Finally OIL is returning to a normal level

[Scanner]

What's that you were saying, sweeps?

[Scanner]

This has been a genius week for me. . .I got in on USO last week, I should sell it now probably.

Noboby here trades though so I feel like I'm the experiment of the forum - all of you are "buy and holders."

[sweeps]

Yeah, the U.S. dollar is quickly becoming worthless. Anything denominated in dollars is skyrocketing. I am not worthy to even appear in the same thread as you, Mr. Scanner.

[rennigade]

oil is up $25/barrel as of right now. high gas prices are simply another way the government controls us.

[Scanner]

Sweeps,

LOL. . .don't worry. . .my silver tanked pretty hard within the period of 6 weeks. . .so I haven't proven myself to be a genius yet, other than buying USO at $76.

[Broken Arrow]

Noboby here trades though so I feel like I'm the experiment of the forum - all of you are "buy and holders."

What am I, chopped liver? I trade. Just not commodities.

But then, I don't think being a trader is much more necessary than having to build my own car, but... everybody needs a hobby. So, this is mine right now.

[tripods68]

Headline spook the market today

[irs]

USO - United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) - Google Finance

It was a good news that oil prices is returning to a normal level and came back to normal life.

[Scanner]

I'll be the first to admit - I have no clue what's going on this week with it being up $25.00 in one day and then down.

I bought in at 76 becasue I was actually thinking I'd trade it around winter time, speculating it would be around 100.

We will see if this was smart or not.

[Scanner]

Broken Arrow,

Sorry. . .I didn't know you were a trader - I thought everyone here was pretty much a buy-and-holder-and-forget-about-it-er.

[Broken Arrow]

Hehe, no worries.

Anyway, I only trade with a small percentage of my money. Most of it is indeed in buy-and-hold mutual funds.

That and I put most of my trade stuff in my blog instead of here.

[kork13]

I saw today that the House chose not to extend the ban on off-shore drilling... Wonder what will actually happen related to that over the next few years...

I'm thinking along the likes of BA... Eventually I'd like to take a few hundred dollars and more or less play with it doing active trading, just for fun.... Hmm, is that too much like heading to Vegas? ^_^

[Broken Arrow]

I'm thinking along the likes of BA... Eventually I'd like to take a few hundred dollars and more or less play with it doing active trading, just for fun.... Hmm, is that too much like heading to Vegas? ^_^

I think you'll want a lot more than just a few hundred before starting out.... For me, each trade is $7, and a full buy and sell would equal to $14. If you're starting out with $300, you're guaranteeing yourself a 4.6% loss just from the trade alone. I would consider no less than $1K to start out, but preferably much more than even that.

That said, no trader in their right mind would say that this is like investing. It can be if you buy-and-hold for a good length of time. However, if you buy-and-sell, and you do so fairly quickly (like me, which is anywhere from 15 minutes to 15 days) then, it's more speculation than anything.

However, I would also argue that this isn't quite like gambling. You can look at it that way... and perhaps it's better that way so you don't get too disappointed if you're hit by losses. But, to me, it's not gambling. In a gambling environment, the games are rigged so that, over the long term, the house always wins by, say, 3%. And while some games can involve some skill, basically, it's more luck and entertainment than skill.

I could be wrong, but I believe the stock market is more skill than anything. Sure, there are plenty of factors that are well beyond our control, but you also have plenty of ways to maneuver around it, if you know where to go. With that in mind, I'm here to make money. To me, this is more like a small home business. Put in the requisite time and effort to study everything and you'll slowly but surely make some bread. Some day.

This is my first year out though, and amateur beginners like me typically get clobbered on their first year out. Just like a home or small business. You bleed red. It's expected. That's why I believe it's more luck than anything that I am out-performing the market by 11% right now. I most certainly got clobbered good earlier in the year though.

But, that said, I suppose there's a certain attraction to it as well? Everybody seems to be attracted by the "easy money" it can seem to make. But don't let that fool you. You can lose money just as easily as you make it. Trading is kind of like chess. The rules are simple, but playing well is very, very difficult. Worse yet, the market is not going to take it easy on you. It doesn't know how, and it punishes everyone accordingly.

A part of me still thinks it's best to simply invest passively and buy-and-hold, and some day, I may actually get out of trading all together. But for now, I'm still in, and if that does not dissuade you, then please feel free to pull up a chair and join the club. There's always room for more!

[kork13]

haha thanks for the encouragement and perspective. I'm still probably a good 5, maybe 10 years from actually trying it, but it does interest me. In the meantime, I'll be able to start trying to learn to understand how things work.

I suppose when I said "a few hundred" i misspoke. I really am thinking closer to the lines of $3k-$5k... another reason that I say I'm probably a fair ways off from doing it. I won't start doing it until I can consider that money truly free, where I have no reliance upon having or not having it. Just my way of lessening the threat (poor performance) or anticipation (good performance) for me.