Im still practicing with this virtual stock market howthemarketworks.com has.. I invested $10,000 (virtual money) into gnvc this morning @ opening. I sold off at the highest peak it reach so far today and made a profit of $520. I held off until it dropped a little more and purchased 10g worth of stock again, and sold it off when it reached a certain point, making a TOTAL profit of $918.93
900 bucks after commission?
Do I pocket all this "virtual" money is there some kind of other hidden fee?
In the real world, you make money, then you loose money, then you make it, and loose it. This is what traiding does. You add all these gain and losses together (along with commission costs). At the end of a year, you either have a write off or you get taxed to hell.
The winner in all of this is your broker. No matter if you win or loose, he takes his cut on every trade.
In the long term, traders WILL underperform the major indices, especially when taxes and commisisons are added into the trades.
How do you win? Value the company. Not BS like it is down 25% or under $1. Determine what it is worth. It has assets and liabilities. It generates free cash flow. You need to understandhese things or you are simply guessing at value. Then buy companies that are undervalued by 50% and sit on them for years. You loose small amounts in commision this way and your tax rate will be much lower. Not to mention that doing this will kill major indices in the long term.
To many people are speculators but don't admit it. Investment requires critical thinking and an investment in time to find value.