EPTAny tips/links would be appreciated. I just need some sound advice on how to start. Im thinking of starting off with something like $1000 and playing it safe to get a feel for how the market works. Thanks.
Help getting started in stock market
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gameguard
Korea (South)2132 Posts
Any tips/links would be appreciated. I just need some sound advice on how to start. Im thinking of starting off with something like $1000 and playing it safe to get a feel for how the market works. Thanks. | ||
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ShadowDrgn
United States2497 Posts
Starting with $1000 is a bit low because brokers charge commission fees on every trade (5-10 bucks). You can get "x free trades" or "trade free for 30 days" type deals, but they usually require you depositing a larger sum of money than $1000. A general rule of thumb is not to spend more than 1% of any purchase on fees, so you'd be hard pressed to buy more than 2 stocks without incurring excessive fees. Investing in only 1-2 stocks is also akin to gambling, which isn't what you want to be doing. Also, here's a good site for learning the basics: http://www.fool.com/investing/basics/index.aspx I'm a member of their stock advisor service, and I'm up 16% this year despite how crappy the market has been. | ||
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Shivaz
Canada1783 Posts
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bigsack
Korea (North)220 Posts
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gameguard
Korea (South)2132 Posts
On May 12 2009 13:46 ShadowDrgn wrote: First, you sign up with a broker like TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, or Scottrade. Then you transfer funds from a bank account or just mail your broker a check, and then you use that money to buy shares. Starting with $1000 is a bit low because brokers charge commission fees on every trade (5-10 bucks). You can get "x free trades" or "trade free for 30 days" type deals, but they usually require you depositing a larger sum of money than $1000. A general rule of thumb is not to spend more than 1% of any purchase on fees, so you'd be hard pressed to buy more than 2 stocks without incurring excessive fees. Investing in only 1-2 stocks is also akin to gambling, which isn't what you want to be doing. Also, here's a good site for learning the basics: http://www.fool.com/investing/basics/index.aspx I'm a member of their stock advisor service, and I'm up 16% this year despite how crappy the market has been. hmm, I can start with 3000. Is it a bad time right now to be getting into stocks? Whats the deferences between ETF and all those other types of stocks? Would it be a good idea to copy someone's transactions? Is it better to look for longterm investment or try to actively trade. What are some good general strategies? | ||
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ShadowDrgn
United States2497 Posts
Right now is a fairly average time to invest. If you're interested in getting started, now is as good of a time as any. I'm definitely no expert about ETFs or other types of funds - I just buy stocks. You shouldn't try to "actively trade" without knowing anything. You'll essentially be competing with billion dollar hedge funds and supercomputer algorithms. Good luck with that.  The best strategy is to find good companies, buy shares in them, and hold onto them for a long time (as long as the company is still making smart moves). | ||
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Cambium
United States16368 Posts
On May 12 2009 13:40 gameguard wrote: Well, I am a total noob in stocks. I really dont know where to begin. I did some quick reseach and found out that I really dont know anything. All these terms and stuff really confuses me. And I looked at some sites like TradKing.com and I cant really grasp how the system works. Any tips/links would be appreciated. I just need some sound advice on how to start. Im thinking of starting off with something like $1000 and playing it safe to get a feel for how the market works. Thanks. Please take some econ courses before dumping money into the stock market... | ||
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Shivaz
Canada1783 Posts
On May 12 2009 14:15 Cambium wrote: Please take some econ courses before dumping money into the stock market... This would be a good idea. It will be smart to start off with low amounts like $100 (Although you probably won't make much), but if you do lose it you can think of it as a learning experience instead of going oh shit I just lost $1000-3000. | ||
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gameguard
Korea (South)2132 Posts
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Shivaz
Canada1783 Posts
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Jayme
United States5866 Posts
On May 12 2009 14:15 Cambium wrote: Please take some econ courses before dumping money into the stock market... Advanced ones too. Basic macro/microeconomics isn't going to help you understand what you really need to preform in the stock markets. Take basic Macro/Micro.. and then the 2nd semester in both and that should be enough to at least give you a good foothold. Don't do active trades unless you're some sort of market genius, really... just don't. Start REALLY small. You won't make much but it's better than going "well DAMN there goes a couple grand because of lack of experience" After you start gaining some confidence use more money. On May 12 2009 13:48 Shivaz wrote: I don't think this is the right site to be asking this kind of advice. It's a pretty high quality forum with people from all over with good expertise in any amount of subjects. Here is as good as place as any bar the hardcore market/economic forums (there aren't that many good ones) | ||
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decafchicken
United States20140 Posts
Thats all i remember my microecon teacher saying when he briefly touched on investing ~.~ | ||
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mahnini
United States6862 Posts
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DeathSpank
United States1029 Posts
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RHCPgergo
Hungary345 Posts
On May 12 2009 14:28 Jayme wrote: Here is as good as place as any bar the hardcore market/economic forums (there aren't that many good ones) What are these good, hardcore market/economic forums? edit: I also want to get into this stockmarket thing. I've never actually traded before, but I've been watching the hungarian stock exchange for a while. It's far from a perfect market: the trading volumen of most of the papers is not very big: we can call it a smaller market. The forming trends are often blown away by a data or another trend coming from the western stock exchanges. That's why I'm leaning towards trading on bigger, markets. | ||
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jgad
Canada899 Posts
On May 12 2009 14:33 decafchicken wrote: Diversify! Thats all i remember my microecon teacher saying when he briefly touched on investing ~.~ Old wisdom that no longer applies. Diversifying worked during the major bubbles of the past 20 years or so, but that's all turned around at the moment. Not all sectors are doing well right now and certainly many sectors have a bleak outlook for the future. To diversify across everything is the easiest way to mitigate risk, but it is by far not the best. For someone with only a few grand to invest there are a few options, depending on what you want that money to be doing for you. Is it disposable cash that you're looking to risk or is it something you want to keep relatively safe but to make generally better gains than a savings account? Risk tolerance will dictate what you do. If risk is no issue you'll always have higher upside potential by buying one or two very well researched stocks. There are also double bull and bear ETFs that make 200% (gains and losses), for example, of an underlying market, for example HOU, on the TSE, tracks oil at 2X return. When oil was hitting highs last year one share was going for over $220, recently it's been bobbing around $5-6. If oil goes up 10%, HOU goes up about 20%, same if it goes down, so you can get rich or you can get burned. If you want your money in a safer place, I think ETFs and ETNs are the way to go - that way you customise your exposure across sectors. For commodities I like things like RJI, an ETF done by the Swedish Bank, Svensk AB, which tracks the Rogers International Commodity Index. There are also sector specific ones like RJA, RJN, RJZ, which track, in particular, agriculture, energy, and metals. For investment, look for quality companies with low P/E ratios and which pay dividends - in particular, at the moment, I would say that mining, resources, industrial and agricultural sectors are the ones to be in. I've made big gains recently on good Canadian coal and uranium companies - commodities and energy resources are, I think, only going to go higher in the forseeable future. Lots of people are jumping back into the banks, and it may do for a couple weeks or a few months, but personally I think we're seeing a bear-market rally at the moment and a lot of stuff is going to crash further than it already has. I leave it to you to decide for yourself, mind you - it's your money and not mine. I would definitely shy away from ANY stocks in the US at the moment unless you are damned sure about what you are buying. Lots of better buys elsewhere, especially in Asia. There are Asia-specific ETFs, for example, like GXC, EWS, FXI, PGJ, EWH, EWY, etc, which I think will do well in the coming years. I don't know, one could go on - it's a big, huge, messy, tangled world. Getting your head around the markets is a lot of work and requires discipline and commitment. If you rely too much on trusting other people rather than on acquiring knowledge for yourself you will end up bald and with heart problems. Investing in the market requires a cool head and an iron stomach. Don't take it lightly, that's all I can say. | ||
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RHCPgergo
Hungary345 Posts
On May 12 2009 15:33 jgad wrote: Old wisdom that no longer applies. Diversifying worked during the major bubbles of the past 20 years or so, but that's all turned around at the moment. Not all sectors are doing well right now and certainly many sectors have a bleak outlook for the future. To diversify across everything is the easiest way to mitigate risk, but it is by far not the best. What other ways are there to mitigate risk? Diversifying across everything was never the best way, but you definitely should diversify across at least a few things, no? (I'm not calling you out, I'm just seeking knowledge, as you seem to be far better informed about this subject.) | ||
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jgad
Canada899 Posts
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gameguard
Korea (South)2132 Posts
btw, what are some sites you recommend for info on stocks and the economy? btw what do you think about GM? Are they going bankrupt? Im probably way behind on this issue lol.. but i saw that GM stocks are dirt cheap. | ||
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jgad
Canada899 Posts
btw, what are some sites you recommend for info on stocks and the economy? As much as you can afford to read from as many places as possible. Depending on the markets you'll be investing in you'll want to find a good stock screener - just google for them, really, there are lots. Some try to charge you money but there's not much point as there are plenty of free ones unless you're getting serious about putting lots of money in and trading all day long. | ||
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RHCPgergo
Hungary345 Posts
news gm stocks | ||
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gameguard
Korea (South)2132 Posts
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CharlieMurphy
United States22895 Posts
On May 12 2009 14:56 DeathSpank wrote: BUY BUY BUY SELL SELL SELL | ||
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Thavg
United States35 Posts
If you want to invest, you either want to join a mutual fund or do a lot of research and find a company that looks like it's cheap, has potential for growth, or has good dividends. | ||
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Shiverfish
Canada95 Posts
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Ecael
United States6703 Posts
EDIT - Wait, this is the guy that Tuna made that blog about right. Someone tell me I am reading his post too seriously. | ||
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t_co
United States702 Posts
Second, you should watch out for taxes. Taxes work on the 35% short term and 15% long term scale; it's better if you can turn that 1000 into a part of a tax free investment scheme like a Roth IRA or something similiar. Third, you should invest in smaller, less-watched companies because then your analysis of the company has a greater chance of uncovering something new. Fourth, do research that isn't available to all people--e.g. call up the company, call up their customers and their suppliers, get a feel for how good and bad news is flowing out of the firm. Fifth, when you do buy, run a factor regression to figure out how adding (or shorting) the stock into your portfolio will affect your factor exposures. Finally, use tech analysis to pick an appropriate time to buy or short (e.g. when momentum or the charts are going in the direction you want it to go.) | ||
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JeeJee
Canada5652 Posts
on a related note ![[image loading]](http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/stock-market2.jpg) | ||
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jgad
Canada899 Posts
On May 14 2009 10:47 Shiverfish wrote: People need to realize that the stock market is nothing more than another form of gambling and speculation. This is a load of nonsense. Commodity futures is zero-sum (ie:gambling). The stock market, on the other hand, is not a zero sum game - it's investment in growing and productive assets. Even futures trading is only gambling if you don't know wtf you're doing, even though it remains zero sum. In both cases, results are strongly a function of how intelligently you invest. Shit, life is gambling in the sense that it involves an unending series of decisions which balance risk and reward. | ||
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gameguard
Korea (South)2132 Posts
On May 14 2009 12:46 JeeJee wrote: if you're keen on jumping into it, start off with some "safe" ETFs imo, while doing research. tons of it. i've met and shadowed people who trade for a living, and they know what they're doing, as obvious as that may sound. it'll be a big time investment/commitment to have enough knowledge to know how much you don't know and be confident about it. on a related note haha that comic Im still reading up on basics and stuff and playing around with fake money. I got some other shit to focus on right now so maybe this will have to wait ~_~ | ||
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KurtistheTurtle
United States1966 Posts
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TunaFishyMe
Canada150 Posts
The stock market is gambling to a certain extent. But there are definitely ways to minimize your loses and maximize your wins...they aren't bullet proof but they do work if you know what you are doing. Read up on technical analysis. there is a lot to learn but essentially you are analyzing stocks charts looking for specific patterns instead of what happens to the company everyday (who has the time for that). You also need to realize that 10% profit A YEAR is a very good investment (gic pay off like 1% these days?) So if you think about it, at the end of the year if you make 1.1k, you've done well. But since you have to pay fees, if you only made one transacrtion (unlikely) you are already 33% down on your profits. There are sites that give you lower fees HOWEVER, you have to make like 60 trades or something before you get that 5.95 deal. Thats very difficult unless you are a day trader...with 1k, very unlikely. There's a lot to learn about the market. When to cut your losses, when to say I've gained enough, when to hold it. Its not free money, its not easy, you need to understand that. I'm too lazy to explain everything. But one person above mentioned 2x ETF specially with HOU and HOD. I've lost 800 bucks easily on that. Those are risky shit and its ONLY FOR DAY TRADERS (which im not). Those ETFS deterioate your money FAST. WAtch Say Oil is at 100 and you have 100 on it. Oil goes up 10%, your stock goes up 20% (YAY!) 120. Great! Now say oil goes down back to 100. Thats about 9.1% Your stock goes down 18.2% You are now at 98.16! WHAT HAPPENED!?? It went back to 100! I should be at 100!! NO!!!!!!!! you lost 1.84% while oil didnt have a net move! So if you hold your money there, you get fucked. But if you can catch a run (which I dont suggest you go try) you win big. Long story short, dont touch that shit...i lost money on it, and im giving you my experience. O right and diversfy is great. I'm sure you know why but you cant realyl diversify with so little money. say you buy 3 stocks with 1k, you are already down 90 bucks (9%). Can you beat your fees? Very very tough. if you have 3k, you will be down 3%, better. Of course ONLY PLAY WITH MONEY YOU CAN LOSE. And one last thing Gold rigth now is your best friend. Everyone in the right mind will know it. Just fucking buy gold and leave it for a year. Give me 2% commision later. | ||
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TunaFishyMe
Canada150 Posts
On May 14 2009 16:44 jgad wrote: This is a load of nonsense. Commodity futures is zero-sum (ie:gambling). The stock market, on the other hand, is not a zero sum game - it's investment in growing and productive assets. Even futures trading is only gambling if you don't know wtf you're doing, even though it remains zero sum. In both cases, results are strongly a function of how intelligently you invest. Shit, life is gambling in the sense that it involves an unending series of decisions which balance risk and reward. i agree. Its about risk management. Lots of life lessons can be learnt on the market. Know how much risk you are willing to take. If not much, invest in mutual funds, they will beat GICs in the long run. If you can risk, buy options. Mix your portfolio with some of each to hedge losses. There are legit ways to invest safely. Ppl who say its "nonsense" and that it is just gambling just aren;t educated in that area. Sorry dude. | ||
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krndandaman
Mozambique16569 Posts
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GByteKnight
United States11 Posts
Okay. So. Jgad's advice is good. If you want basics, look at The Motley Fool (fool.com) and if you see a word or phrase you don't understand, look it up at investopedia. But for what you're looking to do, less than $5000 with long term growth as a strategy, follow these steps: 1) Don't buy securities you don't understand (security is a catch-all term for stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, anything that's supposed to make you money). 2) Pick industries you know something about. Energy, mining/minerals, video games, pharmaceuticals, retailers, whatever. Each industry has factors that affect it positively and factors that affect it negatively. For instance, high oil prices negatively impact the transportation industry. 3) Pick companies that have good management practices and have good histories of growth and/or consistent dividends, and who have managed to keep a strong position against their competitors. Look at GE, they've been around forever, they are heavily diversified and they know how to be agile and shift their focus to things that will make them money. Pfizer is another good one. 4) Or, pick bonds or other securities which are tax-shielded. Not sure about Korea but in most US States you can get tax-exempt municipal bonds which pay a decent rate and save you a lot of money on taxes. TIPS are US treasury inflation-protected certificates; they pay interest twice a year and their value automatically adjusts to match the consumer price index ("inflation-protected"). 5) Or, if you don't need to touch your money for years, just buy shares in a mutual fund that focuses on small-capitalization businesses. Small Caps are riskier than mid- or large-cap companies (they're typically companies that are early in their lifespans), but historically they provide a larger return. I like Vanguard's NAESX. Other tips: Definitely get a play-money account so you can experiment with riskier investments. Avoid Activision-Blizzard (ATVI) like the ghona-syphi-herpes-AIDS, its movement reeks of manipulation, and its insiders seem to sell off huge chunks whenever it starts an upward move. | ||
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T0fuuu
Australia2275 Posts
Now i have enough again but i dont like the current market. I feel theres too much speculation currently and the movemnt in prices reflects that. Ets, mining tax, greens getting a fair amount of movement, crappy economy and its election year. And then there demand, europe... which is poor as now, and america who are still shit and china who are just hordeing. so i have no confidence in playing resources or the stock exchange at this time. Prolly gonna wait it out a few more months. Theres some bargains to be had but i just dont know enough to go back in since anything goes. Could get no new laws or mining tax only to have lending costs explode again when another country goes broke. Is too iffy. Oh and the aud has been moving alot too :[ | ||
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itzme_petey
United States1400 Posts
However, if you decide to buy a stock and trade it pretty quickly, then do not ever let a trade turn into a longterm investment. Don't get too greedy and don't fool yourself by trying to let the stock rebound or do more dollar cost averaging when its a loser. Be disciplined in selling your winners and losers. | ||
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vnlegend
United States1389 Posts
The article could just be a conspiracy theory, however people with knowledge of the laws on the subject should be able to determine its validity. Check it out. | ||
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EbayElectronics
United States13 Posts
how many of you are offering stock advice, and are actually successful investors?????????????? | ||
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