Just wondering if there are any active investors who are playing the stock market among us here in sajha. I am a rookie investor myself, so it would be nice to share a few thoughts, ideas, and tips with those involved in it.

From what I have seen in America, owning your own business or being an wise investor is the only way to build wealth. Well you can always hit the jackpot lottery but what are the odds? Investment, Stock Market, and all the financial jargons related to them can be overwhelming and intimidating for first time investors, even more so if you are an immigrant. So, I hope we can make this a knowledge sharing platform to help those who are interested in learning more about investment and stock market in general. And for those of you who have no interest in stocks or investment at all, here is why may be you should reconsider.

We all know about Dell computer and chances are at one point or another we have all used it. If you had spent $5,000 on Dell stocks in 1998 your return as of today would be over $133,000. Or how about ebay? I know I use it for buying and selling time to time. If you had spent $5,000 on ebay in 2003, guess how much would be the value of your stock today? In less than 3 years your $5,000 investment today would be worth over $47,000 today.

Now I am not saying it's a sure thing because you can lose money in the stock market as well and that is why you need to be wise and do your research. So, if we have interested folks, we can make this a way to help each other in a small way.

Thanks.

Hukka,
Can you email me the montly Fools' recommendations? I would like to see what they recommend for 06.


you can email me by clicking at my nick .

magdadela,
once again good job and three cheers. of course if you went in immediately or even some time after 9-11 in TELCO stocks you made a killing. Sonus went from $0.10 to $9.00. huge killing.
anywhoo.. about Real estates.. if you are looking at REIT's then good for dividend earnings. Now, but if you are looking for actual REAL ESTATE investment, then if you have a decent change.. then it is always a good idea. In long term. real estate's value increases from 5% to 6% p.a.
if you are interested in stocks then i do have some tips for serious investors (O:

TISA,
you are smart. real one. maxing 401K and contributing in ROTH IRA's in early age very good move. You would retire @ least a millionare.. guranteed. Based on your income level think whether it is good to invest in ROTH or traditional IRA. there is a provision of conversion of traditional IRA to ROTH IRA. [ but not vise-versa] so ... think about it. I did convert series of my traditional IRA into ROTH in 2004-2005. these days I am a poor student )O:
about the capital gain taxes.. its not like old time.. .they are taxed in an income tax rate so it depends which bracket you belong in.
Timing is everything in stock market. But we can never do that.. too much risk. my suggestion would be choose stocks based on fundamentals and performance and go for long term.

=====================================================

In this country, saving AND investing lead to wealth building. Just saving and earning money market or CD interest is not enough. Social security benefit may not be at your old age. Also, companies are curtailing retirement benefits. So, save and invest for your future.
Got badly burned and lerned some lessons when the stock market bubble popped. Lost tons of money when then because I was heavy on tech stocks. Luckily, pulled out before being dhoti-na-topi. Good news is I can deduct 3K annual loss for a very long time. Buying a business with the pulled out money has been good though.

Anyway, you have to be very smart and really really lucky to beat the market consistently. Market timing takes too much of your time and doesn't work in the long-run. You lose a lot in transaction cost and added capital gains tax. Invest in stock if you are very good at it and very lucky most of the time. Mutual funds are better in terms of spreading the risk but less flexible. You have to hold for certain time to avoid large transaction fee and they are less flexible. Transactions are credited at the close of the day.

Recently I am drawn to ETFs. They are traded like stocks but act like mutual funds. Fees are quite low too. Some of my broad international funds and S. Korea funds are doing very good. My recommendation is to give heavier weight on ETFs.

Invest for the long run. Pick good stocks or ETFs and see your money grow.

Good luck.

I picked up some stocks of SIRIUS satelite radio a week ago. Eventhough I have lost 20 dollars this week, i strongly feel that it will do good in the next six months or so. Its number of subscribers has gone from 600,000 to about 3.3 million over last year after they made a deal with Howard Stern. The new CEO Mel Karmazin is a veteran in the media business. He ran Viacom which owns, CBS, MTV and other TV stations for a while. Eventhough, I don't like Howard Stern and I don't think I will get a satelite radio anytime soon, this is one good growth stock worth risking your money on. and it is under 7 bucks/stock.

BACH! remind me how did they going to Howard Stern? And what will be impact of that on share value???

well, just the simple fact that Howard Stern attracted so many people to subscribe to SIRIUS tells me that people are willing to pay 12 bucks a month to listen to him babble. As more people subscribe to SIRIUS, it will make more money. Yes, it is not making profit right now, but so did some of the now succesful companies back in their fledging days. And as the company becomes more successful, the stock price should go up. I am not guaranting that it will quadruple in the next six months. Nobody can really be so sure about the stock market anyways. I am merely speculating based on what i read on the news everyday and hoping that my moves are the right one; just as I do when I play a good game of flush. I always play blind and most of the time it has paid off taking the risk.

Nice to see so many of you taking interest and participating. I think that's absolutely brilliant....after all sharing is caring :-)

Some of you had requested that I email you Motley Foo;'s 2006 stock recommendations, so instead I have uploaded the pdf file in one of the free hosting site. It's worth reading, so you can download it from http://www.savefile.com/files/7629400 target=_blank>http://www.savefile.com/files/7629400>http://www.savefile.com/files/7629400

Let me know how you guys find Motley boys recommendations.

Tisa, totally agree with you on 401K investment. As they say you shouldn't be putting all your eggs in one basket. Don't know a whole lot about ROTH IRA, so may be you can share anything you can on that, would be great.

BACH, I too recently purchased 200 of SIRIUS share right after Stern sold his. I am not worried as an investor of that selling by Stern as it is due to more of his own financial trouble than anything wrong with SIRIUS. XM's share is around $25 per share, so you know there is a lot of potential for SIRIUS for growth and I really like the approach they have taken. I am very optimist about this investment and expect to make a "very return" in about 5 years from now.

Couple other things folks had mention above about the cost of tranaction and taxes. I don't think it is as bad as it might sound. I do mine with Scottrade and it is $7 per tranaction and taxes depend on how long you have had the share. The longer you hold on to share the lesser tax % you end up paying. From what I was told by my mentor, taxes are anywhere from 17% - 30%. If someone has more accurate info, let us know.

hukka_nepali, thx for the file. i will read it with great pleasure. i was also wondering if you might have fool's gems. the motley fool selects a small set (10 or so, not sure) of stocks that they consider to be gems. historically, these stocks have performed very well. i was wonderign if you have their latest recommendations.

Here's the link one more time http://www.savefile.com/files/7629400

Oh most definitely zalimSingh. I've got their hidden gems newsletter too and my favorite from that one is this company called Nuance Communications. They do voice activation stuffs and I see it having a bright future. You can learn more about the company and business in the newsletter. I will upload it along with 06 recommendations in the same site.

There are few other hidden gems stocks of my own that I have been keeping an eye on for a while. So if anyone is willing to share their hidden gems I wouldn't mind sharing mine...fair enough?

Alright I have posted the hidden gems newsletter...kinda new to this savefile website so not sure if i got it all together.

here's the link:

http://www.savefile.com/projects/200062

thanks again. now i need to sit down and read the stuff. inflation is slowly but surely eating away a bit of cash, so i need to put it away somewhere. on a side note, stock investing is new to me and has alwasy appeared tricky, so i usually put my stuff in mutual funds, not because i am risk averse, but because stock picking requires a great deal of tiem and effort both before pickign the stock and while monitoring its performance. i got around 10% last year on some vanguard funds. and i am still kicking myself for not investing in the energy fund cos i thought it was overpriced at the time.

You're welcome zalim bro. I too am fairly new to this whole thing, so I know where you are coming from. You need to have friends and mentor when you are investing because there are so many things that goes on and that you need to look out for, sometimes it becomes impossible on your own. That's why I thought I would start something for folks like you and I and be able to help other fellow Nepalis.

BTW are you thinking about going through a stock brokerage or one of the do-it-yourself online sites?

Greed + Fear = Stock Market

Learn it well.


Stock market is not for the individual investor; mark my words. The market makers love inviduals because they know how to rip the shirt off your back; they know how to stretch your spread and feed you the short end of the stick. I advise exreme caution whether you are long, short on the market or play the derivatives- calls, puts, futures, etc.


Much better options

Option A:
Invest in targeted mutual funds or hire a professional money manager if your net worth is >100K. Take advice only from reputed firms.

Option B:
Only invest in the market if you have stock options for the company you work for or you hold a majority interest in a company. Otherwise opt for Option A.

Option C:
Buy a house and/or top up your 401K.

Many individuals get excited because they 'only' see double figure-APY-like returns, i.e. Dell, and rarely know how to properly handle a downside (hedging). Even a long term hold won't dig a company out of its grave if it continually produces a negative cash flow!

-SOAP

Appreciate your input SOAP. Although I don't think Stock Market = Greed + Fear, it might be more like Luck + Patience. But that's just my opinion. Sounded like you had a bitter experience or you might have bought into someone else's experience. I know individuals who have made money from the stock market and I know folks who have lost money. It might not be the right thing for everyone, but the only way to find that out is by trying. I know it's a risk but what is there in life that is safe and 100% guaranteed? Heck this ceiling here could collapse on me even before I finish typing this message...but i hope not :-)

For those who are interested in the market, just got this link from yahoo about 10 fastest growing to rated companies.

http://biz.yahoo.com/special/fast0116_06.html

Wow ,this thread is really picking up.
About ROTH IRA
Strategy One: Start Early
Lots of young people (and sometimes their parents!) don't realize they can contribute to an IRA. One reader recently commented that her child couldn't contribute because he didn't have $3,000 in income. You can contribute an amount less than $3,000! For example, your college-age child had a summer job and earned $1,400. Either the parent or child can contribute up to $1,400 to either a traditional or Roth IRA. You can contribute the maximum amount earned up to a limit of $3,000 for 2004 or $4,000 for 2005.

Strategy Two: Plan Which Investments to Hold in Your IRA
A number of factors will affect your "asset location" decision. Because capital gains rates are relatively low now, you may want to hold appreciating assets, such as stocks, in taxable accounts. Income-generating assets, such as many bonds, may be better held inside your IRA. This will not always be the case, however. If you are young and have a long time until retirement, you'll want growth investments, such as stocks, to fuel appreciating assets inside your IRA.

Tip: If you plan to hold inflation-linked bonds, hold Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities in your IRA. (I-Bonds can be held in taxable accounts.)

Tip: If your portfolio includes company retirement plans, such as a 401(k), use IRA assets to further diversify your entire portfolio. For example, many times your company retirement plan will have good investment options for large-cap stocks, intermediate-term bonds, and cash. But you'll need to use your IRA to further diversify into foreign stocks, mid-and small-cap stocks, real estate funds, or other types of bond funds.

Strategy Three: Convert Part or All of Your Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA
The Roth IRA has one huge advantage over the traditional IRA: You never have to take required distributions at any age. And when or if you choose to take distributions, they are tax-free. That’s because the Roth IRA requires you to pay taxes up front, either when you contribute the money or when you convert from your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

Converting to a Roth isn't a slam-dunk for all investors, though. For starters, you do have to pay taxes sooner rather than later. Further, there is an element of tax risk involved with Roth IRAs--for example, you could decide to convert now based on current tax laws only to discover five years from now that the tax laws change, thereby making your conversion less beneficial. If your Adjusted Gross Income is more than $100,000, you're ineligible to convert. Finally, if you are younger than age 59 1/2, you must pay the tax for a conversion with assets outside of your IRA or you'll get hit with a 10% penalty on top of income taxes.

Thankfully, IRA conversion doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. If you're eligible, you can convert some of your traditional IRA now and convert even more later, thereby managing your tax hit. And the earnings in that Roth IRA continue to grow tax-free for your beneficiaries after your death. Your beneficiaries do have to take required minimum distributions from your Roth IRA after your death. But these distributions can be taken slowly over their own life expectancies.

Tip: Take a look at the top of your tax bracket. Convert just enough of your IRA so that you don't push yourself into the next highest tax bracket. For example, if you are married filing jointly, the top of the 15% tax bracket is projected to be $59,400 for 2005. If you earned $20,000 and you had another $5,000 in investment income, that would still allow you to convert $34,400 without falling into the 25% tax bracket.

Tip: Use Morningstar.com's IRA Calculator to see if a conversion makes sense for you.

Strategy Four: Stretch Out Your IRA by Choosing the Right Beneficiary Option
One of the biggest benefits of IRAs (and other tax-deferred accounts) is the ability to defer paying taxes until a later date. That allows the full value of your account to compound over time. Many investors choose to keep the tax-deferral advantage going as long as possible. This process is known as "stretching out" the value of your IRA. The longer you can delay paying taxes, the greater the possibility that your IRA will grow to even higher balances.

Tip: As part of your overall estate planning, you'll need to think about whom you want to name as your beneficiary. Naming a spouse as beneficiary to your IRA allows him or her to roll over your IRA after your death into his or her own IRA and name a new beneficiary. That can be an excellent way of stretching out the number of years over which you can take distributions.

Tip: If you can't name a spouse as your IRA beneficiary, name a child or grandchild. If you have multiple beneficiaries (such as several children), consider splitting your IRA into separate accounts, each with one beneficiary. Then, after your death, each beneficiary will be able to stretch out distributions based on his or her own life expectancy. If your children are already taken care of in the rest of your estate plan, consider adding a grandchild as your beneficiary for maximum deferral opportunities.

Tip: Talk to your beneficiaries. Your heirs need to understand the value of deferral and compounding assets over time. A lack of planning on your part can mean that an uneducated heir may unwittingly pull out large distributions (or all of the balance) to spend on today's "wants" versus tomorrow's "needs."

Tip: Put your beneficiary preferences in writing, send them to the institutions that hold your assets, and keep a copy for yourself. You should also consider enclosing a card for the institution to send back to you to verify it received your instructions.

Strategy Five: Use Your Minimum Required Distributions to Rebalance
If you have a traditional IRA, you'll need to take annual distributions once you are 70 1/2 years of age. Use those distributions as part of your rebalancing process.

Once retired, you should have anywhere from three to five years' worth of expenses in cash equivalents or short-term bond funds. Withdraw your living expenses from those reserves. Occasionally you'll need to replenish those accounts. Use your IRA distributions as part of that process.

Tip: Don't forget to take your MRD. If you fail to take the correct amount, you'll pay a 50% penalty on the amount you should have taken in addition to ordinary income taxes. Ouch

And folks ,one more suggestion.
Please DO NOT forget about life insurance.
You should have minimum of 10 times your income of life insurance.
Go to accuquote and get your figures online.
It is easy and nowadays they have 30 years term insurance in which your premiums are returned you if nothing happens to you .
As they say life insurance is for the people left behind.

Tisa, I think this thread is more appropriate for discussion of investing (in stocks) rather than financial planning or retirement.

By the way of your interpretation of the market I can see you are a novice hukka; be extremely cautious though that you may not want to throw away your hard earned dollars. Stock picking is something you don't want to do- individual investors just don't have the tools, expertise, experience, professionalism, etc. that professional money managers and traders have. When I interned at Susquehanna (market maker- http://www.susq.com/) many years ago working on their trading system you would be surprised what they have at their disposal and what you are up against, mainly a very sophisticated trading and analysis systems. And there is no way you can compete!

Let's say you buy into a stock- you may say, well I am for the long haul and the company looks healthy, etc. but what do u do when they have one bad quarter or a scandal breaks out? Do you hold, sell, or buy more? These decisions are better if left to professional firms like Susquehanna or money managers at JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, etc. I hope that makes sense to you.

Investing is like raising a kid; you can't be sure what troubles the kid may get into if you leave him/her alone. I am sure many of you have jobs and can't devote your full time to investing- therefore, it'd be better to let someone else (the ones mentioned in my post above) who DOES devote his/her full time to watch over your investments. Only cost to you is a small fee, which is obiviously close to nil when you think about how pooled investments like a fund works (same way venture capitalists pool money before investing in a startup).

I hope this helps!

-SOAP

Hukka Nepali,

Thank you very much for sharing. You are a good man(or woman).

I look forward to hearing more from you about investing.

Thanks a lot Tisa, for answering my query on ROTH IRA. So how do I go about opening ROTH IRA account? I am on company sponsored 401K plan and I do my stocks from scottrade. Do I need to go through a brokerage firm or can I set that up from website like scottrade and ameritrade? And let me summerize my understanding of ROTH IRA one more time here....so it is basically like your 401K, and can put aside up to $4000 a year in tax free income. Once you open an account, you have the flexibility of buying shares of your choice and any income you make from that investment can only be used upon your retirement? Please correct me if I am wrong and also thanks for your advice on Life Insurance. I am a young single person so only have company's life insurance policy, but once I have family and kids, I will definitely buy six figure policy and anyone with family must must have it...especially in a place like America.

Chatmandude, I am a man so please refer to me as a brother :-) and you are very welcome about the newsletter...hope you learned a few new tips from it. I will continue to upload other related files in the same site, so everyone feel free to download it anytime you want.

One other thing....few folks above were talking about shares that pays dividend. Couple stocks I know that pays really high dividend are: Fording Canadian Coal Trust (FDG) - this company pays $5.50 in dividend which is 14.40% of its share priced at $38.25 per share.

Another high dividend paying company is Souther Copper Corp. (PCU) - it pays $6.37 in dividend which is 9% of its share priced at $71.01 per share.

If I had more money to invest, I would definitely buy some FDG shares since its dividend is awesome for the price of its share. Best thing about dividends are you only have to pay 15% tax on 'em.