Thinking about playing the stocks...

[Parasitic]

So I think it's time for me to start investing and just building a financial foundation now, and because of that I think I'm going to start dabbling a little in the market (also due to suggestions by parents). However, I have no clue as to where to begin, not even a good trading/investment place to look at, so I thought I'd take up ATOT's advice a little.

Any ideas?

 

[Ricochet]

fool

Edit: By that I meant the Motley Fool, www.fool.com. Great resource.

 

[TheNinja]

I just jumped into it and it took a lot of mistakes on my part unfortunately. I probably should have gone 6 months with fake money instead but I didn't. Oh well, live and learn and now I"m a smarter investor. I guess what I'm saying is that you should read up in general and then maybe get some experience with small amounts of money or with fake money.

 

[K1052]

1) Buy low expense mutual funds/exchange traded funds (nod to index funds)
2) Hold for 25 years
3) Sell funds and transition to bonds near retirement
4) Profit

 

[Ricochet]

Originally posted by: TheNinja
I just jumped into it and it took a lot of mistakes on my part unfortunately. I probably should have gone 6 months with fake money instead but I didn't. Oh well, live and learn and now I"m a smarter investor. I guess what I'm saying is that you should read up in general and then maybe get some experience with small amounts of money or with fake money.

I made a lot of mistakes too. All with real money. I dabbed with virtual stocks for awhile, but felt I wasn't really into it because the inherent risk wasn't there.

 

[Ns1]

1. buy a shitload of index funds
2. spend time you would researching stocks into other worthwhile endevours
3. profit

OR

1. whore teh intarwebs to find the latest hot stock/stock tip
2. buy a shitload of it on margin
3. cry as the stock price falls
4. learn the proper way to assemble big macs

 

[BrownTown]

I am no stock expert, but personally what I think is just invest in what you know. Investing in a bunch of companies you have never heard of just by looking at P/E ratios and stuff like that is silly. For example right before Intel came out with Core 2 it was pretty apparent to anyone who had seen the previews that it was gonna beat AMD, so it was pretty obvious to me that Intel stock was likely to go up and AMD go down, and that did eventually happen. If you are a computer nerd and spend all your time here reading about graphics cards and CPUs and stuff than odds are you know more about these companies that 99% of people. I mean I look at xtremesystems.org and they always seem to have new hardware months in advance, so its easy to tell who will have the better product in 3 months just by looking at that one site.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis
1. buy a shitload of index funds
2. spend time you would researching stocks into other worthwhile endevours
3. profit

OR

1. whore teh intarwebs to find the latest hot stock/stock tip
2. buy a shitload of it on margin
3. cry as the stock price falls
4. learn the proper way to assemble big macs

lol, I won't even repeat that because you did it effectively.

Don't "play" in stocks.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
I am no stock expert, but personally what I think is just invest in what you know. Investing in a bunch of companies you have never heard of just by looking at P/E ratios and stuff like that is silly. For example right before Intel came out with Core 2 it was pretty apparent to anyone who had seen the previews that it was gonna beat AMD, so it was pretty obvious to me that Intel stock was likely to go up and AMD go down, and that did eventually happen. If you are a computer nerd and spend all your time here reading about graphics cards and CPUs and stuff than odds are you know more about these companies that 99% of people. I mean I look at xtremesystems.org and they always seem to have new hardware months in advance, so its easy to tell who will have the better product in 3 months just by looking at that one site.

You don't invest in what you know to make money. That's the last thing you should do, as you aren't as analytical or detached about it. If you don't look at a broad array of companies and cannot analyze a company's ability to grow long-term, you should stick to index funds.

Furthermore, your assertion that everybody knew C2D was going to be a hit *and* AMD was going to tank is pretty asinine. All one has to do is look at the relative prices even after C2D hit the shelves.

I made a killing off of taking advantage of this situation. Longed Intel at 18 and change and shorted AMD at 32 or so. People invested in AMD because they knew it and they foolishly thought the ATI merger was a good idea, because they knew it. They couldn't look objectively at the situation.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
I am no stock expert, but personally what I think is just invest in what you know. Investing in a bunch of companies you have never heard of just by looking at P/E ratios and stuff like that is silly. For example right before Intel came out with Core 2 it was pretty apparent to anyone who had seen the previews that it was gonna beat AMD, so it was pretty obvious to me that Intel stock was likely to go up and AMD go down, and that did eventually happen. If you are a computer nerd and spend all your time here reading about graphics cards and CPUs and stuff than odds are you know more about these companies that 99% of people. I mean I look at xtremesystems.org and they always seem to have new hardware months in advance, so its easy to tell who will have the better product in 3 months just by looking at that one site.

Intel did go up, but not by much. AMD went down 50%.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Buy and hold stock index mutual funds and/or stock index ETFs (exchange traded funds).

It's less fun than gambling I guess, but it's a lot less work and much less risky.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: BrownTown
I am no stock expert, but personally what I think is just invest in what you know. Investing in a bunch of companies you have never heard of just by looking at P/E ratios and stuff like that is silly. For example right before Intel came out with Core 2 it was pretty apparent to anyone who had seen the previews that it was gonna beat AMD, so it was pretty obvious to me that Intel stock was likely to go up and AMD go down, and that did eventually happen. If you are a computer nerd and spend all your time here reading about graphics cards and CPUs and stuff than odds are you know more about these companies that 99% of people. I mean I look at xtremesystems.org and they always seem to have new hardware months in advance, so its easy to tell who will have the better product in 3 months just by looking at that one site.

Intel did go up, but not by much. AMD went down 50%.

AMD is down 67%, Intel is up almost 52%.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
So I think it's time for me to start investing and just building a financial foundation now, and because of that I think I'm going to start dabbling a little in the market (also due to suggestions by parents). However, I have no clue as to where to begin, not even a good trading/investment place to look at, so I thought I'd take up ATOT's advice a little.

Any ideas?

1) Buy a serious book on portfolio management. Not a book on trading. Not a book on stock-picking. Not a book on options and warrants. Not a book on investing ideas. Not a book on how millionaires made their fortunes. Not a book with Donald Trump on the cover.
A book on portfolio management.

2) Read it. Seriously.

3) Build a portfolio with "fake" money and see how it performs. Understand why it performs in that way considering the economic environment of that specific period.

4) Do the same thing with real money, for the rest of your life. Build a low beta, internationally comprehensive portfolio and you simply can't go wrong. If you don't know what a low beta is, that's what the book was for.

Edit:

5) Never ask for investing ideas to brothers/sisters/parents/girlfriends/people on the internet like me. You can make an exception just for this time. :beer:

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: BrownTown
I am no stock expert, but personally what I think is just invest in what you know. Investing in a bunch of companies you have never heard of just by looking at P/E ratios and stuff like that is silly. For example right before Intel came out with Core 2 it was pretty apparent to anyone who had seen the previews that it was gonna beat AMD, so it was pretty obvious to me that Intel stock was likely to go up and AMD go down, and that did eventually happen. If you are a computer nerd and spend all your time here reading about graphics cards and CPUs and stuff than odds are you know more about these companies that 99% of people. I mean I look at xtremesystems.org and they always seem to have new hardware months in advance, so its easy to tell who will have the better product in 3 months just by looking at that one site.

Intel did go up, but not by much. AMD went down 50%.

AMD is down 67%, Intel is up almost 52%.

Relative to what date?

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: Tango

Originally posted by: Parasitic
So I think it's time for me to start investing and just building a financial foundation now, and because of that I think I'm going to start dabbling a little in the market (also due to suggestions by parents). However, I have no clue as to where to begin, not even a good trading/investment place to look at, so I thought I'd take up ATOT's advice a little.

Any ideas?

1) Buy a serious book on portfolio management. Not a book on trading. Not a book on stock-picking. Not a book on options and warrants. Not a book on investing ideas. Not a book on how millionaires made their fortunes. Not a book with Donald Trump on the cover.
A book on portfolio management.

2) Read it. Seriously.

3) Build a portfolio with "fake" money and see how it performs. Understand why it performs in that way considering the economic environment of that specific period.

4) Do the same thing with real money, for the rest of your life. Build a low beta, internationally comprehensive portfolio and you simply can't go wrong. If you don't know what a low beta is, that's what the book was for.

Edit:

5) Never ask for investing ideas to brothers/sisters/parents/girlfriends/people on the internet like me. You can make an exception just for this time. :beer:

I had an opportunity to buy eBay when it IPO'd.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: BrownTown
I am no stock expert, but personally what I think is just invest in what you know. Investing in a bunch of companies you have never heard of just by looking at P/E ratios and stuff like that is silly. For example right before Intel came out with Core 2 it was pretty apparent to anyone who had seen the previews that it was gonna beat AMD, so it was pretty obvious to me that Intel stock was likely to go up and AMD go down, and that did eventually happen. If you are a computer nerd and spend all your time here reading about graphics cards and CPUs and stuff than odds are you know more about these companies that 99% of people. I mean I look at xtremesystems.org and they always seem to have new hardware months in advance, so its easy to tell who will have the better product in 3 months just by looking at that one site.

Intel did go up, but not by much. AMD went down 50%.

AMD is down 67%, Intel is up almost 52%.

Relative to what date?

Lows and highs, which were very close to each other.

 

[Parasitic]

So where would I start a "fake portfolio", per se?
Also what's a decent trading site with low fees?

 

[compnovice]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
So where would I start a "fake portfolio", per se?
Also what's a decent trading site with low fees?

Fake portfolio: marketocracy, yahoo

Zero trading fee site: zecco

 

[spidey07]

Buy low, hold.

Diversify.

Take advantage of any dividend reinvestment programs.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
So where would I start a "fake portfolio", per se?
Also what's a decent trading site with low fees?

Ameritrade

There are other sites, but at $10 a trade, how low of a commission are you really wanting?

 

[Special K]

diehards forum

I've learned a lot from reading those message boards. I recommend you at least check it out.

 

[BrownTown]

Concerning Intel/AMD, you would expect that AMD would go down more than Intel would go up because it is a smaller company. Also, I 100% stand by my statement that anyone who is a reader of XS could have see what was coming a mile away, there were leaked Core 2s running at XS at least 4 months before it came out and more than two months before the official previews. Furthermore I told several people this exact thing and further told them to write down the price of AMD and Intel at that point and see what they were six months later and see how much they could have made it they had trusted me, and the returns would have been ~30% for that 6 month span. There is a BIG difference in knowing alot about companies and being emotionally invested in them. Personally I couldn't give a rats ass who wins between AMD/Intel and ATI/Nvdia, but I know a TON about their companies so I would be able to make informed descisions. For example if AMD stock goes up on the release of Barcelona right before Intel releases Penryn which will again another AMD then I would expect AMD to fall back down since Penryn is a cheaper and better part than Barcelona.

 

[arrfep]

I'm a casual investor, with only a couple thousand dollars in only one or two or three stocks at a time. I've been at it for six months and this is what I've learned:

1.) Make lots of mistakes. Seriously. Nothing will make you learn faster and harder than seeing your hard-earned cash go down the drain with the click of a mouse.

2.) Be willing to lose the money. The aforementioned mistakes that you will make will make your life terrible if you can't fully accept the idea of losing money. Which leads to

3.) Don't panic. If you believe in a security, whether through research or gut instinct, don't panic if it drops a few points. In my first month I panicked a couple times and sold on a dip, lower than I bought, because I was afraid of a continued decline. Well if I'd stuck through, I would have doubled my investment on each of these occasions. Instead I lost money. About three weeks ago, I was down 25% on my original investment. As of market closing today, I've gained that all back and am now up about 23% on top of that. Gotta stick with it.

4.) Take everything with a grain of salt. Consult multiple sources. Do your homework. But most importantly...

5.) Do not listen to anything anyone says on a message board about a particular stock.

Good luck.

 

[LuNoTiCK]

Read a ton, and take everything you read with a grain of salt. You'll form your own ideas. I'll recommend this book http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071373616


Edit: Unless you are planning on doing this fulltime, I would not recommend trading, it's a sure way to lose money over the long run.

 

[Argo]

Originally posted by: ricochet

Originally posted by: TheNinja
I just jumped into it and it took a lot of mistakes on my part unfortunately. I probably should have gone 6 months with fake money instead but I didn't. Oh well, live and learn and now I"m a smarter investor. I guess what I'm saying is that you should read up in general and then maybe get some experience with small amounts of money or with fake money.

I made a lot of mistakes too. All with real money. I dabbed with virtual stocks for awhile, but felt I wasn't really into it because the inherent risk wasn't there.

Ditto as well. Made lots of bad decissions first year.