Thread by @VikingDayTrader

⚠️ Updated 4/10/21

Lessons Learnt Prologue #asx

None of this is financial advice, just my experiences I wish to share

I was a beginner in the market once and wanted to share my experiences trading

I update this once a year as it helps me define my personal trading journey

Introduction - About Me #asx

I came from a working class family that struggled to pay the bills and earned my own pocket money by starting a car wash business in my neighbourhood when I was just 10 years old.

It was tough growing up in a family where the nicest reward was a hot chocolate out once a week. During high school I worked my ass off at a night job as well as selling weed on the side which my mate ended up being jailed for.

It wasn’t an easy childhood and when I eventually had a little money I would spend it on things I felt deprived of in my life, very superficial things to try and fill an emotional void in my life.

As a teen I wanted to be a successful Bud Fox and had watched ‘Wall Street’ in my teens over thirteen times as it was one of three video tapes we owned. The allure of being a successful broker triggered the ‘3’ enneagram archetype in me. But that wasn’t meant to be my path.

I started day trading in 2013 with my father mainly focused on futures. It was a disaster and lost my entire account in the first 6 months. I then did the same year after year. It was pure gambling with no technical know how. My father had essentially taught me how to gamble.

I was addicted to the rush of buying or selling. That ‘addiction’ became something else in my later years both to drugs and alcohol all of which were were inherited addictions and I wanted to bury these feeling of contempt for them by numbing myself out with a substance.

Only after much self development work on myself through primal therapy and going through the tortures of my childhood would I then find a healthy relationship with myself, my partner, life and ultimately money. I can say with great joy that I no longer have addictions in my life.

Introduction - Shifting Investments #asx

I moved away from investments for a few years until I met my partner in Copenhagen 2016 and we started to invest money into property and antiques.

When we moved back to Australia in 2018 I decided to invest more time and energy into stocks but was still very green as I had the leftover gambling mindset and took me along time to start to prefect my skills after losing a lot more money trying to day trade which I no longer do

I’m still not there but one thing has changed and that is I’ve become profitable on my trades and consistently making money thanks to a bull market. Get back to me after the next bear market.

Im sophisticated investor so I have a privilege and or advantage and always take opportunities both in seed, ipo and on raise as well as buying a lot of stocks on market. It’s all a balancing act for me and hope you enjoy reading my hard lessons below

Introduction - My Trading Style #asx

I’m a trader not an investor first and foremost.

I generally trade the stocks I’m in which means I might sell a stock to then buy that stock back lower again.

I have mid term to long term holds but doesn’t mean I don’t trade these.

I buy the base wait for volume and then sell into volume and strength on solid news events once I get what I want out of the move and that move can vary from 1 week or 3 months or more and depending on the stock it is i will tend to buy that stock back once it bases.

Lessons Learnt Part 1 (Buying IPO’s) #asx

I never ever buy a IPO/RTO on day 1 or 2

I buy an IPO 7-14 days after the listing date once it’s based

I wait for a slight bounce off the base and buy on the contraction when volume is at its lowest

I once had a rule to only buy stocks near or below CR but have found that to be futile as the in demand stocks tend to never come back down to CR and then I’m left focusing on stocks that may not perform as well as those in demand and in this case I pay up.

Of course for me if there is and demand stock that bases near CR then this a bonus and an immediate buy for me, but rare from what I’ve found.

Lessons Learnt Part 2 (Buying existing stocks on Market) #asx

If I’m buying a stock on a market I look at the following things:

Cash position of stock, if theres no cash it means there’s most likely a cap raise coming. I won’t buy if that’s the case and prefer to sit it out.

When was the last cap raise? If there has been a recent raise there is always flippers 🐬and need to be washed out over the course of a week or two maybe more until it finds a nice base.

I then wait for the stock to ‘base’ and then buy 7-14 days after the cap raise.

I look at the market cap and comparative markets caps in that space and see what they have compared to other stocks in that field. Do they have something special?

Before I buy I look for news catalysts, I scour reports, announcement etc until I find the necessary catalysts that could push the price up.

I ask myself how hot is this sector right now will the market react to it?

Why am I buying this stock? Is it for a ST/MT/LT trade. Like to have a game plan before I enter a stock.

Have I done thorough due diligence on this stock or am I buying because I just read a tweet?

I never buy a rising or falling stock only those that are basing.

Lessons Learnt Part 3 (Brownfield NOT Greenfield ) #asx

This is an important note for me when it comes to commodity plays

I no longer buy greenfield plays. A greenfield play is a spec play that has prospective ground but doesn’t have any proven grades. They run on hype

I focus only on brownfield plays meaning a spec play that has proven grades and more likely to prove up a resource than a greenfield play.

Lessons Learnt Part 4 (Taking a Loss) #asx

I cut losing trades straight away. I have lost big money waiting to see them bounce back.

How much of a loss am I willing to take before I cut and run? I have cut many losers to then make that money back elsewhere.

Lessons Learnt Part 5 (Patience) #asx

As a trader I can become very impatient with my trades and for me that’s generally a sign to sit tight and wait.

I’ve been in many high conviction stocks to then sell due to impatience and watch them move 100%+

When I’ve done sound research on a stock and I’m happy with my entry I sit on it and wait.

If I see other opportunities around I ask myself after all that research why I would want to jump ship? If I have capital tied up then I maybe sell 50% and go into that other position.

Lessons Learnt Part 6 (Mistakes Take Ownership) #asx

I take ownership for my trades and have only myself to blame at the end of the day if I lose money on the market.

Making mistakes is natural and how I’ve learnt to become a good trader. Taking responsibility & not blaming.

Lessons Learnt Part 7 (Intuition vs Impulses) #asx

I follow my intuition, this is different from impulses. Intuition for me is fluid & routed. I feel it in my gut but it’s contradictory to an impulse which is very emotional based and can be brash. I’ve lost money being impulsive

I have bought on impulsive moves generally after a loss and is generally referred to as ‘revenge’ trading or trying to make up for a loss by finding positions to make it back on without doing through due diligence.

Lessons Learnt Part 8 (Block Out Noise) #asx

I block out the noise and hype from other players and focus on my trades. Getting confirmation from others as I’ve done is like asking for them to tie my shoe laces.

I’m basically looking for a tweet or confirmation as to why I should hold. This is crap. I do my own research and I base these moves on solely my own research and not the thoughts or beliefs of others.

If someone attacks me or trolls me it’s an instant block.

Trading and making money is hard enough as it is without all the noise.

Lessons Learnt Part 9 (Selling) #asx

I have a range of targets for my stocks and have disclosed these targets in the past but comes across as pumpy so it’s best I keep my personal targets to myself.

Some targets are short term and other are bigger for more mid term to long term stuff. I don’t disclose my targets or exits as that’s personal and don’t want people to copy my trading moves.

If the news is known to market for example a gold stock said their outlook will be 1 mill Oz of gold for the next quarter and they hit that it’s a sell the market event as it’s already priced in but if they surprise with 1.5 mill Oz gold production then it’s bound to move up.

When I look at results from assays I always use the chart below. If they are medium grade or higher I will hold into the news event but if they are low grade I will sell.

So that’s it. My experiences to date and hope you enjoyed reading my story.

I always have this quote in the back of my mind:

“the market does what the market does and doesn’t care about my price targets or what I want”

Also I don’t sit in front of screens all day trading as that would drive me nuts. I work a full time job, driving around between appointments all day. I really love my work and see it as a great way to enjoy life and engage with people.

I will update this thread once a year ✌️

I also wanted to add that on top of the 40 hour weeks I work I spend an additional 40 hours plus researching stocks and this research consists reading reports, market analysis, looking at charts. Reading over a many of offers I receive. It’s endless. But what I put in I get out