really<\/em> know what you are doing (high risk!) Both platforms give you access to more than just the London Stock Exchange, buying Nasdaq stocks is just as easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI have not tried any others but there several out there. The big one in the US is Robinhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learnings so far<\/h2>\n\n\n\n The upshot is that I actually now find it all pretty engaging, and so far we\u2019ve made a very respectable return in just a few months (partially withdrawn and partially still in stocks and ETFs). I\u2019m not going to quote figures but let\u2019s just say it\u2019s much more than any savings account would ever give you \u2013 but I\u2019ve also invested a lot of time in educating myself so that has to be taken into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It requires you to keep an eye on things, but it\u2019s possible to set alerts and also automate actions when things go outside of certain bounds (not without its pitfalls but has its uses).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have dabbled a teeny bit in short selling and it was hair raising, and I took a small profit (luck!) but I\u2019m not ready for all of that. And I\u2019ve not touched Crypto or Forex yet. Not sure if I will. Maybe, I don\u2019t really know anything about it at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a wealth of info on YouTube (and lots of bullshit too) and I\u2019ve read a couple of Kindle books. I\u2019ve learned the difference between day trading, swing trading and investing. I\u2019m very much in the latter camp but dabble a bit with swing trading too. Day Trading is not something I am interested in right now, as really it has to be learned and treated as a full time job. However it is useful to understand the technicals that those traders use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this point if you are still reading you may be either rolling your eyes and thinking \u201cFinally caught up have you Ade? I\u2019ve been doing this for 15 years\u201d<\/em>, or possibly \u201cOh no he\u2019s become one of THOSE people.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Well, yes, and sorry but I don\u2019t want to be skint.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAlt account<\/h2>\n\n\n\n To keep things separate I have a new Google account and Twitter profile that I use when I\u2019m doing or researching stock market stuff. It\u2019s probably not interesting to most of my friends and followers, and it's nice to shut it off when I\u2019m done. In my alt accounts I am bombarded with ads for dubious sounding get rich quick<\/em> schemes, trading courses and for various platforms and services. It\u2019s like another world. Unsurprisingly it\u2019s a world full of chancers. Day traders post impressive winning trades they have made. Apparently some go long and short the same instrument in two separate accounts and then post the winning trade in a bid to convince you to sign up to their whatever<\/em>. I have read this is a very old trick. There\u2019s an inherent bias because people don\u2019t tend to want to share their massive losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOn Twitter in my alt-persona there's an effervescent mixture of Californian or Scandinavian liberal Tesla Fanboi types, and ragingly right wing \/ pro-Trump \/ pro Wall Street types. It\u2019s all quite an eye-opener especially coming from my usual tech \/ science \/ liberal arts bubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right now there\u2019s a lot of shouting about how \u201cthe Marxists\u201d are going to wreck everything if Biden gets in, mixed in with anti-mask conspiracy theory crap (generally the same people). What I hadn\u2019t realised though is how many young people were Trumpists, I\u2019d always caricatured them as somewhat redneck types but, no, there\u2019s a big contingent of market-savvy wealthy influencers who I guess don\u2019t like tax and regulations (i.e. right-wing, stating the obvious). But yeah, I would now not be surprised if he gets a second term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I would say it\u2019s healthy that I\u2019m exposed to these people outside of my normal bubble. But I still think they\u2019re wrong. You can run a society that is pro-business AND regulates appropriately, cares for the misfortunate, invests in public services and so on. But apparently everyone is either extreme left or extreme right these days. I think they\u2019re both deluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I digress...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n I have no real point as usual, other than satisfying my desire to share rambling thoughts on whatever is occupying my brain. I hope someone finds it useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am obliged to state that none of the above is financial advice. Do your own research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you are interested then it\u2019s quite easy to get started and genuinely I have found it to be an intellectually engaging pursuit, and one that could (should?) reap benefits in the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am quite technically minded and usually I can reduce complex problems to fundamentals and eventually solve them. But this is a bit like the ultimate problem because it\u2019s chaotic and human-driven (although increasingly AI-driven too). That makes it an interesting puzzle. But equally you could say it\u2019s just a form of gambling, which is at least partially true.(*Massive Attack \u2013 Five Man Army)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Root of all evil?*) At the end of 2019 I had one of those overdue paperwork sort outs, and had a bit of a scare. After years of burying my head in the sand I realised I didn\u2019t have a long term plan. I have a stakeholder pension that I\u2019d not been paying into for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,193],"tags":[249,250],"yoast_head":"\n
Money money money... - Ade Rowbotham<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n