Your doing this the right way. LEARN, LEARN, LEARN!!!
I will say this though…
Paper trading (using a make believe account with NO REAL MONEY) is NOTHING like trading real money.
What you learn over the years doing this is… The psychology of investing is more important than anything you’ll ever learn about stocks. Your ability to completely dis-regard other peoples opinions is extremely important to your success. This runs counter to every human instinct we have. In most situations, our instincts will tell you to RUN when everyone else is running. There have been extensive studies done on this. It’s known as the “Herd Mentality.” This is the reason shows like CNBC see their rating blow through the roof when the stock markets TANKS…EVERYONE wants to know what EVERYONE ELSE is doing.
In my experience doing the exact opposite is usually the right thing to do. Experience plays a huge role in this. As an example, I am now convinced that this market is headed LOWER, possibly MUCH lower.
The talking heads are all saying we’ve hit bottom and the next step is a big UP move…I COMPLETELY DISAGREE. Here’s what you need to know about the next year for this stock market…
JOBS
JOBS
JOBS
THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.
Job losses CREATE more job losses. I’ve heard all the BS about the stock market being a LEADING INDICATOR…If that indicator is telling the talking heads we’re headed higher???
It’s a crappy indicator.
The other part of being a successful investor is having the ability to look at VERY BIG PICTURES…Case in point…
CHINA and INDIA
China WAS basically a country of SUBSISTANCE FARMERS…They grew their own food, if the crops failed, they went HUNGRY, if the crops ALL died, SO DID THEY. What you now have is a country that is being INDUSTRIALIZED…Those village farms are being paved over and Factories are being built. The farmers are taking JOBS IN those factories. Here’s what you need to think about…
WHAT happens when you pull an entire Countries population OFF those farms and put them in FACTORIES for 10 hours or more a day???
THE ANSWER IS…YOU HAVE TO FEED THEM!!! Think about this…WE all have JOBS…How many AMERICANS grow their own FOOD??? We DON’T because we don’t have TIME. The Chinese are quickly learning to eat at McDonalds, buy food at Walmart, and LIFE is easier!!
FOOD Production will be the next OIL BOOM!!! India is going through the exact same industrial BOOM. India’s population is expected to PASS China’s in the near future (China has strict popuation controlls in place)
Fertilizer companies, chemical companies, shipping companies that now BRING PRODUCTS to the U.S. will SOON being SHIPPING FOOD to China and India FROM the U.S. China’s geography does NOT lend itsself to BIGTIME industrial farming…The U.S. on the other hand PAYS it’s farmers NOT to grow FOOD!!!
THAT will change…VERY SOON!!!