Welcome to YearTrader Weekly

Why YearTrader?

Well, because I am not a DayTrader who often buys and sells the same stock within a single day. I have on rare occasion been a MonthTrader and on more rare occasions been a WeekTrader. Historically, though I have been a YearTrader, in that I do often buy and sell a given stock within a year. That said, for a very few stocks I am a DecadeTrader (in that I have so far held those stocks for more than a single year, so I must move out to the next unit of time measurement. Who knows, maybe I'll turn out to be a CenturyTrader for some stocks and just will them to my heirs).

I am not a financial professional. I have never worked at a bank, much less at a trading house. I'm making up my investment strategy or strategies as I go. I love giving advice, but that doesn't mean you should take it. Free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it.

I have learned the hard way that even the most careful and well-researched trading in stocks is not risk-free. If someone tells you an investment is risk-free then keep hold of your wallet and run away.

Because of the inherent risk, my stock trading is not my only investment in the future. Nor is it my biggest. Mostly my retirement plan revolves around the equity in the house, my 401k, a rollover IRA from a previous 401k, and the occasional lottery ticket.

I have been trading stocks for a few years now. I've made a lot of mistakes during that time, but because each individual investment I had made was a maximum of $500 then the damage has been limited. At the moment the net result of all of those small investments is that I have broken even. My good bets have been offset by my bad bets, but I think I've learned from my mistakes. I'll probably make more mistakes in the future, but hopefully they'll be NEW mistakes.

A few months ago I took an action that I don't think was a mistake, but we'll find out together as this blog progresses. I took a portion of my rollover IRA and began truly managing it myself, utilizing all that I have learned from my previous stock dabblings. That is, I took approximately $12,500.00 and have invested it in a number of stocks. The stocks in question are listed on the right-hand side of this page. My minimum investment in each stock is $1,500.00, so I'm working on another level, now. For serious investors it's still not that impressive a level, but it's mine.

On the rare occasion that I sell something I'll let you know, and then I'll let you know what I decide to buy with the proceeds, and why. Whenever I mention a stock by name I will disclose any position I have in that stock.

When I'm considering a specific stock for purchase then I will be discussing the pros and cons of that purchase as I understand them. I will also be asking for feedback. If I shouldn't buy something I'd certainly appreciate someone telling me so, and why.

Look for a new column no later than each Monday morning in 2012. The next one should be on 9 January.  At that time I plan to go over what my relatively risk-averse self looks for in a stock these days.

Meanwhile, please give me feedback.  How did you find this blog and why are you reading it?  What do you hope to learn?  Hopefully we can learn something together.