It all began 3 years or so ago when my insurance and finance company offered me 16 free trades with their brokerage.
It sounded like fun, although I knew absolutely nothing about the stock market, didn't even really know what a stock market was. So I took the bait, sent them $500, and I was a "trader". And I made sure everyone knew it, too. I researched companies to death, requested info packages in the mail, called public relation departments, all to purchase 5 or 10 shares of their stock. Great fun. Then I began reading books about investors. Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch etc. etc. and I was hooked. The 16 trades lasted me about 2 months and when it was over, I was almost $100 richer. Sweet. Just playing around, easy money! So they write me an e-mail telling me my free trades are up and from now and forward, that will be $20 a trade please. I'm not a genius mind you, but even that math didn't add up to me. That next $100 will cost me $320 leaving me with a $220 deficit. Nope, I'll have none of that. Way too smart to fall for their scheme. Now I'm looking around the Internet about stocks and trading. Good God, there is a whole universe out there. A whole other world. Brokers and blogs and services and...well, a lot of stuff. And it all looks so FUN! Then, and then I see the "free 2 hour stock market class in your city". Well, if it's free, what have I got to lose?
I guess the proper word, the one they used anyway, was seminar. The "seminar" was hosted at the best hotel in town, here that's the Hilton, and was actually very professionally done.
I arrived, not knowing what to expect, but absolutely knowing what I wanted. Them to teach me, in two hours mind you, how I could get rich fast and easy. And to my surprise, they did! Well, almost. I had to come back for a weekend course, and it was there that I was to be enlightened on how easily I could make tons of money, just like all these guys had, by just clicking the mouse when the arrows turned green.
I was dizzy, intoxicated by visions of wealth. Quit my IBD subscription (I didn't), I won't need it anymore, they told me. Hell, I was thinking, I can even quit my job.
But why then..isn't everyone doing it? How exactly did it all work? Remember "if it sounds to good to be true..". Come back for a whole two day seminar, and we'll show ya. By the end of that two, really two and a half days, I had so much time invested, I may as well give them the $2000 they asked for to get me to subscribe to the web site. So I did. They showed me a whole lot of stuff I already knew from all the books I'd read. So I gave them another five, to teach me about options. They gave me a book, (an online book, and let me watch some guys trade stocks live for a month) that explained what an option was. But...for another $5000 I could learn how to use option strategies. But I'd had enough. Fool me once (fool that I am), fool me twice, but three times. Not you guys, I'll go somewhere else for that. And I did. (To be fair, the website this particular company offered was actually a very useful and valuable tool. I used it for 2 years and once I figured out that the green arrows weren't the fountain of wealth, I made some use of it. Just not $7000 worth)
I went to services, guys that told me what to buy, when to, different methods, etc. etc. All to no avail. I just couldn't make any money. I didn't really lose money, except the money I spent on services, but stayed pretty even in the markets for a year or so. The people at the services were making money, but not me. Why, Why, Why.
It sounded like fun, although I knew absolutely nothing about the stock market, didn't even really know what a stock market was. So I took the bait, sent them $500, and I was a "trader". And I made sure everyone knew it, too. I researched companies to death, requested info packages in the mail, called public relation departments, all to purchase 5 or 10 shares of their stock. Great fun. Then I began reading books about investors. Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch etc. etc. and I was hooked. The 16 trades lasted me about 2 months and when it was over, I was almost $100 richer. Sweet. Just playing around, easy money! So they write me an e-mail telling me my free trades are up and from now and forward, that will be $20 a trade please. I'm not a genius mind you, but even that math didn't add up to me. That next $100 will cost me $320 leaving me with a $220 deficit. Nope, I'll have none of that. Way too smart to fall for their scheme. Now I'm looking around the Internet about stocks and trading. Good God, there is a whole universe out there. A whole other world. Brokers and blogs and services and...well, a lot of stuff. And it all looks so FUN! Then, and then I see the "free 2 hour stock market class in your city". Well, if it's free, what have I got to lose?
I guess the proper word, the one they used anyway, was seminar. The "seminar" was hosted at the best hotel in town, here that's the Hilton, and was actually very professionally done.
I arrived, not knowing what to expect, but absolutely knowing what I wanted. Them to teach me, in two hours mind you, how I could get rich fast and easy. And to my surprise, they did! Well, almost. I had to come back for a weekend course, and it was there that I was to be enlightened on how easily I could make tons of money, just like all these guys had, by just clicking the mouse when the arrows turned green.
I was dizzy, intoxicated by visions of wealth. Quit my IBD subscription (I didn't), I won't need it anymore, they told me. Hell, I was thinking, I can even quit my job.
But why then..isn't everyone doing it? How exactly did it all work? Remember "if it sounds to good to be true..". Come back for a whole two day seminar, and we'll show ya. By the end of that two, really two and a half days, I had so much time invested, I may as well give them the $2000 they asked for to get me to subscribe to the web site. So I did. They showed me a whole lot of stuff I already knew from all the books I'd read. So I gave them another five, to teach me about options. They gave me a book, (an online book, and let me watch some guys trade stocks live for a month) that explained what an option was. But...for another $5000 I could learn how to use option strategies. But I'd had enough. Fool me once (fool that I am), fool me twice, but three times. Not you guys, I'll go somewhere else for that. And I did. (To be fair, the website this particular company offered was actually a very useful and valuable tool. I used it for 2 years and once I figured out that the green arrows weren't the fountain of wealth, I made some use of it. Just not $7000 worth)
I went to services, guys that told me what to buy, when to, different methods, etc. etc. All to no avail. I just couldn't make any money. I didn't really lose money, except the money I spent on services, but stayed pretty even in the markets for a year or so. The people at the services were making money, but not me. Why, Why, Why.
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