Newbie guide to stocks/investing?
- Thread starter Vieo
- Start date
- Status
WrathOfOtaibah
Banned
GAF really isn't the best place to learn about investing. With the forum filled with animu DVD whoring, impulse game buys, and far left ideologies, its not a good place. Although I am far left and currently am saving up money to throw into the market (I got $3500 saved right now).
1) Don't come in expecting quick cash. It happens but its rare.
2) Don't buy penny stocks
3) Don't throw your money in low risk investments where it barely covers the cost of inflation.
4) Don't listen to www.hotstockpiks4ulol.com or anything like that. Look at the stocks and make your own best decisions. There's a lot of crappy advice with people pushing "hot stock choices."
My parents currently have made $700,000 in the stock markets. Granted, they got a lot of money because they were there during the 1980s but you can make a crapload of money if you play it smart and not afraid to take a risk here and there.
1) Don't come in expecting quick cash. It happens but its rare.
2) Don't buy penny stocks
3) Don't throw your money in low risk investments where it barely covers the cost of inflation.
4) Don't listen to www.hotstockpiks4ulol.com or anything like that. Look at the stocks and make your own best decisions. There's a lot of crappy advice with people pushing "hot stock choices."
My parents currently have made $700,000 in the stock markets. Granted, they got a lot of money because they were there during the 1980s but you can make a crapload of money if you play it smart and not afraid to take a risk here and there.
Open up an account at Vanguard or Fidelity and invest in mutual funds. Which funds to pick is up to you? Do some research... visit morningstar.com and read up on the articles. If you prefer to invest in stocks, then open up an account at one of the various online brokerage firms (eTrade, Scwab, etc...) There's no one sure way to invest. Just do a lot of research before you take the plunge.
Count Chocula
Banned
I learned alot from yahoo finance. Just click on the tabs at the top, read some articles and go through some of the subcategories.
look at the different industries and see who are the highest and lowest performers each day.
definitely open an account at a brokerage first because soon as you see something you want to buyif you wait till the next day it may be too late.
look at the different industries and see who are the highest and lowest performers each day.
definitely open an account at a brokerage first because soon as you see something you want to buyif you wait till the next day it may be too late.
Obvious smart answer is to read a good academic textbook on investing and attend investing classes at colleges and universities. Avoid those lame seminar classes that ends up being motiviational fluff. Get real content and knowledge. Don't waste your money on crap books at Barnes and Noble. If you have a university near by, try reading books in the Business & Economics library. You may also want to take some finance/economics/business classes too. They'll help.
MrSardonic
The nerdiest nerd of all the nerds in nerdland
just player poker instead...you've got more chance of winning. The stock market acts as a means to redistribute wealth from the poorer to the richer. There has been a big drive in the US to sucker the middle classes into putting their money in the stock market because the elite benefit from it.
like bionic77 said, don't waste your money on it
like bionic77 said, don't waste your money on it
Count Chocula
Banned
MrSardonic said:
Its more like a means to redistribute wealth from stupid people to smart people.
by doing a little research you can become one of the smart people.
Now poker there's a fine way to throw away your money.
WrathOfOtaibah
Banned
MrSardonic said:
That is pure bullshit and you know it.
The dumb way of investing is just tossing your money in the stocks and let it sit for years. That is pretty dumb but if you play the market right, you will make serious cash.
More "Poor, Poor Me" horseshit.
The Experiment said:
Most people I know have lost money on stocks (including myself). I have made some money too, but overally I probably just came out even. It may be that I and all of my friends and family are idiots when it comes to investing, but I am personally through with stocks and I am now investing my money in real estate and in other investments.
Happy it worked for you and your family, but I personally think most people don't come out very far ahead when it comes to stocks.
Look into ETF's (Exchange Traded Funds). They are similar to mutual funds but are traded like common stock. They have cheaper management fees then mutual funds and can be liquidated fairly quickly. I recommend buying ETF's linked to certain Indices, such as the S&P/DJ/Nasdaq/Russell and even some Emerging Market Indices (that sector has been struggling recently). Very few mutual fund managers beat the S&P Index on a consistent basis, so you're better off just purchasing the Index itself.
Edit: Stock picking is always a risky bet, but owning wide Indices diversifies the risk you would normally have with owning 5-6 stocks.
Edit: Stock picking is always a risky bet, but owning wide Indices diversifies the risk you would normally have with owning 5-6 stocks.
WrathOfOtaibah
Banned
bionic77 said:
I'll consider that a fair critique. More than the armchair analyses.
If you truly want to actually do active investing, as opposed to letting it grow over time, the best thing you can do is to actually read, monitor the activity, see if you can identify trends that occur when certain financial things occur, and even start off investing fake money. Get a feel for warning signs and the like.
Stock picking isn't a good investment strategy for the average Joe. It's very difficult to do even for the self proclaimed experts. Owning and holding on to an Index linked fund is the best thing you can do if you want to participate in equity investing. Also, the people who say they lost a lot of money in the stock market didn't have a proper strategy. Why would you hold on to stock after you've lost 10-15% on that investment? Dump it quick. Its going to take a 30%+ return in the proceeding period just to breakeven, and that's if it even goes back up. Most people make the mistake of holding on to a dog for way too long and get burned. I've worked on Wallstreet for the past 3 years. I hate Wallstreet but if you want to retire with some decent money then there's no way to avoid it.
My general policy is to invest in what you know. If there are industries you follow, those are good places to start since you should have a big leg up on how the industry works and what's coming down the line. You'll pick up on opportunities before random 'experts' will.
It's worked well for myself and others that use it.
It's worked well for myself and others that use it.
- Status