| Many people invest in the stock market
hoping to find the next Microsoft and Dell. However, I know{{U}} (1)
{{/U}}personal experience how difficult this really is. For more than a
year, I waw{{U}} (2) {{/U}}hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars a
day investing in the market. It seemed so easy, I dreamed of{{U}} (3)
{{/U}}my job at the end of the year, of buying a small apartment in Paris,
of traveling around the world. But these dreams{{U}} (4) {{/U}}to a
sudden and dramatic end when a stock I{{U}} (5) {{/U}}, Texas cellular
pone wholesaler, fell by more than 75 percent{{U}} (6) {{/U}}a one
year period. On the{{U}} (7) {{/U}}day, it plunged by more than $ 15 a
share. There was a rumor the company was{{U}} (8) {{/U}}sales figures.
That was when I leamed how quickly Wall street{{U}} (9) {{/U}}companies
that misrepresent the{{U}} (10) {{/U}}. In a{{U}} (11) {{/U}}, I sold all my stock in the company, paying{{U}} (12) {{/U}}margin debt with cash advances from my{{U}} (13) {{/U}}card. Because I owned so many shares, I{{U}} (14) {{/U}}a small fortune, half of it from money I borrowed from the brokerage company. One month, I am a{{U}} (15) {{/U}}, the next, a loser. This one big loss was my first lesson in the market. My father was a stockbroker, as way my grandfather{{U}} (16) {{/U}}him. (In fact, he founded one of Chicago's earliest brokerage firms. ) But like so many things in life, we don't learn anything until we{{U}} (17) {{/U}}it for ourselves. The only way to really understand the inner{{U}} (18) {{/U}}of the stock market is to invest your own hard-earned money. When all your stocks are doing{{U}} (19) {{/U}}and you feel like a winner, you learn very little. It's when all your stocks are losing and everyone is questioning your stock-picking{{U}} (20) {{/U}}that you find out if you have what it takes to invest in the market. |