This Wonderful Market!

[MRT144]

how does someone with 2500 dollars follow that advice?

[LordShiva]

The Vietnamese Real Estate market is where it's at

The "no actively managed funds" advice doesn't quite hold in "frontier" markets, where trading is thin and the institutions immature.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly


edit: My brother-in-law invests by picking a bundle of stocks, holding until they increase 20% in value, then selling -- regardless of how high he thinks they could go, he disciplines himself to that 20%. Is this some sort of common strategy, or just his quirk?

LOts of people do similar things since you are realizing gains that could disappear if the stock goes down

I don't do that-- I buy a stock I believe will appreciate and hold it until I would not buy it at the price it is currently selling at

People get too caught up in what they paid-- personally, once I have made a decision to buy a stock, I try to forget the purchase price and sell only when I would not want to buty the stock at its current price-- Its a pretty simple rule and has helped me to hold on to an "underperforming" stock that later jumped or caused me to dump something even after taking a small loss (when some circumstances changed

[Flubber]

Originally posted by MRT144


well thats where some of this cramer philosophy kicks in. He reasons that the younger you are, the bigger the risks you should take (note that this doesnt mean taking only risks). The idea behind it is, the gains you can make while youre young are pretty good while if you lose it, you still have time to make it up.

Its pretty much conventional wisdom that the younger you are , the more risk you can accept. Risk usually equates out to greater price fluctuations which over a span of decades usually means much higher rates of return.

[Elok]

No, just an example. The stock market strikes me as a lottery, only more complicated and with rapidly changing odds based on forces utterly beyond our ability to control or even detect. Plus it requires a much larger investment, though it compensates by having a less extreme distribution of returns...usually. 'Course, that means you don't win massive jackpots either, even though you don't lose completely at anywhere near the same rate. And when you do lose completely, you lose a lot more than a dollar or five or ten.

TBH, I wouldn't do the lottery, or poker, or the stock market. I dislike the idea of money gained and lost through transactions with no actual physical or intellectual commodity exchanged in return. Given the amount of savvy it requires to play the stock market well, I'd rather learn a normal trade and contribute to society as I prosper--as opposed to throwing fistfuls of cash into a tornado with everyone else and hoping more gets thrown out at me than I initially put in.

Well, no, I'm an aspiring author, so I wouldn't really contribute to society in all likelihood. But at least I'd be selling something tangible, and I could have confidence that I succeeded or failed mostly based on my own efforts.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Elok
No, just an example. The stock market strikes me as a lottery, only more complicated and with rapidly changing odds based on forces utterly beyond our ability to control or even detect. Plus it requires a much larger investment, though it compensates by having a less extreme distribution of returns...usually. 'Course, that means you don't win massive jackpots either, even though you don't lose completely at anywhere near the same rate. And when you do lose completely, you lose a lot more than a dollar or five or ten.

TBH, I wouldn't do the lottery, or poker, or the stock market. I dislike the idea of money gained and lost through transactions with no actual physical or intellectual commodity exchanged in return. Given the amount of savvy it requires to play the stock market well, I'd rather learn a normal trade and contribute to society as I prosper--as opposed to throwing fistfuls of cash into a tornado with everyone else and hoping more gets thrown out at me than I initially put in.

Well, no, I'm an aspiring author, so I wouldn't really contribute to society in all likelihood. But at least I'd be selling something tangible, and I could have confidence that I succeeded or failed mostly based on my own efforts.

IT may seem like that random wild and crazy thing at times but I think you overstate the chaos. Rates of return on a balanced portfolio will over time be moderately predictable.While there are some fads or bubbles or herd mentality at times, most stock valuations can be fairly easily understood with reference to indicators such as revenues, profits etc or based on economic forecasts

[MRT144]

Originally posted by Elok
No, just an example. The stock market strikes me as a lottery, only more complicated and with rapidly changing odds based on forces utterly beyond our ability to control or even detect. Plus it requires a much larger investment, though it compensates by having a less extreme distribution of returns...usually. 'Course, that means you don't win massive jackpots either, even though you don't lose completely at anywhere near the same rate. And when you do lose completely, you lose a lot more than a dollar or five or ten.

TBH, I wouldn't do the lottery, or poker, or the stock market. I dislike the idea of money gained and lost through transactions with no actual physical or intellectual commodity exchanged in return. Given the amount of savvy it requires to play the stock market well, I'd rather learn a normal trade and contribute to society as I prosper--as opposed to throwing fistfuls of cash into a tornado with everyone else and hoping more gets thrown out at me than I initially put in.

Well, no, I'm an aspiring author, so I wouldn't really contribute to society in all likelihood. But at least I'd be selling something tangible, and I could have confidence that I succeeded or failed mostly based on my own efforts.

stories arent tangible, their value only exsists in the mind of a reader.

[pchang]

Vanguard Life Strategy Growth

Originally posted by MRT144
how does someone with 2500 dollars follow that advice?

Put the whole thing in there. It is about 80% Stocks (with 15% of that in International stuff) and 20% in Bonds.

The Vanguard Target Retirement X stuff will do pretty much the same thing, except that as you get closer to X, it will shift more into bonds and less out of stocks. In fact, at your age, the starting percentages are probably closer to 85% Stock, 15% Bonds.

[pchang]

Very Boring

The above recommendation is very boring. You basically put it in and forget about it. This is why I say that if you want to play, look at something like Dogs of the Dow.

[MRT144]

i will do that asap.

[Provost Harrison]

I have a few shares in my employer...I get them as a buy-one-get-one-free offer...plus I don't pay tax on that money

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
I have a few shares in my employer...I get them as a buy-one-get-one-free offer...plus I don't pay tax on that money

Its always smart to participate in employer matching programs-- actually a better way to put it is that it is incredibly dumb not to

Immediatre 100% rate of return on your investment!!

My employer matches up to 5 % of my salary and there are no restriction on when I take it out ( although there would be tax implications)

Oh and Provost-- somehow or other at some point you will pay tax on what your employer matches

[pchang]

Taxes on share gains in the UK

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
I have a few shares in my employer...I get them as a buy-one-get-one-free offer...plus I don't pay tax on that money

Is there such a things long term gains vs. short term gains in the UK?

If so, I recommend selling your shares as soon as they qualify for the lower tax rate. You don't want your income and your savings tied to the same thing (your employer). If they came upon hard times and let you go, you would be out of your income and your savings.

[Flubber]

Re: Taxes on share gains in the UK

Originally posted by pchang



I recommend selling your shares as soon as they qualify for the lower tax rate. You don't want your income and your savings tied to the same thing (your employer). If they came upon hard times and let you go, you would be out of your income and your savings.

I agree in principle. If the company tanked you could lose your livlihood and a lot of share value at once. personally I don't worry so much about the tanking part since I work for a major oil company.

Originally posted by pchang



If they came upon hard times and let you go, you would be out of your income and your savings.

I didn't understand this unless you are contemplating the failure of his employer with a huge drop in stock price. Getting let go would suck but under my plans all my shares are mine from day 1 including any employer matching. They do it by payroll deduction and do the matching immediately as well so that all purchases benefit from dollar cost averaging.

[MRT144]

s for those advocating a bear market and pulling out into cash, when do you re enter the market? after an interest rate cut? after the s&p drops some? what indicator gives you the green light again?

im just curious because i know that even in a recession certain sectors do well and perform. but it seems that pull out into cash is a drastic measure that you do just before you percieve a crash. am i wrong about this? are there other reasons to put into cash besides a crash?