Tradiing or Investing vs. Trading and Investing.

[Scanner]

I was wondering what percentage of your portfolio you trade with when you do mix the two and you arent' a 100% investor.

5 or 10%?

[disneysteve]

I was wondering what percentage of your portfolio you trade with when you do mix the two and you arent' a 100% investor.

5 or 10%?

Most of the time I trade with 0%. From time to time, I get the itch to trade and will do so with no more than about 1-2% of my portfolio. At the moment, I have one active position representing about 1/10 of 1% of my portfolio. In general, I'd rather take my speculating money to the casino. I enjoy that a lot more.

[dczech09]

Agreed. At least at the casino you can put all of your money on red. When trading, you can only put up the money less the commissions.

[disneysteve]

Agreed. At least at the casino you can put all of your money on red. When trading, you can only put up the money less the commissions.

At least for $200-300 I get a couple of hours of entertainment, a decent meal and some time away from everything.

[JBinKC]

I mix the two. However, the only time I really consider myself an investor is when I am at a point where I have established a zero cost in a stock (the point where I take my cost out of the stock and let the profit shares ride for nothing or my core position held for investment).

[bjl584]

I have no problem "playing" with anywhere up to 5% of my portfolio. I currently have my eye on a couple of stocks now.

[Scanner]

Agreed. At least at the casino you can put all of your money on red. When trading, you can only put up the money less the commissions.

Considering you have to tip the woman in a slinky cocktail dress with big boobs for the drinks she brought you, I'd equate that to a commission to the casino.

[disneysteve]

Considering you have to tip the woman in a slinky cocktail dress with big boobs for the drinks she brought you, I'd equate that to a commission to the casino.

Nah. I never get drinks when I'm playing. Besides, a $1 tip for a "free" drink isn't such a bad deal. One casino I go to regularly has self-serve soda fountains so I just grab a cup of diet Pepsi before I sit down to play.

[Slug]

Less than 1% of net worth is in my trading/play account. If as a result of some random act of trading victory that this number exceeded 5%, I would transfer money out.

[Robert742]

I don't trade. Most traders can't beat the market. I'm not saying you can't be the market by trading, I'm saying I can't beat the market by trading.

I don't enjoy gambling, either.

[dczech09]

My biggest problem with trading and/or investing in individual stocks is that the commissions and fees charged by brokers (even discount brokers) are regressive. It does not matter if you make a $50 trade or a $5,000 trade, your commissions and fees are typically the same. For instance, I used to go through Scottrade a while back. Those $7 commissions are comparatively low but still take and nice cut when you're making numerous trades.

[disneysteve]

My biggest problem with trading and/or investing in individual stocks is that the commissions and fees charged by brokers (even discount brokers) are regressive. It does not matter if you make a $50 trade or a $5,000 trade, your commissions and fees are typically the same. For instance, I used to go through Scottrade a while back. Those $7 commissions are comparatively low but still take and nice cut when you're making numerous trades.

True. That is a deterrent to trading (which is a good thing). When I first opened my account, I got a certain number of free trades and I found that when I wasn't paying a commission, I wasn't quite as careful about what I was buying. Knowing that there is a $7 fee makes me think a bit harder about the deal.

[KTP]

True. That is a deterrent to trading (which is a good thing). When I first opened my account, I got a certain number of free trades and I found that when I wasn't paying a commission, I wasn't quite as careful about what I was buying. Knowing that there is a $7 fee makes me think a bit harder about the deal.

lol, I am exactly like you DS! I noticed the other day that I had used 92/100 of the free trades in my Wells Fargo account (I used about 10 of them buying AFFY and then selling it for a $0.20 to $0.40 per share profit about 5 times). Now I am not trading again until the counter resets in October and so just bought a large block of VTI and VXUS. No way am I paying $9.99 to make $50 to $200 per trade.