Welcome to the Stock Market!You are starting from scratch. Be humble and be ready to listen and learn. There are about 100 things to do and 100 things Not to do in stocks. The things not to do can be even more important than the things to do so be very cautious here. I'll give you a few pointers to set you on your way. Stocks, like other financial avenues, and the way we invest is arbitrary, which is to say, the system and method we use here is not a fixed science but more of an Art form, depending on factors like goals and personal preferences.Firstly, open your account at TD Ameritrade ⢠itâs the best online broker for lots of reasons, but mostly because they have the most excellent 24/7 customer service and access to your account.Request check writing and open a margin type account. Non - margin accounts are Not eligible for trading. Put in the biggest check you can muster, possibly your whole paycheck or more to start. There is no minimum.You will select a stock next and buy shares. Have your TD broker go through placing a buy and sell order so you know how. Look and study at least 100 stocks and Buy only one. Buy the best and highest price stock you can. Don't invest in garbage. Do Not buy penny stocks. Contrary to popular belief Coke, Mcdonalds, Phillip Morris, Microsoft, AMZN , Apple and Netflix were never penny stocks. People did buy them for penny's per share only due to stock splits, but the stock shares were never lower than about $30.00 per share (a good minimum price stock for you to choose to buy).So now let's look at classic Pitfalls and Principles that top wise investor - traders all agree on and you will be on your way. I have carefully chosen 15 golden nuggets for you. Pay attention and learn.Pitfalls to avoid: (5)The law of diminishing returns: You need to understand that you can't trade blows with the market. You need to be accurate. You need to be correct about 70% of the time (or more) to be successful. You can't throw darts at a board. Even If you gain %50 on your first trade, if you lose 50% on your next, your account will look like this. 1: $10,000.00 to $15,000.00 2: $15,000.00 to $7,500.00 What? Do this several times and your account will be on its way to oblivion.Don't buy garbage: Buy quality. Minimum share price can be $50 to $100 a share or more. Buy stocks that have allready proven themselves over a 10 year chart.Yes to Visa, see?Yes to NFLX , see?No to rite aid, see?No to Wi pro, see?The 10 year chart needs to go from bottom left to top right. Two of these stocks make money over time and two do not. See?3: Don't buy penny stocks: Penny stocks have something wrong with them. Don't invest in garbage because they are cheap. I'd rather you buy 1 share of AMZN than 400 shares of that crappy penny stock. penny stocks are stocks that are under $5.00 per share. They haven't proven themselves. Look at stocks like Apple, Philip Morris, AMZN, GOOG, PCLN or NFLX. They just go up and up! Penny stocks might be cheap but they lose money. Fact! Be smart.Would you put your hard earned money in this? It doesn't look promising.4. Timing: Don't buy the peak and sell the dip: Most good stocks have a noticeable or deliberate dip (get In or buy) and they have a peak( sell or wait for it to dip before you buy in again). Often times ,when a stock swings up the novice investors are getting in and the big traders are selling. Don't be a chump.Can you trade this chart below?What if your life depended on it. Buy the dips and sell the peaks.What if you bought FB (Facebook) with each strong dip, how well would you be doing now?5: Don't invest in âideas or products you likeâ: I'm gonna save you lots of heart ache right here. Most stocks don't actually make money. Only the cream of the crop top - stocks have good share growth and give good return. There are so many reasons for this. Most businesses fail. There could be problems from the employee to the CEO that affect stock price. So instead of investing in a bright idea or a product you like, start with stocks that have a great 10 year chart - proving stock performance and buy only those.Yes to BUD (Budweiser)!Get great share growth and also add on a nice 3.25% dividend for icing on the cake. BUD is a great company. Fact!No to GM (General Motors). Even though GM does pay at 4.31% dividend, there is no share growth over 8 years. Fact! I was there in 2022 when GM stock went to Zero and long time investors lost their shirt! Fact! There is no room for a debate here. GM is a terrible company. I don't care if you like GM cars or even if the Cars are good. GM will Not give you share growth. It's not designed for that. I have already watched GM for the last 25 years so don't try to argue. Sry if you liked GM and I just hurt your feelings. I'm here to make money and to teach, not waste time so i'm showing you the real. The important thing is that you can see the chart and determine that one stock goes up and the other does not. Do this with all stocks you select.Principles that work: (10)Buy quality: Look at lots of stocks and buy only the best. If the stock price is high - all the better.You can't loose too much money on AMZN. How could you?2: Make often and consistent deposits: There is a common fallacy in the stock market. It's the belief that you can deposit $5,000.00 then trade that into millions. People think they are the next wolf of Wall Street. This is not responsible. The way you build your account into sizable respect is through often and consistent deposits and then your stocks performing exponentially. Most people actually lose money once they begin trading or investing (fact). Don't expect to make money right out of the gate. Commit 3â5 years into learning the stock market. It's not an easy endeavor.3: Timing: Buy the dips and sell the peaks: see Pitfall #4. Be patient for your quality stock to dip before buying. Be prepared to sell the peaks if you trade and not the other way around.4: Patience: With patience you can rule the market. I've mentored lots and I teach that I'd rather you bite your hand off than to make poor compulsive mistakes trading, not wait for the right time to trade, buy a penny stock, or buying crap. Practice patience in the market. It pays off.5: Put in the time and the dedication: Commit time to learn the market. Read up and or do seminars. Seek out a mentor who trades to show you the ropes and to avoid pitfalls. Start a journal to track and study your trades. Write neatly so you can have this lifetime resource to look over and to embolden you.6: Don't put your money to impossible earnings: I teach that greed is risk. Be careful. Be happy to eek out 20% return each year. You will beat the bankers. Only after you can do this consistently, will you deserve to make the: 10 fold, 20 fold and 30 fold returns over time. Lots of traders try to double their money or get 20% return only in one month. Lots of traders fail at this. Greed is risk. Don't get greedy. Plan on small but safe gains rather than risky aggressive huge gains. Review the law of diminishing returns.7: Put some money aside from your profitable trades: I knew a soybean trader that put everything into his trading account. He was talented and grew his account to over a million in only a few years. I got a call a while later - He went broke on only a few poor trades. He had nothing to show for all his years of work and for getting his account to a million. So with each winning trade ,I want you to take out 10% of the profit and put it into an IRA that you don't trade. Buy some silver coins or put some money into your kids college fund. Regardless, if you make some success over time always put some away, at least 10%. Have something to show for all your hard work. Don't be like that soybean trader and risk everything on your very next trade.8: Benefit from dividends: Consider a good dividend stock. Over time dividends add up. Most stocks pay every quarter (every 3 months ) per share but some stocks pay dividends every month.How would you like to earn 3.63% dividend each year plus great sharegrowth. PM is one of my all time favorite stocks.EMD is another one of my faves. Not much share growth but how would you like 7% dividend per year and it pays each and every month? Do compound interest on that over the long haul.9: Benefit from stock splits: One of the most powerful tools I have learned other than covered call writing is stock splits. I have seen accounts go 30 fold over so many years and even more from stock splits. A stock splits and your shares double but then the price is halved. Then the magic happens and the stock climbs up to its original price over time. You just doubled your money! Take another stock split and then another. I have seen the same stock split 5â10 times over the years. Double your money ten times and see what you have. Get that 30 fold return on your account! The trick is that you don't know when a stock is going to split beforehand but only after, so invest in stocks that have lots of splits. That's the best way. By the way, penny stocks don't split (reverse stock splits don't count) stay away from those.10: Go long term: Here is another common fallacy - that people make money hand over fist weekly or monthly in the stock market. This is not the case. True wealth that lasts, takes decades to muster. Don't try to trade your account into fortunes in a short time. This is a pipe dream. Greed = Risk! - Instead learn to build your portfolios over time with dividends, stock splits , share growth and light trading only - if there is magic, it's right here (reread this sentence). The more you trade the more difficult it is. Be patient. Don't put your money to impossible earnings. Take some money off the table from your profitable trades. I do not advise day trading. It's super difficult. I do not advise trading call options. Your position can move to zero and fast. Steer clear of penny stocks. Don't be in it for the fast buck. It's so much more difficult. Be very selective. Save like its a religion- put consistent deposits into your stock market account. Look at 100 stocks before you choose 1. Go long termâŚeasy!The gold is in long term share growth. NFLX multiplied its shares 14 times with only 2 stock splits (a 2 for 1 split in 2022 and a 7 for 1 split in 2015). Be prepared for more.I'm not talking to all of you. Most of you novice traders won't even understand this at all. Many experienced traders will disagree with my points here. So I'm talking to only the few of you inbetween. Be safe. Trade safely.Good luck! I just poured my heart out!Follow, message and upvote. I have more.