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what's the deal with investments?

Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
I understand cash, savings account, and checkings account. My friend was looking at stock in Google and Ebay and stuff. What's the deal with stocks and investments and all that stuff?

Also, there a good place to read about it?
 
Originally posted by: NogginBoink
www.fool.com is a good place to start.

If you plan on retiring, it's very much in your own best interested to learn everything you can.
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awesome, thanks! yah, my boss is mad because of the social security deal...I'm not going to place any stock in whatever goes to the government...if it's not in my account, I'm not counting on it lol.
 
Personally, i stay way from stocks like google, yahoo or ebay...major brand names like that. but that's me.
 
I don't buy individual sotcks, I prefer what fool.com recommends, an S&P 500 index mutual fund like Vanguard's VFINX. It gives you little pieces of 500 different major stocks at once, which takes most of the risk out of investing in stocks.
 
Originally posted by: pyonir
Personally, i stay way from stocks like google, yahoo or ebay...major brand names like that. but that's me.
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how come? I'm just reading now about the different kinds of investments and stuff on fool.com. Wouldn't you want something big and steady?
 
Originally posted by: Kaido
Originally posted by: pyonir
Personally, i stay way from stocks like google, yahoo or ebay...major brand names like that. but that's me.
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how come? I'm just reading now about the different kinds of investments and stuff on fool.com. Wouldn't you want something big and steady?
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big doesnt equal steady
 
Originally posted by: xSauronx
Originally posted by: Kaido
Originally posted by: pyonir
Personally, i stay way from stocks like google, yahoo or ebay...major brand names like that. but that's me.
Click to expand...

how come? I'm just reading now about the different kinds of investments and stuff on fool.com. Wouldn't you want something big and steady?
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big doesnt equal steady
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true, but a couple big ones like Google and Ebay have been making steady progress. I know that things aren't for sure in the market...I'm just trying to understand why pyonir stays away from major brand name stuff.
 
Originally posted by: Kaido
how come? I'm just reading now about the different kinds of investments and stuff on fool.com. Wouldn't you want something big and steady?
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People that gamble on individual stocks like the smaller companies because the price varies more, so there's a chance to catch a big change in price if you time your buying and selling properly. Of course there's also the chance to lose big if you guess wrong.

You'll hear from people here telling about big wins, just like from the people who went to Vegas. But in general, most people picking individual stocks do worse than a "passive" mutual fund like the VFINX S&P 500 fund I recommended.
 
Most people drop money into large companies like Microsoft, Intel, P&G, GE, Wal-Mart, GM, etc.

Then they let it sit. But your money will probably not grow at a steady clip as if you invested in individual stocks.

High risk = high return.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Originally posted by: Kaido
how come? I'm just reading now about the different kinds of investments and stuff on fool.com. Wouldn't you want something big and steady?
Click to expand...
People that gamble on individual stocks like the smaller companies because the price varies more, so there's a chance to catch a big change in price if you time your buying and selling properly. Of course there's also the chance to lose big if you guess wrong.

You'll hear from people here telling about big wins, just like from the people who went to Vegas. But in general, most people picking individual stocks do worse than a "passive" mutual fund like the VFINX S&P 500 fund I recommended.
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yah, right now I think I want something safe that I can drop money in. so, who do I give the money too? 😀
 
What's the deal with cars? What's the deal with electricity? What's the deal with a library? What's the deal with google? Someone, please help!
 
The stock market is the quickest (legal) way of having your money make money. Savings accounts are a tragedy, unless you need liquid funds available at all times.

Fool.com is decent, as is yahoo's finance site.
 
Originally posted by: Kaido
yah, right now I think I want something safe that I can drop money in. so, how do I give the money too? 😀
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If you have at least $1,000 you can start a Roth IRA at www.Vanguard.com and get VFINX shares with no transaction/purchase fees.

Roth IRA is the one you buy with "after tax" money, up to $3,000 a year if you have a job. You don't get a tax deduction, but the money grows tax-free.

If you have more than $3,000 you can set up a regular brokerage account with them. People also like ScottTrade and sharebuilder.com (I haven't used either myself, my accounts are at Schwab).

 
Originally posted by: sygyzy
What's the deal with cars? What's the deal with electricity? What's the deal with a library? What's the deal with google? Someone, please help!
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What's the deal with homework?

(Insert obligatory Seinfeld quote here ___)
 
Originally posted by: shenaniganz
Originally posted by: sygyzy
What's the deal with cars? What's the deal with electricity? What's the deal with a library? What's the deal with google? Someone, please help!
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What's the deal with homework?

(Insert obligatory Seinfeld quote here ___)
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wish I knew...still working on my circuit analysis homework 🙁
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Originally posted by: Kaido
how come? I'm just reading now about the different kinds of investments and stuff on fool.com. Wouldn't you want something big and steady?
Click to expand...
People that gamble on individual stocks like the smaller companies because the price varies more, so there's a chance to catch a big change in price if you time your buying and selling properly. Of course there's also the chance to lose big if you guess wrong.

You'll hear from people here telling about big wins, just like from the people who went to Vegas. But in general, most people picking individual stocks do worse than a "passive" mutual fund like the VFINX S&P 500 fund I recommended.
Click to expand...

Dave's first paragraph pretty much sums it up for me. And, i'd rather have 100 shares of a few different stocks, than 20 of one of the overpriced large name brand. Not all large stocks are overpriced, but a lot of them are.

I also agree that funds are the best way to go, if you can afford them.
 
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