I've just graduated form the Uni. where I've done some research on daytrading activities. I feel this is the best time to give this a try as the bear market seemed partially over for now. Few questions - what is the best way for a novice like me to make a start ... and ... what is the minimum capital that I need to start - to know if it's within my reach.

Why do many people disagree that the bear market is over? I know that the world economy leaves much to be desired at the moment but the stockmarket sees through that and acts months before anything positive actually happens, like company takeovers and wars. There's also the USA election due late 2004 and markets usually rise at these times. I'm not saying that the market won't drop, it does weekly, but it comes up again. I really hope that things will get better, though I'm not expecting 6900 for twenty years or so.

Some people don't think it's bounced high enough to exceed the downtrend line yet...

Personally I think companies are in a better state than people (and the market) think. Also the US market seems to have recovered a lot better than ours, even though I think they aren't as solid as UK companies!

My portfolio is a bit mixed at the moment, half for the long term and half short term. Once things have settled down I'll go back long term.

A lot of people have made a lot of money from the bear market, and it's not in thier interest for it to stop.

little woman,

ALL my stocks are for the short term at the moment!

I really think this is a bear market rally, and can see things getting a lot worse if US house price inflation turns to deflation, as US consumers are funding their spending spree partly by using their houses as cashpoints to obtain easy funds.

This may soon have to stop, and then I think their debt will become a problem, nd that will become the market's problem!

hope i'm wrong, as i'm fully invested in the market at the moment, but everything is on a tight stop loss.

Andy

- the thing about Americans is that they are always optomistic and love to spend money. They also pay their bills on time! So money is always circulating.

Uche... My advice is to continue reading the bulletins and market info and understand the reason behind the advice and the bigger pictures. You might want to try to Buy/Sell as a paper exercise for some months and if you come out winning then give it a try. If you come out losing then understand what you did wrong. Are you in it for Quick wins or long term?? Be warned ! be prepared to loose money, so only use what you can afford to part with. If that happens you need to think about what you would do then to recover. The best learning in this game id the most painfu.

good luck.

Many thanks to all for your valuable help.

Marzipan

'preciate your advise. To answer your question, I think I am in it for both ways - i.e. both quick wins & long term, but more on the quickee's. Could you enlighten me more on the paper exercise, as well as on other stuff you feel might be of help to me as a beginner.

Once again, thank you all for your help.

my advice would be to stay within a 5% spread,that way your gains are going to be on the up quickly after dealing and stamp costs,dont make the same mistake as i did by buying into seo and with a spread of 14% i am stuck without making a loss hopefully will move 1-2p in the near future.then i will get out.

petralva

why so worried about seo, you've made a good choice there though after the recent activity you might have to wait a bit. stay long, it's going to do very nicely.

i thought the idea of bio-degradable packaging sounded good,less waste for land sites and the like,i really did think that people would buy into it,anyway hope they can find a manufacturer soon,and start generating cash!.
mind you im not worried angi,just fancied taking some high risk on!

If you're looking to day-trade I assume you have done some low level or occasional trading already, otherwise it is a big step into deep water....
My favourite tip however frequently you choose to trade would be this.
You need a 'pain barrier' financially, an set figure you can say without a shade of a doubt you would not flinch or feel pain loosing. Set each trade no higher than that, however tempting.....Here's wishing you good luck and success!! Regards The Stockbunny

petralva

Richards and Appleby (cosmetics field) have recently bought a 6.55% stake and Sainsburys are backing SEO. I don't think it will be too difficult to find a manufacturer for such a geo-politically correct product. Whichever firm gets the contract, I want some of their shares as well.

my portfolio is pretty balanced in 8 fields,and as a novice im doing pretty well i think,so seo was a bit of fun in someways,you have to flirt with danger sometimes! my profits are well ahead of any loss that might occur with seo,and with csv up a whopping 27% im more than content.

well done. what are your other best buys

dnx is ticking over nicely not sure why though perhaps tightly held
cel bought these 2 years ago paid 18p and then dived down to about 9p,the company got there fingers burnt in s,america,its back up now and bought more about 5 months ago,these are for the long term,phtm what a star bought in at 74p
and with the new deal in poland a cash driven company i might sell these soon and take some profits,rtd at 4.4p and doing nicely for now,these are my best performers to date,xen is the only one which isnt bought in at 18,87p so off about 30% might get out when they come up again,and ofcourse seo,apart from csv,the other stocks arent really moving much maybe 5-10% looking at the mining stocks next fancy something in gold.how about you angi?

My star PRM is no longer a penny share but I still but/take profit. Recently I've bought SPS,NMT,SEO and RTD. SEO and NMT are long holds. I bought RTD last year and lost but sold up and I now think they've seen the bottom. I'm going to buy some BVC tomorrow as they've been stuck for a few days but started climbing again today.
Mining and gold? Are you thinking of MJX? I bought these several years ago at 19p and no matter who recommends them I will never buy again. I wish I'd had some ONX and FTO. Mining stocks do well at this time of year

i fancy p hambro mining,the guy is well regarded in the city,and has had plenty of experience in the past,perhaps rio might bid for them?
i see a lot of sells for csv today,maybe time to get out? as for xen well,posted another loss today and wants to buy out ks bio,maybe time to get out and recoupe some of my money?.

Petralva

CSV's debt is horrendous, there were huge sales but a few buys too. Maybe they know something we don't. I can see this one going under if it doesn't improve quickly. As for XEN, it has some money (which it's going to spend puchasing KS Bio who also have a some of money) Together they might make a good team.
The only mining stock I know apart from the the big ones is Hunting. I think I've left it too late this year.

Uche, I hope you're benefitting from this chatter. I agree with what Petralva said about not risking any money you can't manage without.

csv up another 18% not sure whats going on? shroeders are taking up a lot,perhaps because of the debt,they might be looking for a debt for equity swap in the next few weeks,thats if they can get 51% of the vote and force the banks to do something about it,and force it into admin,and then sell the remaining assets on,or something else? who knows im not an expert!.

Uche,

I certainly don't agree with the statement "don't invest what you can't afford to lose". The likelyhood of you losing all your money, unless you are stupid, are pretty remote. As the saying goes "the trend is your friend" and "never catch falling knives" is actually a good strategy in pratice. Do your research and look at those charts! You MUST set tight stop losses!

Paul