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.

I was in, not out yet, ha ha
I am proponent of efficent market. I dont think there is any arbitrage opportunity in the world out there. Do some analyticals and determine if they are growth stcosk. and if they grow at the same rate that you think of, ofcourse they will go up. Why dont other investors get those growth stocks then? because there are millions of companies to invest and they do. They invest the same way you do. I dont believe that any stocks out there are undervalued or overvalued. Their prices show the fundamentals of those companies. Get one that you think has sound management practices and will work on shareholders behalf on long run.

Hi unclesam,

If I were you, I would sign up with one of the online brokerage, as they are fairly simple to use. I use scottrade (www.scottrade.com) and they charge you flat $7 for buying and selling stocks, regardless of the number of stock. Guest4 has a good point about observing the market for a while before start investing, so that you get a better feel for market flow.

Go to this site and download the 2006 stock recommendation by Motley fool.
http://www.savefile.com/files/7629400

This should be a good starting point for you. Let us know how is it going, and we'll be glad to help.

i am not in stock market......:).
i knew thugged_out was not 31... when people are 31, they talk mature...really mature.

LOL, you're wrong lfc123. You haven't met any immature 30 year old, it seems. I have. Just go to http://www.yahoo.com and click on one of the news articles and then go to the message board.

If anyone has been following industry for U.S. Automotive Industry or Oil Industry- any input, info, or link to the articles would be highly appreciated? I was specifically looking for price caps effect on Oil prices in the United States, or the effect of mergers and acquisition, and the possible protection policy imposition on Automotive industry?

Thank You.

i don't have any intention of meeting 30 year olds...not for the next ten years at least....

Buffet on EMT, ' Modern Portfolio theory tells you how to be average. But I think almost anybody can figure out how to do average in the fifth grade.'
Hagstrsom, ' Nonethless, EMT is still religiously taught in business schools, a fact that gives Buffett no end of satisfaction.'
Buffett, ' Naturally the disservice done to students and gullible investment professionals who have swallowed EMT has been an extraordinary service to us and other followers of Graham. From selfish standpoint, we should probably endow chairs to ensure the prepetual teaching of EMT."

One interesting fact on Buffet is that he isn't much into diversification, which is what sets him apart from other big named investors. I don't mean he only owns one stock but what I mean is once if you do your research well; to get the maximum return on your investment you need maximize your initial investment as well. The reason I bring this point is, as we are starting to see more folks here interested in investing but not knowing much about the stock market might want to use this strategy.

Since, you have limited fund available to start with, you might want to find that one stock you like and see potential for the future and do your research on it (i.e. look at the stock chart, balance book, management, clients, competitors, etc). So, as a starter you are not overwhelm by trying to find a bunch of stocks or having to follow them or worry a lot about stock charts.

This strategy has worked for me that's why I thought it would be wroth while to mention it here. I had to learn this the hard way when I first started investing couple years ago. Right out of college and in my early 20s, I felt like I was ready for the world and knew exactly what I was doing (i had read my investment books, i had observed the market, i did my "some what of a" research on the stocks i was intersted in) but it turned out I wasn't yet prepared for the stock market. Started to notice a trend in my portfolio, I would lose some on few stocks and gain some on other stocks. So, all in all I wasn't making much profit at all and even loss at times. So, sold most of my stocks and kept only 4 stocks that I had researched well on really liked for its future potential and changed my strategy to add 1 new stock every 3-6 months after doing my research and the stock's market analysis. So, I guess the lesson I learned is that diversify but not at once...take time to do so. I'm glad to say this strategy has really worked well for me. I added metal stock (NYSE:TIE) about 4 months ago and its price has more than double since then. My mindset then was we are in a construction and destruction era and you need metal for both. Just recently I added an ethanol stock (NasdaqNM:PEIX), considering the gas prices, sooner or later consumers will be forced to look into an alternative and ethanol looks in the front runner for that. This stock has gone up over 25% in less than a month.

Well anyhow, that my investment story so far and I really hope this more personal and realistic approach will help understand the stock market in simple ways to our novice investors or anyone else who is interested in this topic.

All advice / analysis in good faith. Goo lucks!

P.S. BriLLiaNt-BruNeTTe, sorry don't know much about the automotive industry or oil industry or else would have love to help you out with it. But one thing to note as you do your research is never you will see both of these industries at its peak. Right now automotive industry is suffering due to high gas prices where as old industry is making record profit. So, just based on that fact I would love to see mergers and acquisitions of automotive industry by oil industry and vice versa. I think that would be really good for the consumers.

Talking about Warren Buffett, one thing I really admired about him was the way he followed his company. Robert Hagstrom mentions about what Buffett looked for. He looked for products that could not be replaced in our everyday lives. For example, he started off investing in coca-cola because he saw a trend that it was addictive, and there was nothing close neough in the market that would replace it. Another thing I have noticed is that people tend to see the news, and see what stock is going up and go to buy those ones. Some of the investors I know buy the stock when its on its low, so eventualy when the market comes up again, they end up making a profit. How long you want to hold it is a gamble on your part I guess !

Although I dont invest, I'm learning a lot reading your discussion. Thank you guys :)

Yeah, the reason he invested in Coca Cola was because it was going through some "scandals" at that time, from what I understand. My understanding is that he has loaded up on Wal-Mart recently. They're going through their own "scandals" as well. Yes, the best bet is to follow the "value investing" approach. We have to be very careful though. Many companies that are on the bottom are there for a reason. It's not easy to find good companies. I am not an expert in this matter.
Hmm, ethanol is definitely a good idea.

Anyone else feeling the market pain lately? Talk of interest rate hike and inflation on the rise have had stiff affect on the stock market. On top of all that the drop in commodities has really hurt my portfolio.....almost seems like a metal bubble burst!

At the same time if anyone was thinking about getting in on the stock market, right now might be a good time to get in as you are getting everything for a bargain.

P.S. hey thugged out Sirius Satellite's stocks are trading for under $4....you in yet?? 52 weeks low right now....don't see it going further down.

guys,
pls give up SIRI for now.. pls pls stop following Jim Cramer and etc... it seems like ages when I first saw this thread and said SIRI IS A bad investment..........

lfc jyu... u need not be 31 or 30 to invest in STOCKS. I was 24 when i started (O: .......
that was couple of years ago.. (O:

here are my picks for next couple of years.

C
BAC bank of america
GM general Motors
INTC intel
AMD

that's enuff for now.. I am not going to give up my whole protofolio (O:
====================================================
as always
what do i know (O:

which stock is best for buy now? any idea?

almost a year since my recommendation (O:
C
price 05/23/06 : $ 46.64
price 05/21/07 : $ 54.84
Gain = $ 8.20
dividend = $ 2.06 [ provided that dividend not reinvested ]
total % gain = 10.26/46.64 = 22.00%
Initial investment of $1000 would be $1220

BAC
price 05/23/06 : $ 46.22
price 05/21/07 : $ 51.23
Gain = $ 5.01
dividend = $ 2.18 [ provided that dividend not reinvested ]
total % gain = 7.19/46.22 = 15.56%
Initial investment of $1000 would be $1155.60


GM
price 05/23/06 : $ 23.75
price 05/21/07 : $ 31.28
Gain = $ 7.53
dividend = $ 1.00 [ provided that dividend not reinvested ]
total % gain = 8.53/23.75 = 35.92%
Initial investment of $1000 would be $1359.20


AMD
price 05/23/06 : $ 31.79
price 05/21/07 : $ 15.43
Gain = ($ 16.36)
dividend = $ 0.00 [ provided that dividend not reinvested ]
total % gain = (16.36)/31.79 = (51.46%)
Initial investment of $1000 would be $485.40 (loss of 514.60)


INTC
price 05/23/06 : $ 17.58
price 05/21/07 : $ 22.63
Gain = $ 5.05
dividend = $ 0.426 [ provided that dividend not reinvested ]
total % gain = 5.476/17.58 = 31.14%
Initial investment of $1000 would be $1311.40


so your total investment of $5000 would be $5531.60
10.632% APY... that is a far less than S&P 500 performance for the same year.
)O: bad me )O: ...

THAT is why you are not a professional money manager. Let's face it 11% on a Bull market is hardly a return- what if last year was like 2000? What would you have done with your position? Do you ride it out or jump off the train?

Investing in stocks is NOT for individuals- you can buy and hold onto it for dear life, but that is not investing!

If you are really keen on playing the market try derivatives- start with calls and puts; you only have so much to lose this way. Investing in anything else without having the right tools/technique/experience is SIMILAR to throwing away money- the market makers will EAT you alive.

Oh, and you may also want to start invesing in the pooled funds over at Fidelitys, Vanguards, T. Row Prices, Leggett Masons of the world...well at least until you learn what hedging can do for you!

I bagged $3000 on INTC. Bought it at 18.25 and sold at sold at 22.50.

F22, a good trade, but not quite eggsactly..... I guess holding it more would have been a better idea. Remember, move the trailing stop up, hai na? Do not sell when you are heading up North is the mantra, but I bet you must have a reason to it, kasso?

Javabeans,
agree w/ ya it looks more like long-term bank returns, but slightly better w/ return interest rate.

Best~!

-B

hey guys if you are looking to invest try this site before you invest your hard earned money. try www.virtualstockexchange.com.

It is a real simulation of the stock market. In my Finance class, I had to do investing of virtual cash in this site. It was a competition and guess what I came first with a total return of $45000 in 6 weeks. I started with $100000 though. heheh..

ok. of course. 11% is hardly a return. (O: but i do not have to break my head every day or watch my protfolio. may be i am a lazy person. but this is what i do.
once a year i change the composition and decide what to hold or sell.
but for me 11% (APY) is ok (O:
here is my recommendation for next year. (copied from other thread)

MRK ($55.00)=> 18.18 shares
PFE ($27.52)=> 36.34 shares
VZ ($42.58)=> 23.49 shares
T ($40.55)=> 24.66 shares
C ($55.12)=> 18.14 shares

I will hold onto my original investment in
C(22.25)
BAC(22.56)
INTC(57.95)
AMD(31.46)
and sell my position in GM and get some more of AMD. Gives me 88 more shares.
===============================================================================
we will see next year (O: about my loss and gain

Outlook for 2007 (only) for:

C
GE
BUD
INTC
PFE

please. Anyone?