About three months ago, I was flipping through the DirecTV guide when I noticed a show on CNBC titled Mad Money. It is a catchy way of stopping a channel surfer. First impressions of the show? A middle-aged bald lunatic yelling and screaming on the set, randomly pushing buttons which make sounds and splash graphics on the screen, tossing books and stress relief toys, and outright odd gestures. I thought to myself, “Self… how can someone like that have their own TV show, let alone on the largest business channel in the country?” So what do people in my generation do nowadays when they see something they do not understand? You wiki it of course.
Mad Money Wikipedia
Mad Money is an American financial investing television program hosted by Jim Cramer that began airing on CNBC on March 14, 2005. Mad Money was a departure from the programming then offered by CNBC, as it offers investment strategy and stock-picking advice in an entertainment format.
Investing as entertainment? Nah. I used to put CNBC on at night in order to help fall asleep after a rough day. As a college student, anything that involves being fun and entertaining and making money, since most of us have very little, is always a positive. Of course, who the heck is Jim Cramer?
James Cramer Wikipedia
After reading his bio, I’m thinking to myself, again, “So you’re telling me that a law student turned journalist who lived out of his car became one of the most successful investors in the past 30 years?”
On April 25, 2007, I became a Mad Money viewer.
Now, I knew very little about investing. I received a degree in Nuclear Engineering along with a Masters in Nuclear Engineering Sciences, so I have some concept of numbers, supply and demand, and overall basic economic knowledge. All I needed now was some kind of guide or instruction manual on how the stock market works. Well if Cramer managed to make it, he must have done something right, right? I went ahead and purchased his newly released book that same day, Cramer’s Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich.
Two days… that’s how long it took to finish his book. The concepts seemed so simple and the explanations used little to no market jargon. I had to jump into the market right away. It actually took longer to find an online broker (someone who acts as a vehicle for trading stocks and other investments) than to read Mad Money. I decided last minute to go with a newly founded company called Zecco Trading (a review of Zecco Trading can be found in my brokerage review section). I had recently sold my four-year-old laptop for $500. That would be my starting balance in my investment account.
(Note: Before starting an investment account, make sure you’re debt free. There’s nothing like making great gains in the stock market but having them offset by high credit card interest rates or loans.)
Fast forward to today. I’ve slowly saved up what I call “tuition money” for investing in the stock market. I’m a college student. We don’t have great streams of income. Simulation, or paper, stock trading involves no risk since no money is involved. I don’t feel that a simulation is normally the best way to learn some things and investing is one of them. Folks normally take larger risks with simulation trading because it’s fairly easy to start over. Once real capital’s involved, the game changes quite a bit. At the time of this post, I’m actually down $3 from my initial deposits. But the knowledge I’ve gained from getting my feet wet is invaluable.
Next topic in series: Investing in the Stock Market – How I’ve Learned to Buy, Hold, and Sell (Part 2)