playing it safe

I was once told that any person entering stocks should be ready to leave their money alone for at least ten years.

I understood that to mean that they would not really have to, but if they wanted to see real gains without too much risk exposure, time will be one of the main investments.

Being relatively new to trading stocks, I make it a point to play it safe by following on simple rule above all else.

1. Buy only stock from companies that are likely to grow over the long term.

However, if that's all i do, it's an extremely boring thing to do. I wanted to have fun while doing this so in addition, I tried this strategy without breaking the first rule:

2. Buy stocks that I think will rise significantly in the short term and sell quickly after they reach my target.


This made it more fun. Nice and challenging. Short term trading with a safety net. Its an inherently limited strategy but it keeps things safe for a newbie like me.

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