Investing

Six Things You’re Doing Wrong When Buying Stocks on Your Own

Avoid these amateur mistakes before you sink all your money into the market.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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Lena Birse is a stay-at-home mom who loves buying tech stocks during market crashes. Jay Smith is a former pro gamer who switched from cryptocurrencies to blue chips. Heloise Greeff is a data scientist who uses machine learning to analyze trading patterns. And Mik Mullins is a retired hotel executive who’s betting the market is about to plunge.

These four amateur traders use different approaches but have one thing in common: They’re killing it in one of the wildest markets in memory, with returns ranging from 20% to 60% this year.