Goin into Stocks

[Lawrence of Arabia]

the problem with emergine market mutual funds are that they need like 10,000 minimum, and ive got 10% of that.

biotie reported an operating loss of 7.1 million euros last year and is trading at just over $1

[pchang]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia


yeah. the CD grows at like 2.3%, but with interest rates going up, the rate can get better and better. the problem is the small premium that i have. with $1000, it will increase by $25 max every six months. wouldnt it be better to work that premium larger first, with some riskier investment, and then reinvest a portion of those gains into a stable low risk securiity like a CD.

I recommend ingdirect. My saving account there is getting 2.6%. A 1 year CD there would get 3%.

[Provost Harrison]

Drug companies seem to be on the rise now

[sprucemoose3311]

DO research on the World bank, IMF, WTO, and G7...
also look up development communities.

their policies often have great effect on world markets.

for example, the G7 wants Chin to end its 8to1 pegging of the yuan to the us dollar. they feel that the chinese currency is undervalued. if they unpeg their yuan the value could rise to 5to1 or 6 to 1, then you would make money, for extra cash, invest in foriegn government bonds.

For example:
last february, the wto said they wanted a weaker us dollar to help trade deficits in the us, the euro was at1.05 to the us dollar. last december the euro was at 1.31 to the us dollar. in ten months you would have made 26 cents on the dollar.

imagine all those millionaires who work at these institutions...

[Lawrence of Arabia]

so true, but currency speculations is so risky if you arnt on the inside.

[fdgfx]

An interesting biotech company right now is Elan, who lost 80% of its market value in just 4 days because of drup development problems. Panic selling seems to be still going on. Any good news will probably give it a 40-50% boost. Makes for an interesting speculative target.

In general, biotech is the most overvalued and most speculative of all industries. Expectations are high and true breakthroughs rare. If investor/speculator expectations are not met, we are talking about drops of 50% or more in a few days.

I agree that currency speculation is risky, so buying Chinese assets is far better. Some good candidates are China Mobile (CHL), Huaneng Power (HNP, an utility company), Petrochina (PTR), and Shanda Interactive (SNDA, online gaming company). If you are really risk averse, maybe FXI (a tradable fund that includes 25 Chinese companies) is the way to go.

[fdgfx]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Drug companies seem to be on the rise now

Good observation. Especially Pfizer and Novartis are interesting.

[Az]

fdgfx the DL has a point: quite often, a failed experiment will send a bio-tech stock plummeting by tens of percents, only to rebound a couple of days later in a magnificent way, many times, doubling it's worth from the low. silly market.

[fdgfx]

What's a DL?

[Lawrence of Arabia]

What's a DL?

[Lawrence of Arabia]

is china mobile the chinese cell phone maker? or do they provide service (like deutche telekom?)

[Lawrence of Arabia]

for those big companies (oracle, cisco, nokia, and others) who were once at $50 + per share and are now down to the $10 - $20, would it be safe to assume that as the world economy and americas start to pick up, the stock prices will once again go back to those heights (in say 2 years+) ?

edit: wow elan had a huge dropoff. if i had the money now, i would invest in those guy

[fdgfx]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
is china mobile the chinese cell phone maker? or do they provide service (like deutche telekom?)

It's big monopoly offering wireless services in China. It's difficult for cell phone makers to make money these days, too much competition.

[fdgfx]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
for those big companies (oracle, cisco, nokia, and others) who were once at $50 + per share and are now down to the $10 - $20, would it be safe to assume that as the world economy and americas start to pick up, the stock prices will once again go back to those heights (in say 2 years+) ?

Just because a stock has dropped more than 50% from its peak is not a reason to buy. I would rather buy a stock that is making new highs all the time.

However, the ones you mentioned are still very decent companies and worth investing in. I especially like what Cisco is doing these days. I'm not sure about Oracle since I have no information on how its integration of Peoplesoft is proceeding. I have a personal grudge against Nokia since my two biggest losses (percentage wise) happened to be trading Nokia.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

i guess im gonna first do some dry runs where i invest just on paper, see how much money i make, and then proceed from there.