Training led trader to solid results

Published in The Courier Mail, July 2006

by Erica Thompson

John Gow got his first taste of trading with some winning BHP shares under an employee share plan. “I sold them to buy stuff I really didn’t need,” says John, who used to work on an oil rig.

He later relied on internet forums for advice on technology stocks and bombed out in the tech crash.

Then he turned to software that was supposed to make him rich by picking the best stocks. Instead he lost a further $6,000.

I had no idea what I as doing back then,” he says.

It was only after doing some research and completing the education program with private investment firm Wealth Within that his odds improved.

John, 41, now lives entirely off the stockmarket and spends just a few hours each day trading from his Gold Coast home.

“Trading is easy. Being a profitable trader is a little bit harder,” he says.

He says his average short-term trade is eight weeks, but he also has long-term investments.

“I use my short-term trading as my income and my long-term trades to build wealth,” he says, adding that he prefers to focus on top-20 companies. “My biggest rule is if you cannot give 100 per cent focus – don’t trade. If you’ve had a blue with your wife or the kids are being a pain just don’t trade because you really need to concentrate.

“It’s easy to get into stocks. The problem is knowing the best time to get out.”