My Stock Trading Journey

On April 6, 2021, I made a decision that I believe will change my life forever. I invested in the stock market with eToro as my broker. I started with $200 (10,000php) and invested $50 in Facebook stock (a fraction share), another $50 in cryptocurrency Cardano (ADA), and $100 in Ethereum (ETH), also a cryptocurrency.

My Background and Turning Point

I am a freelancer and have been working for a foreign company since September 22nd, 2015 (I will always remember the day that answered my entire problem - money is the only answer to my problem, but before you think that is shallow, let me paint a picture in your head first). I wasn't born with a silver spoon; in other words I am poor. I have to work to put food on the table, but I don't want to work for the rest of my life. I want to travel the world and enjoy what life has to offer; I want to enjoy a nude beach while sipping a margarita and watching the sunset in the Greek Islands - I am joking about the nude beach, sort of. Okay back to trading. What really made me realised I needed to do something was when I had an emergency and needed to borrow money because I didn't have enough savings and my salary wasn't enough. That's when I realised, damn, I'm broke as hell. Though my salary is considerably higher than what I earned while working for a company in the Philippines, as your salary increases, so does your cost of living. Remember, when you think you'll get a job and make a lot of money, it's all a hoax - fake news, if you will. As cliche' as it may sound, working 9 to 5 will not make you rich.

The Journey Begins

We looked up Warren Buffet, as any novice trader would, because he is like god to us when it comes to investing. I tried to follow his investment advice, which was to buy and hold. Because patience is not one of my virtues, I decided to try day trading after buying stocks in April and selling them in August. For those who are unfamiliar with day trading, it is the strategy of buying a specific share and selling it within few hours or days. I believe it is normal for us to want a result right away; we want to become millionaires overnight, and I am one of those people - guilty as charged. So I added $100 (5,000php) in August, bringing my total capital to $300 (15,000php), plus a $75 profit from what I invested in April. I watched and read trading articles, and the majority of them advised against day trading because you will mostly lose money. Remember when you want something but everyone around you tells you it's not a good idea, but you do it anyway because you've already made your decisions? That's what happened. Yes, it's risky, but I'm a risk taker and danger is my middle name (lol just kidding), so sue me.

My Day Trading Journey

Just to be clear, I am not an expert. I don't even know how to read charts, I don't do technical analysis, I don't have a strategy, and it is safe to say that what I'm doing is a game of luck. But before investing, I read and watched videos about trading and investing, and I even paid 7,000php for a yearly subscription to a financial advisor, which I decided not to continue and got my money back because it appears that I can just learn all that on Youtube, which is free - so why pay if you can have it for free, simple logic, right?

There are 3 rules that I remember in investing; 1. Don't lose money, 2. Buy and hold, 3. don't put your eggs in one basket which means you should diversify your investments rather than putting all your money in one asset. As impatient as I am, I did not follow rules 2 and 3. On August 16th, 2021, I invested all of my money in gold, $275 with X20 leverage, and after 4 days I closed my position with a 13.58% profit of $37.34 (1,862.43php), which you will not get if you put your money in a bank, even after many years. I was happy with my first-day trading results because no one will give you that amount of money if you do nothing. So I invested again, but this time only $205 since I was afraid of missing out as the value of Cardano (ADA) started going up. Imagine how I felt when I made $39 (1,945.22php) profit in just one day on my second trade in gold with $205 capital. I became addicted to it and continued trading gold; there were times when I lost money due to volatility, but overall I gained more than I lost. One time, I was carried away by my emotions and traded twice in a single night, making a profit on the first trade but losing money on the second. As I gained money, it made me want more; I didn't seem contented with the few dollars I earned, and as a result, my greed cost me a lot of money. Overall, I made $200 (10,000php) profit in almost a month of trading mostly in gold and cryptocurrency - not bad for a beginner.

Life Update

I am still working like a slave, and no, I am not a millionaire, nor am I on my way to becoming one, but I am a few dollars richer than I was yesterday.