I’ve been crazy busy as of late and have had little time to sit down for a meaningful blog post. I’ve also been way more active on Twitter, which is easier and quicker than blogging and way more interactive.
Fortunately, I can be lazy and link to someone else’s writing. My friend Kiley Austin-Young wrote 2 excellent posts recently, which I’d like to share. Kiley has been trading stocks and working at StockTwits (a Twitter based stock community).
The first post is called “On Stops, Sex, & Speculation.” This piece is more philosophical in nature and deals with the emotions/decisions one faces when speculating and or gambling on anything in life. I think this post does a great job of laying out the spectrum of emotions one faces in a life based on risk taking. This really extends to anything from start-ups to poker to trading to relationships. The ups and the downs come unexpectedly, and they’re often hard to recover from. That’s why risk management is vital.
The second post is called “Commission Catastrophe.” This piece is more technical in nature and details just how hard it is to overcome the broker fees in day trading to actually come out ahead. Kiley details his first hand experiences of trading and the role that commissions play. This reminds me of poker — where the “rake” (commission for the casino/house) can really put a huge dent in your winnings. Often, the difference between just staying in the game and calling it quits is the hard line imposed by the rake.
Enjoy.
June 27, 2009 at 11:47 pm |
Thanks for recommending Kiley’s article. I always feel like there’s a lot out there I need to be formally taught about the mindset for betting on stocks, but it really all comes down to common sense, self-awareness, and “middle-school math” indeed.
Tal