Investing in the Stock Market

[Knightsman]

Is anyone here into investing in the stock market? Please dont bash me for it. I am just trying to find some people from forums 'NOT' meant for stock investing to just discuss. The forums meant for stock issues have so many people who just try to crap up the thread. This thread is not meant to get stock tips (I hope no one ever gets their stock tips from threads like these) but to talk about investing newsletters, tools etc. I am trying to gauge if there is any interest.

Thank you,

EDITED: 10/10/2007
I have realized that instead of paying for news letters like Motley Fool (and therby letting someone tell you and million others what to buy) it is better to do my own research and develop a pattern of ideas based on each ones risk tolerance. Then try these ideas and refine. Recently, I am using reports from Palma Research (www.Palmaresearch.com) just as a confirmation prior to placing the order. All technical analysis reports from them used to be free for last six months but they became a paid service as of Oct 1st :-( I have paid the first months subscription. CAN ANYONE PLEASE TELL ME WHETHER THEIR SERVICE IS GOOD or IF THERE ARE ANY COMPARABLE SERVICE THAT IS BETTER OR CHEAPER. Thank you so much.

 

[Jeff7181]

There's lots of people here who invest, and not just in the stock market. I myself have traded stocks, mutual funds, and currencies in the Foreign Exchange market.

 

[imported_g33k]

Sure, I have stocks in blackboard inc., intel corp., and western digital corp. All of which have returned decent gains despite the recent downturns in the market.

 

[Knightsman]

Thank you, guys. I have made some nice gains as well - trading AKAM ($12 to $30) OVTI ($14 to $28) RHA ($2 to $3.70) and now I am on SOHU (bought $21), TASR (Bought $11). But the question is do you guys use any newsletters or technical analysis stuff? I used to subscribe to Motley Fool letters a while ago and realized that was a real drain on resources. Given some of those picks are great. But for most part I have done my own homework and analysis. But it is a real scary thing when there is no one to even discuss these. I am still in my late 20's and all my friends are still hanging out at clubas and bars every single free minute. So instead of going in the dark I thought it will be nice to get the opinions of some other people in forums not related to investing.

So again, please let me know what you guys subscribe to and what you feel in your opinion worth it and returned tangible gains for you. Thank you.

 

[richardycc]

what happened with RHA? I remember it was around $2, now the symbol is rhayy and around $37?

 

[FoBoT]

i invest through my 401(k)
i just buy each month, i don't pay any attention to it
25 years from now, i'll have a pile of money

 

[DaveSimmons]

I invest in stock index mutual funds, which saves me a lot of time and effort compared to researching individual stocks. Buy, hold, no newsletters needed.

Many people do enjoy the work of hunting for stock picks though, there's nothing wrong with that investment choice as long as you realize most casual traders do worse than just buying S&P 500 index fund shares over time.

 

[Slew Foot]

Save yourself some time and energy. Buy some blue chips that pay out fat dividends, reinvest the dividends in more stock. Retire happy.

 

[TallBill]

I've just recently started putting money into a few USAA mutual funds. I have a low amount automatically investing each month into two high risk funds and put a large sum into the Capital Gains fund. I'm considering putting another lump into their precious metals fund, although not sure if it'll keep skyrocketing.

 

[alien42]

investing in primarily OTC stocks is currently a 'hobby' but heading towards a full time job for me. i am up just over 100% so far this year.

 

[Knightsman]

RichardYCC: RHA went through a 12:1 reverse split and traded around $51 after split. Are you a chemist?

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: alien42
investing in primarily OTC stocks is currently a 'hobby' but heading towards a full time job for me. i am up just over 100% so far this year.

Awesome. What type of criteria do you use to determine potential trades?

 

[Knightsman]

Hi Alien42,
Up 100% very good indeed. I am up about 40% (Averaging about that since I started 3 years ago). OTC hmm... not much news to research about them right .. so whats your source for analysis? Are you a pure technical trader? I use the services of a not so well know company (thats why I use it as opposed to Motley Fool which has 10 million or so followers!) to give me technical analysis reports as a second confirmation before placing my trade. But they do not do OTC stocks. I am curious about this please let me know.

 

[Linflas]

I dabble some and have had decent luck. I currently have some Cisco I bought at $14 and some Petsmart I bought at $4 and both are currently trading around $32.

 

[Knightsman]

Originally posted by: Linflas
I dabble some and have had decent luck. I currently have some Cisco I bought at $14 and some Petsmart I bought at $4 and both are currently trading around $32.

LinFlas: awesome. How did you initiate those positions? Did you do technical analysis or fundamental? I am a fundamental analysis guy but I initiate my positions on my favorite stock using technical entry points as provided to me.

 

[thomsbrain]

I've been messing around with this, but am really looking at long-term stuff. One cool mutual fund I have focuses on dividend payments, to the tune of 18% a year, which a decent return for any stock/fund. Granted, it's not a "high flyer," but you get monthly dividend payments that could eventually be a source of retirement income, and the price is pretty stable. When it's down a bit, you just get to buy more shares with your dividend payments.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: Knightsman


Is anyone here into investing in the stock market? Please dont bash me for it. I am just trying to find some people from forums 'NOT' meant for stock investing to just discuss. The forums meant for stock issues have so many people who just try to crap up the thread. This thread is not meant to get stock tips (I hope no one ever gets their stock tips from threads like these) but to talk about investing newsletters, tools etc. I am trying to gauge if there is any interest.

Thank you,

This topic has been discussed many times on this forum. I can give you the few advices I always give when people are starting and ask for tips about investing instruments and strategies.

1) Read a good book about Portfolio Theory and Analysis. Not a book on stock-picking. Not a book on trading. Not a book on How-to-be-a-millionaire-next-year. Not a book about how somebody else made his money. A good serious academic book on portfolio theory. Become familiar with its content.

2) Build a portfolio model suiting your needs and test it for a few months. Understand how it would have performed under different macroeconomic conditions. Stress it using the models you will learn in the book (see point 1). Adjust the portfolio. Re-test it. Remember to include the correct share of international instruments, as these can both lower your Beta and increase your expected returns.

3) When you are ready build a real portfolio like the fictional one you used in point 2. Stay consistent to the model. If you don't want to stay consistent at some point, then the model you picked didn't really respond to your needs. Adjust the model accordingly.

4) Don't lose time with technical analysis. Technical analysis has an extremely narrow field of application, and chances are very high it doesn't suit you at all.

5) Don't lose time with newsletter. Markets are efficient.

6) If you change your portfolio model do it because you feel it doesn't serve you well anymore, not because you are not getting the returns you want. Returns are not the most important parameter to evaluate a portfolio.

7) Never follow emotion, rumors, friends' opinions or general consensus about anything. Have a rational explanation for everything in your portfolio.

Have fun.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Knightsman

Originally posted by: Linflas
I dabble some and have had decent luck. I currently have some Cisco I bought at $14 and some Petsmart I bought at $4 and both are currently trading around $32.

LinFlas: awesome. How did you initiate those positions? Did you do technical analysis or fundamental? I am a fundamental analysis guy but I initiate my positions on my favorite stock using technical entry points as provided to me.

I wish I could tell you I did some deep analysis but truth be told they were both hunches.

 

[alien42]

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: alien42
investing in primarily OTC stocks is currently a 'hobby' but heading towards a full time job for me. i am up just over 100% so far this year.

Awesome. What type of criteria do you use to determine potential trades?

i find companies various ways, everything from volume indicators, PRs and filings, to tracking msg board users. i focus on investing in good small companies with realized growth or the potential for it and try to flip the hyped junk and scams (tons of money to be made on shell plays). if you run through a few hundred OTC companies, there will be a handful that can be life changers. the beauty is anyone can do it with internet access and everyone has a different style.

Originally posted by: Knightsman
Hi Alien42,
Up 100% very good indeed. I am up about 40% (Averaging about that since I started 3 years ago). OTC hmm... not much news to research about them right .. so whats your source for analysis? Are you a pure technical trader? I use the services of a not so well know company (thats why I use it as opposed to Motley Fool which has 10 million or so followers!) to give me technical analysis reports as a second confirmation before placing my trade. But they do not do OTC stocks. I am curious about this please let me know.

most OTC companies (and pink sheets) release PRs although they are not always legit. several years ago the OTC:BB began the requirement of filing with the SEC, which has really cleaned things up. i am aware of and do use some technicals but focus more on fundamentals and hype/volume/buzz. using free sites like quotemedia you can access everything you need to know about a company and make your own research report .

i have not made many day or week trades lately due to my current job but there is nothing like picking up a shell or RM at .016 and selling a chunk at .055 a few days later, riding some free in case of a miracle.

 

[richardycc]

Originally posted by: Knightsman
RichardYCC: RHA went through a 12:1 reverse split and traded around $51 after split. Are you a chemist?

I was, used to work at Solutia, then they sold our group to UCB, then UCB sold us to Cytec, and moved my group closer to Stamford, CT...only offered a few jobs for a few of us. I took the package, and was working in a biotech that do CRO for a yr, but the long commute sucked...now I am doing IT related work. We did use a lot of RHA products at my old job. I bought some around $2, and sold them around $3 long time ago. I am into China stocks now.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: alien42
investing in primarily OTC stocks is currently a 'hobby' but heading towards a full time job for me. i am up just over 100% so far this year.

Awesome. What type of criteria do you use to determine potential trades?

i find companies various ways, everything from volume indicators, PRs and filings, to tracking msg board users. i focus on investing in good small companies with realized growth or the potential for it and try to flip the hyped junk and scams (tons of money to be made on shell plays). if you run through a few hundred OTC companies, there will be a handful that can be life changers. the beauty is anyone can do it with internet access and everyone has a different style.

Thanks. I haven't ever looked at them because there are so many, and some become busy then die, and it takes a lot of time and effort to keep a 'most active' list current. I know there is a tremendous amount of volatility in them and as long as there is legitimate volume, a trader/investor can minimize the chance of getting manipulated.

 

[alrocky]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
I've been messing around with this, but am really looking at long-term stuff. One cool mutual fund I have focuses on dividend payments, to the tune of 18% a year, which a decent return for any stock/fund. Granted, it's not a "high flyer," but you get monthly dividend payments that could eventually be a source of retirement income, and the price is pretty stable. When it's down a bit, you just get to buy more shares with your dividend payments.

18% a year? What mutual fund is that?

 

[dmw16]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
i invest through my 401(k)
i just buy each month, i don't pay any attention to it
25 years from now, i'll have a pile of money

Very true. Although experts suggest you check it every 6-12 months. As you get older you want to keep the money in more stable investments. Also, if the market has made a good run it might be worth moving some of it into more stable investments. Granted if you are young and take losses you have time to recover, but even better if you catch a big run and hope out and avoid losing some money all the better.

 

[Knightsman]

Originally posted by: alrocky

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
I've been messing around with this, but am really looking at long-term stuff. One cool mutual fund I have focuses on dividend payments, to the tune of 18% a year, which a decent return for any stock/fund. Granted, it's not a "high flyer," but you get monthly dividend payments that could eventually be a source of retirement income, and the price is pretty stable. When it's down a bit, you just get to buy more shares with your dividend payments.

18% a year? What mutual fund is that?

Yeah I agree.. what fund is that delivers 18% income. Pretty much all funds delivered 18% last year and the year before.... but those werent income funds. Income funds I thought average about 8%.

If there was any fund that delivered 18% I would just put my money in there and sleep well and save a lot of time analyzing and picking stocks.

 

[Knightsman]

Originally posted by: richardycc

Originally posted by: Knightsman
RichardYCC: RHA went through a 12:1 reverse split and traded around $51 after split. Are you a chemist?

I was, used to work at Solutia, then they sold our group to UCB, then UCB sold us to Cytec, and moved my group closer to Stamford, CT...only offered a few jobs for a few of us. I took the package, and was working in a biotech that do CRO for a yr, but the long commute sucked...now I am doing IT related work. We did use a lot of RHA products at my old job. I bought some around $2, and sold them around $3 long time ago. I am into China stocks now.

cool..knew you had to be a guy in the know....;-)