Pandemic Boredom: First Experience With Day Trading

At the beginning of this pandemic, little did anyone know that most of us would be spending much more time working at home or with a sudden spike in downtime. It feels as there were more seconds in a minute, and more hours in a day. More of us probably did more exercise (or watched the movie really wanted to but did not have the time); however, it becomes boring after being stuck in that routine for two weeks that seemed to be to feeling longer than usual. It became to the point where I felt like I was ruining my life even after just one day of doing nothing.

I was surfing the web out of boredom at the time and came across an video about day trading. I knew that most of those videos can be potential traps to entice the user to buy an overpriced course. I looked up the idea through a search engine and found out it was an actual thing that people did, not just the 'get rich quick' people. I thought this could be something I could do while being stuck at home for a while. It would also be something that would be a substitute for some money had I applied for a summer job during that year. Or at least that is what I thought.

I spent a few weeks researching what trading was like and knowledge of some ideas that I would need to know. There were videos and e-books talking about candlestick charts, how to research a stock, how to pick/avoid the stocks you want. I took notes and found a brokerage service and then began a journey that I would regret.

At the end of the 3-4 months, the total profit I made was just $12. This was disappointing. I made more money from just the interest paid to my savings account in the couple of months. I had thought of continuing and trying again. Maybe I needed to be more patient or persevere through my failures. I decided to throw in the towel because it was not worth it to continue anymore. Here is what I learned and want to share with others when considering jumping onto a new idea.

Prepare and consider the mental energy that will cost before jumping into anything. I think people often focus on the main goal a bit too much and forget to consider what they will be sacrificing. I could have gone through the summer doing other hobbies that I enjoy without feeling mentally drained everyday because of the constant decision making when prices change and analyzing information to decide when to sell or buy shares. I instead choose to spent the time monitoring one or two screens of predicting if I should take a profit or loss based on the wicks and overall performance through the day.

Realize that you do not have to take every opportunity opened to you at every possible chance. I had considered working as a janitor for a seasonal fair the previous summer after being rejected on two other previous jobs. I had people telling me that I am being a bit too desperate and I became defensive. I considered trading because I had some knowledge of how the stock market works and thought I could make some money off it. I also felt pressure to take this opportunity because I was impatient and believed I could not wait until next summer where the pandemic would have simmered down. There are always so many choices open to you and no pressure to walk through every door. Saying yes to everything may feel like a person is maximizing their life; but they maybe better off having never going through with the option.