(03-21-2021, 04:26 PM)JaG4LyFe Wrote:

(03-21-2021, 03:47 PM)jagibelieve Wrote: I never said any such thing.

I also don't see how you come up with "80% gains" with the transactions that you described.  As SF pointed out, you are doing nothing more than "dollar cost averaging".

I'll try to outline it in simple terms using simple math.  If I'm reading what you wrote correctly your transactions were as follows.

Initial position of 20 shares @ 8.97 = $179.40
20 more shares at "8.50ish" is 8 x 8.50 = $170.00
40 more shares at "8 ish" is 40 x 8.00 = $320.00
You "did it again" when it went "sub 8" so I assume 160 shares at "sub 8" (we'll assume 7.90)  160 x $7.90 = $1264.00

So your total "investment" is $179.40 + $170.00 + $320.00 + $1264.00 = $1933.40

Then you sold 60 shares "somewhere around 10 a share".  60 x $10.00 = $600.00

How exactly have you made an "80% gain"?  Especially since this is before taxes and fees?

I see where our discrepancy is. When I shaved the 60 shares is where I think my investment started. You are seeing it from an overall perspective

I always see investing from an "overall perspective".  When I first got started I got in with a very modest amount and made the same mistakes that I see a lot of people make.  I did the same thing and chased penny stocks looking to "make the big profit" and "get rich" quick.  It wasn't until I really learned, studied and became disciplined before I started seeing big gains.  TRM has the right strategy for someone much younger than me.  Just buy and hold, don't watch the every day ups and downs of the market.

I for the most part follow the same strategy, though a portion of what I have invested I also get "aggressive" with.  Over this past year I did really well with tech stocks/ETF's and have rolled into other opportunities.  My wife is older than I am and since we are looking retirement in the face, I tend to keep her investments more modest.  A 4% or 5% gain in the stock/ETF price might not seem like much, but the dividends paid out are much higher than if we kept the money in a traditional savings/money market account.

I guess what I am saying is that the stock market is not a way to replace your regular income.  It's a way to make more off of what you save.

For someone in their 20's or 30's, invest what you can and just leave it alone.  If you have a 401k that you contribute to every payday just keep investing, pick a good mutual fund and just leave it alone.  Once you get into your 40's and 50's perhaps be a bit more cautious with what you do.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and your retirement nest egg isn't any different.

---