if you don't sell, you haven't lost anything. It then goes up and you sell it at 12 cents (tripled your money) and then you see it hit 20 cents. You stay up all night wishing you would have sold at 20 cents. Guess what! You may not have been able to sell there, there may not have been a lot of buyers there. The ones who bought your shares didn't triple their dollars, like you did.
Always work out your entrance and exit strategies ahead of time and stick to them, with happiness. Yes, you could have made some more money, but you might have also lost a lot more as well.
Lastly, good luck. Things are good for us and, as Mike says, we need to wait.
1. Don't invest more than you can afford to lose. The market is a gamble, no matter what anyone says. There are no sure bets whatsoever.
2. You don't lose money until you sell. On the "other" board, the bashers always try to play the emotion game by telling everyone how much money they've lost. You haven't lost anything unless you choose to do so. The only exception is if the company goes belly up, bankrupts and moves out of bankruptcy to new issuance of shares or is a scam with no chance of ever coming back. There was a time that Apple was selling in the 100's and then a few months later, even after a stock split, was selling in the teens. I'm sure people were crying all over the place that they lost so much money. Hang on to the stock and ten years later, after two more stock splits, it's selling in the 700's. Patience!
3. Do your own research, rely on no one else. If folks are scanning the message boards to see what the next stock to invest in, they're already lost. People lie, dissemble, mislead and bash. The next day, the same people have done a complete 180. Make up your own mind based on your own knowledge and trust.
4. Wait it out. SNDY is a pinkie. Yes, the company saw some bad times and, yes, there were reverse splits, there was and is dilution, etc. That's not the end of the chapter. There's a lot more. The company has a plan, is carrying through with it, has good products that are real, and is working with solid companies like Emergo. Solid footings.
5. Don't be greedy. Not everyone hits the stock that goes 1,000% in just a day, year or even a decade. Keep things in perspective. If you double your money, you've done very well. Tripled it? Kudos to you.
6. Long term capital gains taxes are significantly cheaper than short term. Keep a record of your buys, when and how much. A spiral notebook you buy at the dollar store and a bic pen can save you a lot of money.
7. But it and forget it. Day to day fluctuations can wear on your nerves. Add to that the message board bashers who scream that the world is ending just because the stock went down from .004 to .0035. That's only 5/1,000 of a penny! World over? No.
8. Slow and steady is better than fast and wobbly. I would rather see the stock raise a little every week over a year's time to go from .0008 to .008 than overnight. It keeps the flippers away (they're always impatient) and it speaks to a solid investment.
9. Never bank on the next PR to be the PR. It won't be. It'll help, but it won't be the golden goose.
10. Take deep breaths and walk away from the computer. Go take a walk, watch a movie, take a power nap, eat a cookie and pet the dog. Obsessive watching of the stock never helps the stock and won't help you.
11. Don't try to buy at the very bottom and never try to guess what the very top will be. You'll rarely, if ever, get it right. If the stock price is going down and you see it at 4 cents and you like that price, then buy it. So it goes down to 1 cent and you kick yourself…if you don't sell, you haven't lost anything. It then goes up and you sell it at 12 cents (tripled your money) and then you see it hit 20 cents. You stay up all night wishing you would have sold at 20 cents. Guess what! You may not have been able to sell there, there may not have been a lot of buyers there. The ones who bought your shares didn't triple their dollars, like you did.
Always work out your entrance and exit strategies ahead of time and stick to them, with happiness. Yes, you could have made some more money, but you might have also lost a lot more as well.
Lastly, good luck. Things are good for us and, as Mike says, we need to wait.
