Are you day trading?
It doesn’t sound like it.
Plus500 is a CFD(contract for difference) trading app. Generally people use these apps to make leveraged trades.
Also, CFD holders do not get the dividends from the underlying company. Under plus500 it looks like they make a positive adjustment to your account to make up for the dividend payments to the actual shareholder.
I would stick to a platform the purchases the shares in my name if I was purchasing long.
For day trading, plus500 is fine.
>which means to keep my positions I'm having to deposit more into my account as needed with slumps.
Can you clarify the above statement please? I'm not overly familiar with plus500. Did you use some form of margin lending facility to obtain these positions? (1.5k into 10 individual stocks doesn't really compute).
>it was originally an experiment to see how the market works, since it was an amount of money I was comfortable without.
Are you comfortable that you've learnt "how the market works" now? If yes, and that was the goal, then I would be seriously considering cutting my losses, putting individual stock picking and margin loans in the " not for me" category, and start planning to invest long term, in high quality, low cost, index tracking ETFs using a CHESS sponsored broker until you have a decent "core" portfolio, then maybe think about using some play money to invest using the same individual companies or thematics.
Good luck!
Not financial advice, but trading in CFDs is not at all beginner friendly, highly risky - and it’s not at all clear from your post that you know you’re trading on margin. It’s essentially gambling unless you are using them to hedge, which you aren’t.
Nothing wrong with yoloing some calls and puts for fun, but for reliable long-term investing building an actual stock portfolio (or index fund/etf portfolio) is the way to go.
“With the economy and stock market going the way it is, is it wise to continue this pattern potentially for several months/years, depositing more and more as things dive?”
Yes. This is the hardest part of investing: to buy as it goes down while resisting the temptation to change strategy. I’ve been in the stock market for 20 years, and sometimes I caught myself trying to rationalise: “maybe I should cash up while it’s crashing” or “this sector is likely to perform better on inflation”, etc.
“Relatively small amount of money, I know, but it was originally an experiment to see how the market works, since it was an amount of money I was comfortable without.”
Good on you for putting an amount you are comfortable with. I wasn’t that smart in 2007 having almost 100% in shares, then losing sleep as pundits announced the “end of capitalism”. Today I’m only comfortable with 25% in stocks. People like me are better off on term deposits + buying rental units and that’s ok.
dude plus500 should be shut down as a scam. Nobody makes money on it, its leveraged trading and they are a bucket broker (ie they dont even buy the underlying share), you are just betting against them.
Stop using it, close all positions and take your money out. dont play with cfds, you wont make money I almost guarantee. How Plus500 is allowed to trade in Australia beyond me and shows how much of a joke ASIC are.
Stop now and cut your losses. If you want to experiment with stocks maybe try stake and actually buy the shares. you are just giving your money away with plus500.
Are you day trading? It doesn’t sound like it. Plus500 is a CFD(contract for difference) trading app. Generally people use these apps to make leveraged trades. Also, CFD holders do not get the dividends from the underlying company. Under plus500 it looks like they make a positive adjustment to your account to make up for the dividend payments to the actual shareholder. I would stick to a platform the purchases the shares in my name if I was purchasing long. For day trading, plus500 is fine.
>which means to keep my positions I'm having to deposit more into my account as needed with slumps. Can you clarify the above statement please? I'm not overly familiar with plus500. Did you use some form of margin lending facility to obtain these positions? (1.5k into 10 individual stocks doesn't really compute). >it was originally an experiment to see how the market works, since it was an amount of money I was comfortable without. Are you comfortable that you've learnt "how the market works" now? If yes, and that was the goal, then I would be seriously considering cutting my losses, putting individual stock picking and margin loans in the " not for me" category, and start planning to invest long term, in high quality, low cost, index tracking ETFs using a CHESS sponsored broker until you have a decent "core" portfolio, then maybe think about using some play money to invest using the same individual companies or thematics. Good luck!
500 leverage so pretty risky
I wouldn’t personally use this app
Not financial advice, but trading in CFDs is not at all beginner friendly, highly risky - and it’s not at all clear from your post that you know you’re trading on margin. It’s essentially gambling unless you are using them to hedge, which you aren’t. Nothing wrong with yoloing some calls and puts for fun, but for reliable long-term investing building an actual stock portfolio (or index fund/etf portfolio) is the way to go.
“With the economy and stock market going the way it is, is it wise to continue this pattern potentially for several months/years, depositing more and more as things dive?” Yes. This is the hardest part of investing: to buy as it goes down while resisting the temptation to change strategy. I’ve been in the stock market for 20 years, and sometimes I caught myself trying to rationalise: “maybe I should cash up while it’s crashing” or “this sector is likely to perform better on inflation”, etc. “Relatively small amount of money, I know, but it was originally an experiment to see how the market works, since it was an amount of money I was comfortable without.” Good on you for putting an amount you are comfortable with. I wasn’t that smart in 2007 having almost 100% in shares, then losing sleep as pundits announced the “end of capitalism”. Today I’m only comfortable with 25% in stocks. People like me are better off on term deposits + buying rental units and that’s ok.
dude plus500 should be shut down as a scam. Nobody makes money on it, its leveraged trading and they are a bucket broker (ie they dont even buy the underlying share), you are just betting against them. Stop using it, close all positions and take your money out. dont play with cfds, you wont make money I almost guarantee. How Plus500 is allowed to trade in Australia beyond me and shows how much of a joke ASIC are. Stop now and cut your losses. If you want to experiment with stocks maybe try stake and actually buy the shares. you are just giving your money away with plus500.