![\"Signature\"](\"https:\/\/files.jeffclarktrader.com\/global\/signatures\/jeff-clark-signature.png\")
<\/p>\nI was only 19 years old when I made my first trade.<\/p>\n
I had a gut feeling the market was going to go higher… so I invested $600 into the S&P 100. A few hours later, my money had more than doubled. I sold my position and took the $1,200 profit – a 200% gain.<\/p>\n
And I was hooked on trading forever…<\/p>\n
My next trade was in IBM. This time, it took a couple days to double my money. Next, I invested in Digital Equipment… which nearly tripled in just a few days.<\/p>\n
I made 17 trades during my first six weeks as a trader. Every single one was a winner.<\/p>\n
Going 17 for 17 was a remarkable feat for a rookie trader – especially since I wasn’t using any sort of fundamental or technical analysis. I was just going with my gut. But I was careful not to put more than $1,000 or $2,000 into any single trade.<\/p>\n
And I still managed to turn my $5,000 brokerage account into $50,000 in just six weeks…<\/p>\n
And then I decided it was time to get serious. No more tiny trades. I was too good for the small stuff. For whatever reason, I had figured out a way to beat the market. Heck, I had just rattled off 17 straight triple-digit winners.<\/p>\n
So I decided to take the $50,000 in my account, add to it my $25,000 in savings, and put it into a handful of trades.<\/p>\n
You can probably guess what happened next.<\/p>\n
The stock market has a habit of humbling folks who think they’ve figured it out. For me, the humbling started right away.<\/p>\n
At first, the positions started slightly moving against me. It was nothing to be concerned about. One good day would put everything back in the profit column.<\/p>\n
But then, one by one, each position blew up on me. It was too painful to watch. I kept the television off and avoided reading the newspaper for fear I’d see something bad about the stock market and my positions.<\/p>\n
When I finally got up enough courage to call the branch manager and check on the status of my account, I learned all the gains I had built up over the previous six weeks were gone.<\/p>\n
“Just sell everything,” I said.<\/p>\n
That was an expensive lesson to learn. But it’s one every trader learns at some point. I was just fortunate it happened to me early in my career.<\/p>\n
You see, that experience changed how I looked at trading. I was no longer betting the farm on a couple of trades. Instead, I started trading as a way to reduce risk, by building wealth over a number of smaller trades.<\/p>\n
Today, I still do my fair share of speculating. But I’m not focused on how much money I can make. I’m focused on how little I can lose.<\/p>\n
That’s a huge difference. It has allowed me to trade successfully for nearly four decades. And it allowed me to retire at 42.<\/p>\n
Best regards and good trading,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jeff Clark
\nEditor, Market Minute<\/em><\/p>\n