Experiments in Swing Trading

[joemandadman189]

Anyone try swing trading?

The general idea that i am following is buy stocks as they start their up swing and sell them as they start their down swing. we can get into specifics if anyone is interested. This usually nets 3-6 ish percent in a week or two. I have had varying levels of success so far, overall i am up. of the 17 swing trades, 5 have been +/- 1% of purchase price, one was down 3.3%, and the rest were up, some as high as 36%, with an overall average swing trade netting 6.8%  However, i need to dig into my numbers to see the difference from the swing trading to just dollar cost averaging into the S&P500 or similar. I have started that, and will post an update to that comparison. so far the account is up about 20% overall, so slightly better than the YTD on the S&P.

Anyone dabble else dabble in Swing trading?

[J.P. MoreGains]

I don't dabble but I'd read what you post about it.

I don't know a lot so I'm sticking to basic index investing. In the future I think I might take like 5% of what I save and maybe invest in a company I believe in or in crypto or in doing something like this. But have to learn more first.

[MustacheAndaHalf]

The S&P 500 has gone up +15% year to date, which is an extremely good environment (+30% annualized).  A strategy that works in the first half of 2024 may not work in other environments.

Books on "momentum investing", and research on the "momentum factor" may be interesting and relevant for what you're doing.

[blue_green_sparks]

I day traded for a few years just after I retired. My goal was to scalp SPY with $50K and make around $200 per morning. I was doing that pretty much every day, using "hot keys" to execute trades. Once in a while I'd have to bail out with a small loss. If I was really distracted and got caught in a deep crash; I wouldn't sell...I just became a long-term SP500 investor. My last day trade took over a year to payoff, LOL. I think about starting up again, it is exciting, but my internet connection is not the best.

[RWD]

Have you read these threads?
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/playing-with-momentum/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/dual-momentum-investing/

[joemandadman189]

Have you read these threads?
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/playing-with-momentum/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/dual-momentum-investing/

I haven't - i will check them out, thanks for sharing

[Telecaster]

 I'm older than most people here [kaff, wheeze] and I've seen this movie before. The problem is you don't know when stocks are in an upswing and neither does anyone else.  Anyone claims otherwise is a big, fat, liar.   

Stuff like this works great during long bull markets like the one we've been experiencing, and so people start piling on.  But when stocks hit a long down spell--and they will, just as surely as the sun rises in the morning--you will lose all your money and wind up eating Alpo for the rest of your life.  And all the gurus who were preaching this stuff will somehow vanish.  I wonder why that is?

[Heckler]

Anyone try swing trading?

I'm older than most people here [kaff, wheeze] and I've seen this movie before. The problem is you don't know when stocks are in an upswing and neither does anyone else.  Anyone claims otherwise is a big, fat, liar.   

Stuff like this works great during long bull markets like the one we've been experiencing, and so people start piling on. 

To the OP - do it!  Do it!  The market’s been kind of soft, my iPhones ticker tracker for my VT equivalent portfolio is showing red.  K thx!

[Heckler]

A 51 y/o friends Google stock buy of €2000 came up in conversation last, were he regrets selling out at the “top” for €4000, but then the stock simply kept climbing. His basic opinion was that although he’d won the bet, his minor gain would not impact his retirement with his big insurance co. annuities 15 years from now. AI investing is where it’s at!

I told him I still own Google. And Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia. And VW, Ford, General Mills and 3M. He then called me a billionaire! (unfortunately not true)