Nervous trader

Ups and downs

I have become a very nervy trader. I jump in and out of positions within a day. I would argue that this is because of the way the market is going. It is impossible to predict what is going to happen next but I do try to assess the odds.

Yesterday was especially hard. The FTSE was up most of the day. That was fine, I had closed that position and I was happy about my prescience. Then, shortly after the open, the DJI jumped 131 points and most of my profits vanished. I closed the position worrying that we may be due for a break out on the upside. But as the last two trading hours began so did a massive slide to well below yesterday's  low. I bought back in time to pick up some profit.

Gold also dives

With gold I was not so lucky. I was nicely placed with a very small holding. But then stock market strength started to pull precious metal prices up and I bought back positions. But when the Dow did its dive so did precious metals. I held my positions on the UK market so I had no opportunity to resell. There seems to have been a bit of a recovery overnight which might have saved my bacon.

So am I right to be working so hard on my positions or am I stupid and should I be sitting on my hands. Trading costs are negligible so that is not an issue. The problem is reading the market. The odds change so quickly and the moves are so violent. Miss your moment and you're stuffed. So for now I will stick with this roller coaster ride. I am making progress, albeit in a two steps forward one step back fashion.

I have a friend who is playing just a few UK shares. She watches for them to make a dip to what she sees as a low and then places a very large stake and holds it till it reaches a high. And then she waits to do it all over again. Her returns are terrific. Hats off to her. I may follow her lead.