Stocks

[BART]

Looking to play a little in the stock market but when it comes to stock, i'm retarded. I have some cash I want to invest and was just curious if anyone dabbles or can give me a crash course. Some people tell me to go with blue chips, but i'm thinking about toyota... their in trouble with the recalls so maybe now is the time to buy into them cheap. Like I said, I know nothing so any advice/thoughts would be appreciated.

[spanx]

Go to your bank and buy Cds your gauranteed to make money over time.

[2jack3jack]

Invest in fast food while their stock is kind of low.

[Howlsatmoonlight]

I would invest in something like a Roth IRA. Its basically the same as the stock market, except someone else is investing your money, while you choose whether you want low, medium or high risk investments. It also helps come tax time, and unlike a traditional IRA there is no penalty for early withdrawal of your money. It is typically capped on how much can be invested per month though.

If you are set on doing it yourself though, first thing you need to do is open a basic stock account, I would suggest with a company like ETrade, who charges a much lower fee per investment than a traditional broker. They also have tools that help determine which stock to invest into. I would suggest starting with what they call 'penny stocks', which are shares that are usually under $5 a share.

Playing the market is not as fun as it sounds, and returns are usually measured over months, years and decades. This is the main reason I say let someone else do the work, and just open something like a Roth IRA. If you have any questions just send me a PM, and I will help as I can

[AJB32690]

Interesting that you ask this, since I've been doing a lot of thinking about investing as well. I would suggest starting with something smaller than Toyota (Which is at 71.78 right now). Maybe General Motors (2.67)? Ford (11.06)? Dell Computers (13.01)? Advance Auto Parts (40.93)? Just throwing some ideas out there. Its better to start small just to get the hang out it, and once you make a bit of profit, you have more to invest into the larger companies. Look for a company that is either small, or down due to depression, but can also make a rise within a reasonable amount of time. Just have to think outside the box a little.

[taiwanesekid05]

Even though this might not really help, the best time to buy stocks, is when everybody is selling stocks. This way, you get the stock cheap, and when the market goes back up, then you have a bit more moolah.

[BART]

Well I'm looking at investing a decent amount, which is why I thought of Toyota. I dont really care to invest in a CD or something fixed. I want to gamble a little bit. Someone needs to convert their xmod into a time machine so I can go back and buy stock in Apple.

[ravevolution]

When it comes to the stock market, my advice is well do some homework so to speak before jumping into the water blind.

Talk to friends or people you know who have experience in stocks who would be willing to give free advice, a broker doesn't give info away for free persay. Probably check out CNN or one of those news stations and hear what those analyst say like that dude who likes screaming all the time lol. Also pick up books/magazines on the subject like a 'stock market for dummies' kinda thing.

Comes to investments and using real money this ain't as easy as playing Monopoly lol. SO basically do RESEARCH and get as much ADVICE you can on the subject good or bad

[BART]

Originally Posted by ravevolution

When it comes to the stock market, my advice is well do some homework so to speak before jumping into the water blind.

Talk to friends or people you know who have experience in stocks who would be willing to give free advice, a broker doesn't give info away for free persay. Probably check out CNN or one of those news stations and hear what those analyst say like that dude who likes screaming all the time lol. Also pick up books/magazines on the subject like a 'stock market for dummies' kinda thing.

Comes to investments and using real money this ain't as easy as playing Monopoly lol. SO basically do RESEARCH and get as much ADVICE you can on the subject good or bad

In typical "me" fashion, i'm doing my research here and looking to make a move tomorrow afternoon. I have no friends who play in stocks, so advice is limited. I'm planning on dealing with merrill Lynch, going there tomorrow.

[Action B]

I was told this by a stock broker. "The younger you are, the more chances you should take in the stock market. When your young, invest in high profit margin more risky stocks, as you get older you want to switch to safe stocks. Anywhere inbetween should be a transition"

OR something really close to that.

[ravevolution]

I myself have been looking into 'Option' trading my best friend has been doing a fair bit of it via from classes he took on it and he's been telling me to check it out.

[AJB32690]

Originally Posted by BART

Well I'm looking at investing a decent amount, which is why I thought of Toyota. I dont really care to invest in a CD or something fixed. I want to gamble a little bit. Someone needs to convert their xmod into a time machine so I can go back and buy stock in Apple.

Funny that you should mention Apple. I did a project in my freshman year of High School where we had to (theoretically) invest $1500 in two separate stocks, and one of mine happened to be Apple, which was somewhere around 20 at the time, and went up to 40ish by the the end of the project. Now look at it, 192.05. I wish I had that $1500 in real money at the time. I could've been rich!

[texan_idiot25]

Gas and fast food, because when in our life times will the US ever stop consuming them?

Exxon & McDonalds. Both have never dropped a beat, and even through all this mess are pretty sound for me. I think GM would be an interesting one, with new management and an actual idea on how to make a world-wide selling car they're on a huge rise (even able to pay off gov't loans well before the deadline), and I think they'll be a-ok in the future. Stock is obviously cheap now.

I also think Chrysler is a sound investment

[BART]

Originally Posted by texan_idiot25

Gas and fast food, because when in our life times will the US ever stop consuming them?

Exxon & McDonalds. Both have never dropped a beat, and even through all this mess are pretty sound for me. I think GM would be an interesting one, with new management and an actual idea on how to make a world-wide selling car they're on a huge rise (even able to pay off gov't loans well before the deadline), and I think they'll be a-ok in the future. Stock is obviously cheap now.

I also think Chrysler is a sound investment

I wouldnt touch chrysler, but did think about GM... I just fear that they will end up like the railroads, owned by the gov, who I have little trust in. Hybrid locomotives is the way to go though, and seeing as how I daily work on 50+ year old EMD (gm) locomotives I hope they have a plan to be on board (although I would never own a GM)

[texan_idiot25]

GM will be able to pay off it's loans pretty soon if their estimates pan out. Once it's loans are gone, the Gov't looses it's "control" of GM. Only worry I have is the UAW's stake, I can't recall if they loaned money or actually bought up ownership. Don't think it will go the way of the railroad industry since cars as an industry haven't been replaced yet. I guess the national highway and air travel brought an end to the rail roads?

I think it would be an interesting one to toss a few bucks in and see what happens after the gov't loans are gone and they get publicly traded.

But safe bets (that I know of, I follow stocks very loosely) are the oil industry, and food industry. Shell and Exxon are great ideas as they also invest heavily outside of just oil, and do a lot of work in alternative energy (they just don't whore blogs and politicians to share the word), so their future beyond out life times is fairly safe. But we won't run low on oil for another few generations by most estimates, so, live for the NOW imo.

LOL:
I never realized how recession proof McDonald's was
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=MCD

Over the last 5 years, despite this whole mess, they still climb in price. God bless the big mac