I’ve got some capital but all the stocks I’m watching are up. I’m mainly watching oil and gas, and petrochem. I guess right it’s booming, but I’m sure it’s gonna bust again.
My 2c for beginning investors: your best bet is to get yourself an online simulator and just mess around until you get something going. If you have a good track record after a while, try going at it with minimum stakes (1 share at a time, etc.). Gradually invest more as your performance improves. Treat your growing experience like a video game and have fun!
There is nothing to it but practice and experience like anything else. Don’t be afraid to experiment, but never make the mistake of getting through the learning curve with a live account (like I did when I started out… ouch).
And especially important: don’t listen to tips or “common knowledge/sense”. Do your research first. Be skeptical about everything, and never buy the hype. That’s all I can say.
Oh man, there’s so much stuff you can do wrong when investing, it’s not funny, lol. Those are some hard lessons to learn when you’re playing with meaningful stakes. I just hope the people I give advice to lose less money than I did when learning this stuff. Stick to online simulations for as long as you need to, and ignore the haters who say you have no balls!!
I somehow missed this post… Would love to hear more about it. Sounds like an idea that could work if you know what you’re doing.
Thanks for the advice H. Knight. :tup: Gonna look up an online sim and practice until I can win.
-Starhammer-
Money you invest with is supposed to be money you don’t need at minimum a year. If you have debt and don’t make consistent income as a professional musician, I think $12k isn’t something you’d want to tie up in the markets or an illiquid savings account. Consider if $12k is better served as emergency living money, or if you’d rather not have access to it for a year (or longer) and make only single digit returns on it.
While you could theoretically go all in on a hot stock and ride up the next rally for decent gains, it’s more likely (as a newbie) you’ll buy a stock / index and sell at a loss when it goes against you. For example, Apple stock is down 10% from its recent highs, but it’s gained over 50% since the beginning of the year. You buy here thinking you’ll recover that 10% ($1,200). What happens if it falls 5% - will you freak out and sell out at a loss, or risk another 5%? What research / evidence / indicator do you have that makes you confident in your decision to buy and sell at X price? The same questions apply if you buy entire index fund.
But definitely start learning about financial markets and how money / financial assets works in general, so you’ll be prepared to make an informed decision if / when an investing opportunity presents itself.
Book recommendation: Come Into My Trading Room by Alexander Elder. This is a great book to give an introduction of what a professional day trader does (basically, don’t try to be a day trader if you have another job). Even if you don’t day trade, short term swing trading and long term investing require research (technical charting / company evaluation), money management skills, and mental discipline.
Thanks for the advice! I wasn’t looking at investing the whole 12k I was thinking more along the lines of 1k and starting small. I can’t afford to lose the whole thing, especially when my money isn’t as steady right now. I just wanted to start trying to do something like this now while I have a little to play with I guess.
But I’ll definitely check out that book and try the online simulator suggestion.
Yo, Remonster, sounds like you trade, or at least know something. What’s your style?
I’ve been day/swing trading Eur/Usd for about a year now, but I’ve been gravitating more towards futures. The access to order flow and other tech software is just too good. I’m pretty conventional in that I like ES, though I’ve got an eye on CL and ZB as well.
I was trend trading leveraged ETFs (energy, gold, and s&p), but I’ve been flat since QE Infinite was announced. I’ve been interested in trading e-minis eventually. What’s your trading platform?
Ahhhh, there’s a finance thread! I’m an actuary and live, breath, and study finance. I’ve found a new home on the web.
I argue that now is the time to pay off old debt. I predict the market will be flat for the coming year.
It sure is acting this way. I’ll probably wait until there is a little hiccup (for prices to drop) to invest.
Sweet. I’m using the free version of NinjaTrader atm and using free trials of data feeds to make demo trades. They’ve been cutting down on those, though…
Actually, I’ve been having a hard time finding a good platform to learn on. I’m not about to drop $60~250+/mo just for paper trading. So far Ninja’s been the best since it’s “free”, but I’m sure there has to be better out there. If you have any suggestions I’m wide open, lol.
this thread got kinda burried during the holidays. I know more people should need it now, so let’s get it re-started!!! Speaking of which, I finally saved up $2000. Next step should be starting soon.
-Starhammer-
So I’m curious on something.
My brother in law and his Baby mother decided that for college - they’d put $20 each in a savings account each week. My wife and I are trying to figure out how we want to approach our son’s savings - and were curious what approaches others were making.
- :bluu:
Got a question for the crew…
I’m thinking that grabbing stocks that pay quarterly (hopefully monthly) dividends is the way I want to go. Luckily, I managed to pull an extra #10,000 that I can use in addition to the $1200 I’ve been saving. Where should I start looking for stocks that will give me an extra paycheck per month? I’m guessing that stocks that stay steady are what I want to go for, but I would like some advice. Thanks in advance.
-Starhammer-
BP’s stock is stable with a pretty high dividend.
Thanks TV. I’m checking that right now. Another thing is, How does one go about calculating the dollar amount a share will produce in dividends? I’ve still got a lot of reading to do, but I think knowing this will help me to be able to more quickly decide which stocks to get and which ones to avoid.
-Starhammer-
There are some dividends information here:
http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9038546&contentId=7070877
Really what we should have done is bought a ton of Marathon Petroleum Company a year ago. I think it went up because they decided to buy the refinery in Texas City, TX.
what do you all think of this place? http://www.wyattresearch.com/ I’ve decided that what I want to do is go for dividends. An extra paycheck per month would be sweet, especially if I can keep turning up the power on it. Between this and searching for a new house, I’m gonna get busy getting paid this year. Holla if you’re down with that.
-Starhammer-
Any tips for a new guy trying to get into stocks, bonds and what not?
I don’t have mad extra cash just a couple hundred extra a month and going forward, I’d like to try and make some profit off my cash… where does a newb begin?
I think the best thing you can do right now is to read this thread from first post all the way to the end. The advice on the first page alone will save you lots of loot and will help get you into the mindset you’re going to want for investing. also, www.investopedia.com is a good place to bookmark. Get used to learning all the lingo and meanings behind them. another thing I’ve done is invest in a copy of a book called the motley fool investment guide. I’m reading it now and the info in it may very well prove to pay for itself. I hope that helps out.
…And I would choose the big dick. Skill my ass, I’m gonna crush dat chick’s pelvis.
-Starhammer-