questions from a beginner

[n00k!e]

So I'm new. Hello everyone.
I'm really interested in the idea of bitcoins and i have some questions:

Lets say I want to use it as a sort of investment. I buy some bitcoins, wait a couple of days and resell them for a better price i bought them, because exchange course is constantly rising. Correct me if I'm wrong here.

Thats my idea how to use bitcoins. I understand it as some sort of stock exchange activity - just without stocks. When I look at the exchange rates, which are constantly rising, it is quite profitable. If I had done the upper procedure one month ago (with euro because im german) i could have gained about 60% profit.

It all sounds too easy.
a) What's the catch?
b) What is affecting the exchange rates?
c) Am I misunderstanding something essential?

I have a couple more questions, but thats enough for now.
Please no discussions whether my plans are greedy / good / honorable or not.

Thanks

-n00k!e

[1715578080]

1715578080

[hazek]

Price is driven by the supply and demand. You know what the supply is so it all comes down to the demand. No one is promising you rising prices all the time as they haven't been in the past. People sell and people buy when people buy and people sell. You are not missing anything except maybe that in order to make a profit you have to have the right timing on when you buy and when you sell and that it's not as easy as you might think.

I don't know if this made any sense but I hope I helped.

[Meni Rosenfeld]

Hi n00k!e, welcome to Bitcoin.

a) The main catch is that there's no guarantee the exchange rate will indeed rise. There could very well be a bubble about to burst any moment. Most people here expect rates to rise, though.
b) The rates people are willing to pay. If you are willing to pay $9.5/BTC and nobody else is currently, you will raise the exchange rate (of course, you'll have to make a large purchase for you personally to affect it significantly).
c) You might be misunderstanding that speculating is not what Bitcoin is about. Sure, you can do that, and you may make a profit. But Bitcoin aspires to be a medium of exchange to buy goods and services which is superior to currently existing currencies and wealth store/transfer services.

[n00k!e]

Thanks hazek and Rosenfeld that helped me alot. Further oppinions are welcome.

Nice forum by the way 

-n00k!e

[silversurfer]

I'm not a professional trader.  But I believe most successful professional traders have well-defined systems/rules that guide their trading.  Find a system that works for you and stick to it.  Your emotions will play games with you, and try to make you deviate from your system.  This thread reminded me of the book "Market Wizards" - gonna go see if I can find it in my boxes of books.  Good luck.