Question about buying Apple stock right now

[AnthroAndStargate]

I know there are hundreds of ?s on ATOT a day about "how do I get in the market" - and I am one of those people who has never invested but I feel this question is more specific since it involves Apple specifically.

I saw on the net today that Apples share price dropped from 200 to 130. Is it prudent at all to buy stock right now or since it is so high already is that just foolish? I wonder how the average joe gets in on companies like Apple? Do you have to hit them when they are brand new and stock price is still 10-20 dollars a share or can you still turn a profit at 130 dollars a share?

I'm interested in investing at least a 1,000 (I know not a lot) so I dont know if buying stock in Apple would be worth it. My theory is they may have a share price fall but they have a loyal base, no debts, and 18billion in the bank.

The economy will either pick back up or we will all result to hunter-gathering , so either way I don't really loose. Any thoughts?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Even with good earnings the iPod market is maturing so Apple could end up like Microsoft with a stangnant stock price.

A much safer bet would be an S&P 500 index ETF (exchange traded fund). Then you're betting on 500 stocks at once, and as the market recovers most of them will climb back up.

Disclaimer: I never buy single stocks, I only buy index funds (US & foreign) so I'm obviously biased against this kind of single-stock gambling.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: AnthroAndStargate
I know there are hundreds of ?s on ATOT a day about "how do I get in the market" - and I am one of those people who has never invested but I feel this question is more specific since it involves Apple specifically.

I saw on the net today that Apples share price dropped from 200 to 130. Is it prudent at all to buy stock right now or since it is so high already is that just foolish? I wonder how the average joe gets in on companies like Apple? Do you have to hit them when they are brand new and stock price is still 10-20 dollars a share or can you still turn a profit at 130 dollars a share?

I'm interested in investing at least a 1,000 (I know not a lot) so I dont know if buying stock in Apple would be worth it. My theory is they may have a share price fall but they have a loyal base, no debts, and 18billion in the bank.

The economy will either pick back up or we will all result to hunter-gathering , so either way I don't really loose. Any thoughts?

banking 130k on a single stock is never a good idea. unless it goes up.

oh, 1k total, not 1k apple stocks

n/m

 

[AnthroAndStargate]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Even with good earnings the iPod market is maturing so Apple could end up like Microsoft with a stangnant stock price.

A much safer bet would be an S&P 500 index ETF (exchange traded fund). Then you're betting on 500 stocks at once, and as the market recovers most of them will climb back up.

Disclaimer: I never buy single stocks, I only buy index funds (US & foreign) so I'm obviously biased against this kind of single-stock gambling.

For a person like me who only wants to invest 1,000 do you think doing index funds would be better then single-stock?

 

[conehead433]

Throw a razor sharp knife high up in the air and then catch it with your hands as it falls. Do this 10 times. See how many times you catch it without getting cut. If more than 5 maybe it's time to buy. Then again maybe not. It might be time to see a doctor instead.

 

[SSSnail]

Just on the iPhone alone, isn't their contract with AT&T almost up? That means world domination of the iPhone.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: AnthroAndStargate
For a person like me who only wants to invest 1,000 do you think doing index funds would be better then single-stock?

Historically, if held for decades you could expect 10-12% APY growth in S&P 500 fund shares. You can probably do a little better than that buying now since there's just been a dip.

With an Apple buy you could earn, guessing wildly -10% to +100% in just a couple of years. No one knows. Microsoft stock made thousands of people millionaires then in recent years it drifted aimlessly even with MS making huge amounts of money off their monopolies.

 

[LordSnailz]

It depends on what you want to do with the 1k if it's play money then try individual stocks for kicks, if not then then stick it in a fund and forget about it.
I'm thinking of putting some money in nvda ... try ati's new card is on top but I still think with AMD's management situation, it's for nvda to gain. And along the same lines, I would I would look into intc as well, they product roadmap for '08 looks really strong.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
It depends on what you want to do with the 1k if it's play money then try individual stocks for kicks, if not then then stick it in a fund and forget about it.
I'm thinking of putting some money in nvda ... try ati's new card is on top but I still think with AMD's management situation, it's for nvda to gain. And along the same lines, I would I would look into intc as well, they product roadmap for '08 looks really strong.

Eh, Nvidia is facing more competition than evar... AMD allowed them the consumer chipset bidness which surely was profitable when AMD CPU's were oddly in demand for a couple years but AMD is now claiming it for themselves... Intel is re-entering the GPU bidness and being more competitive with integrated graphics... Nvidia is also behind on consumer electronics including mobile phones. So, might be worth a trade but as an investment the risk/reward ratio is dodgy. Intel is prolly a bargoon in the recent $18-20 range but less risk equates to less reward. Apple is risky without enough upside from this high point.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Even with good earnings the iPod market is maturing so Apple could end up like Microsoft with a stangnant stock price.

A much safer bet would be an S&P 500 index ETF (exchange traded fund). Then you're betting on 500 stocks at once, and as the market recovers most of them will climb back up.

Disclaimer: I never buy single stocks, I only buy index funds (US & foreign) so I'm obviously biased against this kind of single-stock gambling.

Why ETFs as opposed to a regular index fund?

 

[everman]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Even with good earnings the iPod market is maturing so Apple could end up like Microsoft with a stangnant stock price.

A much safer bet would be an S&P 500 index ETF (exchange traded fund). Then you're betting on 500 stocks at once, and as the market recovers most of them will climb back up.

Disclaimer: I never buy single stocks, I only buy index funds (US & foreign) so I'm obviously biased against this kind of single-stock gambling.

Why ETFs as opposed to a regular index fund?

Lower fees = more money for you in the long run.

 

[Josh]

I say go for it and invest, I think Apple has some tricks up its sleeve for this upcoming year.

 

[Schfifty Five]

It's hard to make any money going long in a bear market.

Any pop will fizzle out due to ppl taking profits or short selling.

Though Apple does have solid fundamentals and in the long run (ie 1 year or more) it'll probably recover and hit $200+ again, it could very well go lower at this point.

 

[beer]

80% of the money in the markets is controlled by investment banks and distributed by people who do this, and only this, for their living.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Even with good earnings the iPod market is maturing so Apple could end up like Microsoft with a stangnant stock price.

A much safer bet would be an S&P 500 index ETF (exchange traded fund). Then you're betting on 500 stocks at once, and as the market recovers most of them will climb back up.

Disclaimer: I never buy single stocks, I only buy index funds (US & foreign) so I'm obviously biased against this kind of single-stock gambling.

Why ETFs as opposed to a regular index fund?

Because of the amount of money:

I'm interested in investing at least a 1,000 (I know not a lot)

Vanguard's mutual funds require much more, and any mutual fund company with just a $1,000 minimum will have a higher expense ratio than the ETF.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: conehead433
Throw a razor sharp knife high up in the air and then catch it with your hands as it falls. Do this 10 times. See how many times you catch it without getting cut. If more than 5 maybe it's time to buy. Then again maybe not. It might be time to see a doctor instead.

"Never catch a falling knife" is one of those quotes that sounds nice and sage until you realize how f*cking stupid it is.

Take a look at your average stock chart. See all those wild ups and downs? Do you think that stocks would ever have an uptick if no one bought them during a downtick? Does it look to you like a short-term trend tells you ANYTHING about long-term performance? They go up. And then they go down. And then they go up again...or maybe not. You can't just spit out the second half of a stock chart, given the first--YOU DON'T KNOW.

Now, it's a common mistake to see stock values suddenly drop, and to assume that this means they are going to climb again shortly thereafter...and perhaps this is why the quote was coined, to warn that there are no guarantees. But it ends up being as useless for general investment advice as "buy low, sell high."

If you are somehow able to see a pattern that I cannot, stop wasting your time on ATOT and go make your first billion dollars starting with nothing but your milk money.

 

[OS]

learn what a P/E ratio is and then decide for yourself