You should change it to $7.50 per transaction (buy or sell) So that way if I buy a stock and sell only half of it I still get charged a transaction fee.
And $7.50 is a resonable number :)
Sounds about right, but more like $10 per transaction, or $10 per buy, an $10 per sell, or $20 per trade. What I have been doing is trading the entire pot all on one stock all at once. That way if I make $100 bucks by some stock going up .10, the deduction for the transaction is only $20 per trade, and I am up $80.
The problem is that if you buy small quantities of 10 stocks you are already out $150 bucks.
For a contest such as this I would have no more than 4 or 5 stocks. Sell the losers quick, and always buy when a stock is rising, do not catch falling knives.
Investors Business Daily is great for ideas...
I just lost 130 on yer OXGN. 
Ooops!
First, watch for it to start moving up. If you are on an elevator do not try to get in on the basement, wait until the elevator is going up before jumping on. Then get out when you have made good money. Dont be greedy, just make sure you have covered the transaction costs. Done well this ends up compounding day after day. I suspect the market will surge this afternoon or tommorrow AM, keep watching.
LOL who—me don’t invest your life savings into one stock 
On the first day, I did a little research on a stock which was on the up.. and increasing fast. I gambled, and the next day it took a dive and is falling! Haverty Furniture Companies Inc (HVT)
Looks like I will have to sell, so i don’t fall any lower.
Did you guys hear what Bush said about the big business with billions, investing money and when the stock goes up they pull out, causing all the little guys (you and me) to lose money. Bush said they will be fined, etc.
who—me yaar, see if you can advertise this more. Maybe throw it in Cafe 
that way some of us in the reds will get some respect when they have $0 
Peoples Champ–Special message just for you.
I have done this for a living for a number of years. Perhaps this will help you.
Just a side question, are outsiders allowed to invest in US markets through an online broker?
I could use an aussie broker but they charge like US$55+ per trans.
Who me,
I am not certain, check your edition of the Wall Street Journal, or contact some of the online brokers directly and ask...
seemz like who--me is gettin da hang of it :D
Just following OG's advice :p
But yea......its hard work. Maybe if I make the software more sophisticated...geared for short term trading.
What I did today looked at few european markets (FTSE,DAX,CAC) for high volume stocks and buy as soon as they fell and sell as soon as they had made me a few bucks. very very short term for pretty small gains.
Just following OG’s advice.
Groan
Come on....I am sure I just got lucky . And as they say, stock markets have enough money for everyone. :p
Edit: That OXGN of yers is great. Its jumping up and down a fair bit
Can you explain what some of these charts mean? There are little comments there, but a little more would help a lot. That is if you get time from making millions.
Who me,
Focus on a chart labeled 00-A-comp. Just as a learning tool.
The section labeled "Slow STO", is a great way to visualize the waves that roll in the market. In very crude terms a reading over 80 is called "overbought", and a reading below 20 is called "oversold". A stock in a strong trend can remain over bought or over sold for a long time. But when the nature of a trend changes it creates some profit possibilities.
The rational behind all this is that the human mind cannot absorb numbers as well as pictures. And ultimately you can do all the research in the world, but if the price is not moving, then you cannot make money. Essentially price is the ultimate reflection of all that is known about the stock, as well as the markets opinion on the value that the stock represents.
The stock shown is the QQQ's, which is a proxy for the 100 largest Nasdaq stocks. It is also the trading vehicle of choice for large institutional investors. The chart shown has little bars that reflect the pricing in 60 minute segments. The same chart could be drawn for one minute one day or one month time frames according to your investment time frame.
The little squigally lines all mean something, but in general their purpose is to filter out the chaos of the market and to help the human mind create a picture of trends.
Right now the QQQ's (ie the Nasdaq stock exchange) is basing , and if you see the "Slow STO" surge above the 20 line, it will be time to buy. A rising tide will lift a lot of boats.
Candlesticks seem so hokey OG, you buy into it?
Don't buy all the flying doji's and crap. They are very useful to see color changes. Big streams of red bars are pretty effective at communicating speed of the decline. Charting is all about converting data to something the brain understands and assimilates. To that extent candlesticks help a little.
I just made Stos for few different stocks, on paper it seems to work...but does it work in reality? I guess every transaction based on a Stoch would directly influence it....so...sort of catch 22..no?
Who me, price always rules.
A sharp move up or down, confirmed by a good technical indicator is a great way to trade. If you have tight stops so that you do not lose money if you are wrong, then your let your winners ride and net a good return.
Money management combined with good technicals can mean good trades.
Beyond that, so many people on Wall Street rely on these tools that is sort of becomes a self fulfilling prophesy.
Autotrading anyone?
Just taught the computer to follow OG’s advice 
Three stocks…all positive at the end of trading 
(just barely). What am I doing wrong? gained 7.5% on OXGN!. All are using yesterdays data. I bet I acn make it smarter.
Does anyone know where I can get free tick data?
PS1. I need a life! sheesh!
oh btw....its investing 10k...you can see the running total at the right-down corner.