Day-trading or blackjack

[Brad Goodman]

I finish up at my current job at the end of June. I'm receiving a handy retention bonus at the end of it so I am possibly going to not work for a couple of months, well full-time anyway as I have another casual job that I would be able to pick up a few more shifts at.

The money from that casual job will cover my expenses for that time, so I am thinking of doing something silly with the retention bonus to fill in time and potentially make a bit of extra pocket money.

So, should I dabble in day-trading or blackjack? I figure the strategies for both would have some similarities, with blackjack obviously being a bit more risky.

NB I still live at home paying minimal board, and I will most likely be working for the next 40 years so this will be my last hurrah in a ****-around sense.

 

[Moo]

I guess I just don't get why people want to throw cash away.

Day trading is a mugs game - there is a whole lot of people better placed and smarter making cash, and for 1 person to make a grand another has to lose a grand.

Can you not use the time to build a fundamentally strong base ...I mean when I look at the stock pages I see there are a whole lot of companies with great upsides and with very reasonable yields. A cashed up company here or in the US is going to do very well over the next couple of years - lots of growth through aquisition opportunites is my guess after this mess clears.

If you want the thrill of the bet ....open a sports betting account and bet on the footy (the only time I ever make cash with betting is on AFL and NBA ...made 1K the year before I left from $100) every other type of bet - I just hand the cash over and there has been plenty of those.

To me I would spend the time looking at ROIC, sales, EPS, debt exposure, cash and div yld.....find a cashed up company with reasonable ticks in the other boxes - lots of good companies have been marked down.

Depends on your defintion of fun ....gambling 10K or so (I am guessing how much you have) and likely losing most or buy 10K of a share with reasonable growth/bounce back ability.

Personal story - I can tell you 10 years ago I had a chance to extend a backpacker trip by a couple of months or get myself some tidy investments after quitting a job and getting a nice payout. I chose to invest the cash and it has delivered good cap and yld growth.

The tidy little investment today gives me enough income to pay the mortgage on my first home (int only), which meant 5 years ago when I moved - I kept my first property (and negative geared the interest obviously - which means my investment income is limited tax) rather than sell it to buy house 2. This decision so far has probably made me an extra 300 - 400K (tax saving, capital growth and enables me to leverage). Even taking tax into account - that splurge and 8 weeks more holidays would of cost about 25K a week. Plus even when I sell - I still have the original cash delivering the divvies to go on 2 or 3 more holidays before I die.

From little things big things grow mate - dont splurge it, dont bet it - invest it.

If not and you want real excitement- dump it on Freo to make the 8 ...betting on Freo is far more exciting than anything known to man - it is the roller coaster ride from hell.

 

[Brad Goodman]

Looking at fundamentals ain't no fun, at least charts can be aesthetically pleasing!

 

[Pornstar]

Trading foreign exchange is sh1tloads of fun. The market is open 24hrs a day, transaction costs are miniscule and there's incredible liquidity. You can buy a position, set a trailing stop so it locks in profit when the market moves in your favour and have your losses capped at say $20. Go to bed and then wake up the next morning to find you've made $100 whilst you slept. You can easily turn $500 into $1000 in a short time - try doing that with CFDs or stocks!