$1,000 Portfolio - First Trades

JP

Back in March I started the $1,000 Portfolio to see how hard it would be to trade on $1,000. Hoping to see if you really could get rich from just $1,000. Turns out its a lot of work to make sure you don't lose it first. The flaw with this experiment is that I could make critical mistakes that you would easily navigate and I have had the money on the sidelines for months now as the markets were rallying. Now that things have moderated a bit I'm back in.

Back on March 9th I made my first purchases: KMG Chemicals, Inc. (KMGB) and PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF) (QQQQ). I bought 47 KMG Chemicals shares at a price of 10.40 each and a commission of 19.99. Total Cost: $508.79. I then purchased a mere 11 shares of the Q's at a price per share of 43.44 and the 19.99 commission. Total Cost: $496.62. I know; the total is about 5 dollars over 1,000.

April 1st I collected a cool $0.02 interest on my account. On May 14th I pulled the trigger and sold my KMGB shares for a price of 13.96/share and of course, the $19.99 commission. A realized gain of 3.56 per share ($167.32 for the entire position - $127.34 by the time you account for my $39.98 worth of commissions). (See the chart of this trade).

June 1st and July 1st I collected some more interest payments $0.32 and $0.52 respectively. On July 17th I sold my shares of the Q's at a price per share of $50.07 and the 19.99 commission. A gain of 6.74 per share ($74.14 for the entire position - a meager $34.16 after factoring in the 39.99 in and out commissions). (See the chart of this trade).

I did qualify for the $0.04 dividend that was paid on July 31st; $0.44 total. Since then I have been just waiting as markets have been climbing; I received interest on my cash balance Aug 1st ($0.72), Sept 1st ($0.89), and November 1st ($1.88). Obviously things are a lot more volatile now so I figured we might be able to get back in.

On the 19th of Nov I made two purchased: 8 Shares of iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend (ETF) (DVY) and 10 Shares of PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF) (QQQQ). I figured it might be easier to spot an oversold market right now than an oversold stock. Purchase price of DVY: $64.96 + $19.99 and price of QQQQ: $49.73 + $19.99. Now were just waiting.

Current Value of this Portfolio: $1,116.00.
As of this morning positions were down 1.06% or $10.76.

So far this portfolio is up 11.98% - I feel pretty good about that.

Let me close by saying this: I am personally a long term investor. I am inexperienced at trading and I think this serves this demonstration well. Anyone with only 1,000 to grow will likely not have the market experience to spot perfect tops and bottoms. Also of note - many traders watch the markets like hawks to spot the *exact* point to buy and sell. I am trying to create a portfolio with some some level of safety and enough upside to make it worth our while.