A lesson i learned, prolly the biggest i will ever

[AnthonyFup]

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS trade with STOP LOSSES.

Well heres my story i started trading in February and bought Loud i dunno if u guys remember this, i bought it and made some nice cash and was like Wow this is awesome well then i bought it at .90 and watched it fall to .60 finally i sucked it up and sold it, learned my lesson right?? WRONG

Then i buy SLW to play on the dips, well these past few weeks took it below my mental stop and wayyyyyyyyyy down, finally bit my tongue and sold it and then it goes up, but anyhow, 500 dollars later i FINALLY learned my lesson and will always trade with a stop about 3-5% below.

AGREE/DISAGREE tell me ur stories and why u support my idea/dont support.

if u buy 20 good stocks, and put a 3% stop on it and plan to sell at a 10% gain, id say 15 of the stocks will go to the 10 before they fall to the 3% JMO.

[arogonoluhi]

stop loss is a wonderful thing.
the stop price (%) depends on the stock and your style.
for swing trading (like you were doing with SLW i think), you liked the chart, the company, you did your hw, you bought on a dip, and the trade failed. It didn't jump up according to your technical analysis.
ALWAYS set a stop loss (3 - 5% sounds reasonable for swingers, just don't set it at the obvious prices, like support, just a tiny bit below that).
For a long term hold though, you can be more aggressive IMO, i.e. a much lower stop loss. Of course that means that it's a solid company with solid earnings, pays div maybe, growing, constantly making more money/products, etc. etc. etc.

I wish I can set stop loss' on my penny plays, scottrade won't let me (has to be 15 cents below ask price, hard to do when the stock trades for .0061 :roll: )

[Antanykki]

I was in the bookstore yesterday, browsing the investing books. One thing I picked up was to STOP LOSING MONEY! According to the book, your profits will be much larger if you stop your losses. Sounds simple, hey?

[Arnottmkq]

indeed.. stops are a great asset... I too have learned that the hardway... it is great when your up $1200 one day but down $900 the next and down another $700 the day after... it is like Holy Crap!!!!!

if I would of just took the $1200 and re-evaulated the options, it would of been a non-issue...

[admin]

3-5% is too low. 8-10% more like it. I learned that some Market makers usually have open orders in their books. What stops them from seeing the stop order and activating the stop loss 3% below your purchase. You'll bleed from commission....especially with the volatility that we are experiencing in this market.