Chile Forum

otravers wrote:Be very careful about day trading, whether it's shares or currencies or whatever. If you don't know what you're doing, it's like picking pennies in front of a steamroller. There are huge players out there working with hundreds of billions of dollars. Be even more careful of leverage, e.g. shorting stock on margin can be very dangerous if you let it go (if you don't have spare cash then a margin call can get you in a world of hurt).

I'm not saying it can't work, but fully understand the risks before being enthralled by the potential rewards.

Wise words.

The reasons I make it in Chile living primarily from my investment and spec accounts:

(1) Years of experience which included some major "learning" hits. Paper trading is not real trading. Nothing tests you like your real $$$s on the line.

(2) Capitalization. I can take major hits to my positions without ill-effect to my long-term strategy or my yearly living expenses.

(3) Luck. I caught the commodity boom early on and this initial surge is what capitalized my accounts to do what I do today.

Beware of systems and other possible scams. You really need to know yourself and develop a methodology tailored to your personal trading psychology.

And be aware, like most things, it is only maybe 10% or less that can do this long-term.

admin wrote:truth is, the real secret to any "expert" in computing is knowing how to research quickly and efficiently to solve a problem. That is, be able to take a problem and formulate it in to key terms that Google can digest, and then keep following the different threads of information to refine your search. This applies to just about any problem that can be found on the internet, not just computers.

Wise words and the truth spoken simply.

--From a former (primarily, self-taught) Macintosh Systems Consultant from the VA/DC/MD area.

RWS wrote:Most challenging to my skill in employing computers and the Internet would be financial dealings: day trading, possibly some arbitrage, etc. The mere thought of placing a significant portion of my hard-earned savings at the risk of electronic blips is daunting, but the potential profit (I've done well with research and telephone alone, so I'm not leaning on a merely hoped-for ability) is seductive. It's in this area, most especially, that my lack of computer-based knowledge and skill makes me wary.

I still trade my commodity futures account with a live broker (for accountability) via Skype but follow my account online. If you can use a website, you can easily manage most if not all financial dealings.

Regarding online trading I can really recommend interactivebrokers.com. I've used them for along time and they are among the biggest and have the, in my opinion, best trading platform. They cover many markets all over the world but to my disappointment not Chile.

yea, I should have a look around for a "monthly top posters" plugin for phpbb board. Then you guys can have something new to chase.

admin wrote:
Now that there are so many posters with 100+ posts, I need to come up with something for like the 500 or 1,000 posts.

I'm still trying to get out of "tourist!"

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:

otravers wrote:
I'm not saying it can't work, but fully understand the risks before being enthralled by the potential rewards.

Wise words.

The reasons I make it in Chile living primarily from my investment and spec accounts:

(1) Years of experience which included some major "learning" hits. Paper trading is not real trading. Nothing tests you like your real $$$s on the line.

(2) Capitalization. I can take major hits to my positions without ill-effect to my long-term strategy or my yearly living expenses.

(3) Luck. I caught the commodity boom early on and this initial surge is what capitalized my accounts to do what I do today.

Beware of systems and other possible scams. You really need to know yourself and develop a methodology tailored to your personal trading psychology.

And be aware, like most things, it is only maybe 10% or less that can do this long-term.

Being undercapitalized is the biggest mistake noobs make. The second is thinking that you know more than the guys who are on the inside and do it for a living. Truthfully, I think we're seeing more insider trading and corruption in the market than ever before. It's a very rigged game and it's very easy to get chewed up and spit out.

I do believe we're on the verge of a major market drop (recession) and I like to stay liquid. One of the few things I would consider long term is gold/silver (possibly platinum--or other vital metals) mines with proven reserves and a good track record. One of the few types of stock that kept their value after the crash of 1929 was gold stocks. Yes, the smart money bought other stocks for pennies on the dollar, but it took years for them to come back. Personally, I'm long on physical holding of PM's.

spamghod wrote:Being undercapitalized is the biggest mistake noobs make. The second is thinking that you know more than the guys who are on the inside and do it for a living. Truthfully, I think we're seeing more insider trading and corruption in the market than ever before. It's a very rigged game and it's very easy to get chewed up and spit out.

you are very right about corruption and insider trading. however, i firmly disagree that small accounts (being undercapitalized) is a mistake. imho it is best to begin small before committing all of your capital - or if you only have a little - to begin small. imho just get out there and do it - AFTER you have read about different investing styles,such as momentum, or contrarian. most of all dont follow the herd - most people dont become rich and most dont make money in the stock or commodity markets so dont do what your neighbors and friends are doing - unless you run with a VERY unusual crowd. read a lot and learn about the major investment classes - bonds, stocks, commodities and real estate and how they interact thru business cycles. most importantly learn about business cycles and where we probably are (opinions differ) in the current business cycle and therefore what you probably should be invested in. most importantly keep in mind that big money controls the business media and therefore will always tell you what it wants you to hear, not what you need to know. find out your information on the freedom media - internet - lots of good information available. finally realize your biggest enemy is within yourself - your greed and your fear - you will spend the rest of your investment career wrestling with these. both greed and fear will cause you to do the wrong thing - you have to master them to succeed. - i have a blog about these issues at mexicomikedotca.
jon