Hi there. 18 year old here. I've had a profound interest in the economy, finance and the stock market since I was 9. I know quite a bit about the current economic climate, world events, etc. I read almost all day, and I already know of quite a few companies. In the last four years, I've made a few rather uneducated bets out of purely instinct (very risky, and I don't want to do it again).
I worked a summer job when I was 13 and made a little over $1500, and a bit after I signed up for a trading platform, and spent almost everything on shares of Facebook. At the time, everyone doubted them and thought they'd fail as an IPO, but I just couldn't understand how that was possible. I looked at their financial statements on a PDF, their earnings seemed to be pretty significant, and while they had debts like any other company, it seemed like their returns were more than their earnings. Also factoring in how Zuckerberg (the CEO) was constantly coming out with new ideas and the popularity of the site (implicating growth), I said screw it and went ahead. 2 years later, I ended up tripling my money.
I waited a few months, did some more research, and this time I took an even riskier bet. I've been following Tesla since 2010 (when I was 10/11ish), and put almost everything I had into 16 shares. I had faith in their products, thought they were extremely innovative, however their balance sheets were/and still are kinda sketchy. They take in an UNBELIEVABLE amount of debt. I said whatever, and I still kind of regret it because I'd be screwed if I lost the money. Instead, I got lucky again. Bought at ~$165ish in January (or February) of 2014, and sold every share at $270 in the summer of last year, when I felt that it wouldn't go any higher (and my timing was almost perfect).
This year, I put quite a bit into the Pound. I had a huge feeling instinctively that Britain would exit out of the EU, simply because of the amount of turnout with the younger people that was expected, and also because it seemed like (according to statistics and a bunch of polls), that only London had positive thoughts on the EU. A bunch of other components too, but this was another rather uneducated venture on my part. Anyway, a week before the vote, I put almost $3000 in, and on the day of voting, I was literally shivering because I knew I most likely fucked up. When I saw the results, I was absolutely flabbergasted. Seriously. 2 days later, I trade off 50% for an enormous profit, then another 25% a week after, and currently I'm still holding the other 25%.
Prior to that (late last year), I bought into crude when it was around the $29.50 mark. After tons of research, I just could NOT imagine it not being able to raise again, in part because of the uncertainty in the Middle East with ISIS and other radical groups seizing regions (essentially effecting the supply). Numerous other factors as well, but I went with my gut feeling. Bought 60 shares, sold all for exactly $50 a few days ago. No regrets, although I know it'll keep rising, I just want to start a fresh slate.
TL;DR: I already have experience with the markets. I'm financially aware, I have good timing, I do my research, but I know nothing about terms like "market cap", I barely know the correlation between interest and how it can take a toll on the stock market, Buffet's strategy of comparing the market cap to the GDP, P/E's, how to tell if a company is undervalued or overvalued (my way of doing it is completely flawed, by just looking at their earnings, and their debt. I know there is more to it than that).
Essentially, I just want to start new again, and while I've gotten lucky in the last few years, I want to take this more seriously and actually get a better sense of what I'm doing, as right now I feel like I've been gambling and getting really lucky by doing minimal, and insufficient research. I don't know enough, I don't really have any strategy either, but I have been rather successful and I think luck definitely plays a role.
PLEASE help me, where do I start? Can I speak with someone? Thank you so much.
Submitted October 24, 2016 at 12:39PM by Little-Brown-Bear http://ift.tt/2eKATgl