Is $5,000 enough to get started with trading?

No after college in 97 I went into commercial banking. Debt was carried over from not making enough as a banker and buying to many rounds at the bar.

Most of my trading is scalping and that style of trading was very good when the market was melting. It is tougher in this environment...... But it can be done. Several people that I started trading with are still making 6 figures trading different ways.

You have to change when the market changes......... When a trading style does not work any more adapt. Sooner or later you will hopefully have trading styles that fit most markets.
 
Finally a positive spin from someone who has made money at this game. Thanks for the insight MIDAS. Good luck to you in your new business whatever it is. One last [unrelated] question: I read that flipping properties has become so widespread that people are starting to crack down on it, is it still profitable? I guess you probably answered that with your last post :). Thanks.

Capt
 
Yes many developers are making it harder for speculators to buy and resale multiple properties in a brand new development but you can still do one .

In new home communities in Florida for instance the developer raises prices 5% every 5 to 10 houses sold so if you got in pre-construction then you are laughing all the way to the bank. When the construction is completed you "flip" the house into the sellers market hopefully pocketing a good 25 to 40k or more.

Like anything the "easy money" flipping will end and someone will be caught holding the bag but it has been very good over the past couple of years.

With the proceeds I will build rental townhouses for cashflow. When interest rates go up the sellers real estate market will cool off but the rental market should pick up............

Always stay one step ahead of the herd!:cool:
 
Well, this thread is kind of old, but I was wondering how the person with $5,000 ended up?

I have $1,000 to blow, and I am willing to jump in to the trading game. I may lose it all, or I may not... Either way, it doesn't really matter to me.

Anyway... I have been paper trading on a $1,000 starting balance (over the past week), and have made it pretty good - Almost makes me wish I had used real money. I just try to play the trends, using stocks that are less than $15.00/share. The very first day, I made $100.00 (after all of my fees/etc.). This really got me going. The next day, I made $180.00... Yesterday, I ended with $103... Today, however, was slow. I only managed to push out $10 (I would have had more, but I got greedy and decided to "keep at it", essentially turning my trades into a gamble, not really thinking). How do I prevent major loses? I just sell as soon as the stock drops (imagine that!). Even if it drops by $0.10/share on a $5.00 stock, thats only a $20 loss (those can add up), but you would just exit. I guess if you really didn't know what you were doing, you could lose it all pretty fast this way, but I have been fortunate...
 
It's enough to day trade a futures contract like the eMini S&P but you'll loose it all very quickly unless you have a proven strategy with good money management rules.
 
Quote from plumlazy:

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=569613#post569613
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Hmm... Thats pretty scary. Wonder why the paper trades go so well, and the real trades seem to go so bad. I too have great success on paper, just haven't moved to the real deal yet. As far as the commission rates, I guess these have to be cancelled out by the profit from the stock... So evidently, if there were no commission rates, this guy would have actually made $3,800 - I don't think he would be ending his trading venture so soon.

Quote from parttimetrader:

It's enough to day trade a futures contract like the eMini S&P but you'll loose it all very quickly unless you have a proven strategy with good money management rules.
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Are you talking about the $1,000 being enough? I am relatively new to trading, so can you guide me to somewhere that I can get more GOOD info on eMinis (I tried GOOGLE, but come up with useless "commercial" ads). I would like to know the best and fastest way to build up from my $1,000, and it appears that regular day-trading stocks will only hurt me (though I am still willing to risk it, I don't have much to lose)...

Thanks
 
Quote from rdewey:

Hmm... Thats pretty scary. Wonder why the paper trades go so well, and the real trades seem to go so bad.
Thanks
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Its a totally different world when your money is on the line. It alters your perception of things like you wouldnt believe. When you enter you immediately start seeing all kinds of reasons why you should not have taken the trade and will be looking for a reason to exit the trade unless it starts moving against you in which case you will look for reasons to stay with it. Your emotions will be the major obstacle to success and few people get past that hurdle.
 
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