Welcome to ThinkorSwim.AI

I'm Laurence Anthony founder of Alexandria Capital Management and author of Bear Market Roulette, a financial thriller.

This site offers opinions and is not intended for financial advice. For financial advice please see a financial professional.

New Investors - Have No Fear

The S&P 500 has an average historical return over the last 100 years of about 10.4%

Inflation over that same period has been approximately 3.25%

Savings accounts offer an average rate of .38% per year

Using the rule of 72, that calculates how long it will take for your money to double in years by dividing the interest rate by 72. Investing in an S&P 500 index fund will have your money doubling about every 10 years after inflation. 10.4 - 3.25 /72

These numbers are not set in stone as returns and the rate of inflation are subject to wild swings, but you get the picture.

S&P index funds offer diversity and low fees. Vanguard and iShares , two of the largest ETFs (exchange traded funds), charge fees of .03%.

Build up an account of $10,000 before moving into individual stocks.

Next Step - Do Your Homework

Stock picking requires fundamental analysis. Look at P/E ratios, debt levels and numerous other factors. Who is the company competing with? Where are they in their growth cycle? There are many good books that will educate you on stock picking.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket - diversify.

Look at the commission rates of different brokers and the services they offer. Is their trading platform supportive with good research tools. For beginners ThinkorSwim is great. For frequent traders where cost is a factor Interactive Brokers is good. It's all about doing your homework.

Lastly - You Want to be a Trader

There are many styles of trading - day, swing, FX (currency), options to name a few.

Trading involves hours and hours of learning and practice. Most brokerages offer practice or paper accounts that allow you to test your skills before using real money. Do this for at least a few months. If your not racking up the dollars in a practice account you definitely won't with the pressure of real money.

Learn how to read charts. This is very important.

Do not commit large amounts of your capital to trading. Try to keep it to less than 10% of your portfolio. You will have periods of losses, that is almost guaranteed.

Control your emotions. This is the toughest thing about trading.

If you don't like learning and studying trading isn't for you.

Using AI

AI is a great tool to screen stocks, but that's just the start. AI has come a long way and with precise, well thought out queries it will put out phenomenal results.

Example - I am a trader just beginning to trade options. I trade mainly calls and I'm looking for companies in the mining sector that will benefit from current Mid East tensions. The companies must be based in the US and have a market cap of at least one billion dollars.

Be as precise as possible. The more detailed the query the better the results.

More AI pointers are coming as AI is progressing at such a rapid pace.

Bear Market Roulette by Laurence Anthony is available all over the world on Amazon. Direct orders can be made at BearMarketRoulette@gmail.com