When I placed my first trade, I was sitting in the Portland airport, waiting; linked to the world with my wireless card, and a cup of McDonald's coffee. My new brokerage account was fully funded with my extra cash; the market bell had rung, and I was ready to make a trade; make some of the big bucks.
I punched in the windows calculator, the current selling price of Exxon Mobile (XOM) which was in the neighborhood of $75.75. I divided that out over some 3,000 dollars. And decided I could purchase 38 shares of XOM. I entered a firm Market order. And three seconds later I was the proud owner of 38 shares.
I then decided I had a little money left over. I decided to buy 1 share of Wal-Mart stock (WMT), for some $54.13. I placed another order.
For the time I waited for my plane, I watched the stock ticker. My XOM mobile stock was going up. I felt like a winner--this is how the monies made.
However, by the time I got off the airplane in Houston again, and within a day or two XOM dropped to 70.00 a share. My Wal-Mart stock was down as well. My exuberance over my market gains and flitted away with the market fairy. I thought, "what the hell am I doing?"
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