Hi! New guy here.. Brand new.. Haven't even made my first trade yet I drive a fuel truck for a living, it pays the bills, I'm not looking for another sorce of income... I just don't want to drive 70 hours a week for the rest of my life I'm 36 years old, I've been driving for 12 years and have nothing put back for retirement... Every day I see guys in their 60's (and maybe 70's) still doing what I'm doing...... And I have to admit, it's depressing! When I'm 60 or 70, the only thing I want to be hauling is a boat trailer to the lake! So at this point I'm a sponge, soaking in every drop of knowledge i can.. I spend my down time at work (loading and unloading) on Google, YouTube, Yahoo Finance, Investopedia and now Stockoholics..... Im learning that there is A LOT to learn!.. Which I expected....... It's also kinda becoming an addiction.. Which I wasn't expecting I opened a TD Ameritrade account last month because they have no minimum deposit... My plan is to use it as a savings account, adding what I can when I can until I'm comfortable with my ability to begin trading I have this theory, that I've proven multiple times in the past.... If you do something enough times, over a long enough period of time, you'll improve at it even if you don't want to.... Way I figure, I've got 20 years to reach my goal.... That's 20 years of saving + 20 years of experience gained My friends and family scoff at the idea, suggesting I'd have better odds at a casino than in the stock market (I wonder if any of you got similar comments when you started??).... But I'm the type of person, if you tell me I can't, I'll try 10 times as hard to prove you wrong! Anyway.... Thanks for having me!... I look forward to learning as much as I can from y'all
Welcome to the forums. You have listed some good resources available to you. I happen to think that Investopedia is one of the best online learning sites for free that you will find. Read up and try to understand the several strategies of investing like Growth Investing, Value Investing and Income Investing and what types of fundamentals you look for in each style. Hint, each style has different things to look at that makes up a good stock. Also, you can open Think or Swim in Paper Money mode and practice trading while you learn. Also, stick with the savings plan and don't be afraid to dip your toe into some good stocks when you have a little saved up. You can buy as little as one share of a good company and add to your position as you increase your savings. Lot better than a casino and I suspect if you stick to your plan your friends won't be "scoffing" in a few years from now.
Welcome to the board @Jrich and 20 years is a reasonable time to build a big fat nest egg. Better odds at a casino than in the stock market? Not at a all, the odds are much better on the market once you learn how to trade successfully. I used to be a avid card player and done well but no comparison to what I have pulled from the market.Good luck in your venture...TTT
Jrich here's a welcoming gift from Aaron Fifield. He has done close to or more than 100 of these interviews:
Thanks for the welcome! @JerryM i did find the "paper money" deal and placed my first "fake" buy order the other day... That's a nice tool to have! I also found the "dumb question" forum on here.. I'm sure you'll see me on three frequently
Welcome to the forum @Jrich, hope to see you around often! Sounds like you have reasonable goals, which is the most important thing for a new trader to have. Find some successful traders on here like @Tiptopptrader and see how he analyzes stocks and you'll learn a lot real quick. Ask questions when you have them and I'm sure you'll have lots of people give you answers when you don't understand something or want to know how somebody is thinking.
First buy! So yesterday (1/18/17) I took my first baby step, by collaborating bits of advice I've found here in my short time on Stockaholics 1) I watched some videos on growth and value investing.. On the value side, much of what I saw were concepts I was already thinking to myself.. Plus I enjoy doing research and take satisfaction in learning things others don't know.. Weather it's stocks, politics or any random thing I happen to be curious about that day..... So I believe value investing is for me 2) I downloaded the Robinhood app and activated an account.. Which I had never heard of until I started poking around here.... So far it's perfect.. Just like a savings account, I have automatic weekly deposits set up and my money is available the day I put it in 3) I jumped right in (after doing a fair amount of research of course) and made a tiny investment, 5 shares, which I intend to add to with every deposit until I reach an even lot..... Which actually makes sense with zero commission through Robinhood So what was it??.... Chesapeake energy (CHK) I passed on it at first, to avoid making an "emotional trade"... I was an oilfield trucker on the Barnet Shale for several years until the bottom dropped out.. Chesapeake was a major player around here in those days and I've done a lot of work for them.... Now we all dream of having those days back again! But after weighing several other options, I came back to Chesapeak.. And after a week of solid research, I think it's a good fit..... I also think Hollywood is missing out!.. Chesapeake's story would make a great movie! So, from a guru perspective.. How'd I do??
Time will tell @Jrich As long as oil stays up you should be ok...Set yourself an exit price and stop for good measure...Good luck
If you set this goal, it will come true. You should not listen to the opinion of others and be sure of your strength, and everything will become real. I am also a truck driver, but I like this job. I've been through many companies, but I'm currently working as a truck driver at Walmart (I've wanted to work in this company for a long time). I like that the salary is high, exactly as it is written here - truckdriverssalary.com. Thus, I can easily save a lot of money and live my life exactly as I like.
I'm definitely not a guru, but Chesapeake Energy looks decent to me. Here's what I am evaluating CHK on, maybe this might help you when evaluating companies. Earnings per share of over $6, so they're profitable. Price to earnings ratio for the past year: P/E (TTM) 15.2 - not exciting, but not bad. The better news is that P/E ratio is expected to improve! PE (FWD) 6.4. I found 14 analysts following CHK: 4 Strong Buy - 8 Buy - 2 Hold - 0 Underperform - 0 Sell CHK currently paying a dividend of more than 2% - not great, but better than no dividend, all things being equal. Digging a little deeper, I see that they have a relatively high level of debt, and that profit margins are down from last year. There were many safer buys, but a ton of worse ones, too. The closest thing to a red flag for me is CHK is trading near its 52-week high, and at twice their 52-week low. There are exceptions to every rule, but one that I try to keep in mind in most situations is "buy low, sell high." For me, that means I often have to wait for the right time to buy.
Thanks for letting me know. I saw the reply from Monday, 8/22/2022, and missed the dates of the earlier posts. My bad.
