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Do You Invest In The Stock Market?

Do you invest money in the stock market? How do you know what to invest in? Do you have a stock broker, or do you "wing it" on line? Do you have a strategy?

Personally, I've never had enough "extra" money to invest And if I did, I'm not sure I'd risk it on Wall Street.

Roz

Market Stock The Invest Do

I find it interesting that people who would never buy a lottery ticket would "invest" in the stock market. It is also a gamble, especially if you do it without the aid of a broker. The average person really doesn't have the knowledge necessary to make a good decision about what to buy, in my opinion. Every time my ex bought stock we lost all the money he invested!

I used to work for a man who used to joke, "if you want to know what not to buy, ask me what I own," because he did so poorly.

If you have a 401K you are investing in the stock market.

I want to invest in real estate. I would like to buy some rental units. I don't have the down payment necessary right now though.

Do You Invest In The Stock Market? History & Civil Business Politics

I have the same goal! I worked as a property manager for several years, and I know how it's done. I also know that it can be a lot of hard work for nothing, if you get bad tenants. I'd like to try commercial real estate, just a little "small town" center -- but even that would be so far out of my league!! Just dreaming... I've been bugging my parents to invest in income property so that they can have some steady revenue in later years, but they don't want the work.

Roz

Market Stock The Invest Do

Over 10,000 again!! This is crazy...

Dow over 10K

Dow ends over 10K, first time since '02
By Michael Baron, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:15 PM ET Dec. 11, 2003

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - U.S. stocks surged in late action Thursday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 10,000 for the first time since May of 2002.

Some analysts credited the push past the symbolically important level on the Dow to release of the minutes from the Fed's FOMC meeting in October, that reinforced an outlook for tame inflation and low interest rates.



But not all were so sanguine.

Ryan Smith, managing director of equity trading with Bank One, still sees a lack of conviction in the stocks advance.

"There really isn't a specific catalyst for this rally," he said. "This is more a case of stocks drifting higher on light volume."

He didn't see any big surprises in the minutes from the FOMC.

===== end clip ======

Roz

Market Stock The Invest Do

It is possible to get someone else to take care of this for you. There are real estate companies and others that will keep the place rented, collect the rent, etc. If you get enough rent above and beyond the cost of the mortgage you can pay to have the yard work done, the driveway cleared, etc. Another way is to have one of the tenants do it for a reduction in their rent. My sister had this deal with when she was renting once or twice. Of course this means less profit for you, but ultimately I expect my main profit to come from the sale of the property later as it appreciates over time.

Commercial property is way more expensive and risky I think. So I will stick to residential property. I consider stocks to be too risky too. Now, there have been down turns in the past in real estate too, but as long as you don't have to sell during a down turn, it always comes back up. Sometimes a particular stock does not. It becomes a junk stock and/or the company goes out of business.

Edited: tenaheff on 11th Dec, 2003 - 10:00pm

Do You Invest In The Stock Market?

Ok, just my thoughts.

Investments come in various forms. Property investment is one way. It is either for capital appreciation or for rental income, or both. Downside is usually large downpayment needed and the holding costs over mid to long term.

You could probably start up by seeking out some run down starter homes to buy as fixer-uppers, and once spruced and fixed up, put it back into the market for a nifty gain. And then repeat the process but as you go along, you should be able to do two, then three, then four units simultaneously with each gain.

Use all the various mortgage deals creatively, and when you have potential buyers help them to buy it off you by working out some creative ways for them to afford it. Help them secure loans, or even finance part of it yourself. All these have been done before and I know in the US you have so much more flexibility to such matters.

Btw, even Donald Trump started out that way. Ha!

As for the stock market, you must first know what sort of risk taker you are. If you cannot sleep when you learn that the market is down, you should probably stay away from direct stock investments. Investing means putting your money at risks. For assuming such risks you would expect to be rewarded. Even leaving money in your bank account carries some risks although low levels. Consequently, you returns are also low. Stock investments will outgain FDs in the long run. Proven so.

So, if you are doing your financial planning, first of all, think of the objective. Are you looking to invest your money for long term or short term. And if long term, definitely put your money to work harder. Subject it to some degree of risks. If you don't feel comfortable putting your money in General Motors, IBM or Microsoft, then make use of a Mutual Fund. There are tons of them. Some will be more conservative than others but they are all out to help you make your money work harder. As you can see, I don't put too much weight in having too much money in the bank. Any extra money that you can scoot away for the longer term, should be invested, not banked.

Investing in Mutual Funds also allow you to build up your retirement nest or whatever your financial goal is, slowly and steadily, taking advantage of such basic principles as Dollar Costs Averaging. Furthermore, your money laying idle in the bank account is actually yelling out to you for help! It is slowly dying, being eaten away by......by........by................INFLATION!

So, you work hard for your money, your money must work hard for you too! Invest it. Don't be afraid of the stock market. Just know your objectives, then read, read, read. Do your research and homework. And with the Internet, info is much more readily available. Magazines such as 'Money', 'Business Week' etc., ar good start.

That's all for now.

HAPPY INVESTING !

Do Invest The Stock Market

myfireduck said:

... provided you have the means to fix up and spruce up this works...

Not every time. Not if the company in question folds, goes bankrupt, or is otherwise prohibited from further trading by the SEC. Your stock certificates are then just nicely printed paper.

Eeeek! Maybe not... (the following are not clickable links, but use your favorite search engine with "mutual fund investigation" as your search term to find plenty more just like these)

"NASD Pursuing 12 Mutual Fund Investigations. WASHINGTON -- Market regulator
NASD is pursuing 12 investigations into brokerages' marketing ...
https://www.nysscpa.org/home/2003/1103/1week/article63.htm - "

"Important Information Regarding Mutual Fund Investigations - ICMA ...
ICMA-RC News Important Information Regarding Mutual Fund Investigations
December 4, 2003 Recent events in the mutual fund industry ...
https://www.icmarc.org/xp/vl/about/news/200...anges.xml"

Some real heavy hitters like Prudential, Spitzer, Bank One, American Express, Putnam... so you can't even trust the "name brands" to do you a fair deal anymore. Can you spell f-r-a-u-d? Be very very very careful.

It's bad enough to have some risk of losing on "honest" trading, but to be ripped off by slick financial advisors is a crime.

I don't mean to take you to task on a very well thought out, constructive post. It's just that some of the old hard-and-fast rules of investing don't apply anymore.

In my opinion, of course.
Roz

Do Invest The Stock Market Politics Business Civil & History

As I said, you must know yourself first. And taking the exception to generalize the whole sector or industry is just not fair. There are so many good funds and fund managers that consistently produce good results for their clients.

And you are taking my words out line by line is also not fair in the sense that it is meant for in general. Not any particular company or stock. Furthermore, I did say YOU have to do your homework and make your own decision. You must know a bit about the company, the business it is in, the industry it does business in, the management behind it. For Mutual Funds, check out what their philosophy for that particular fund is, and who their managers are. Doing your homework instead of just relying on 'slick' financial advisors, is important. Again here, can't help but notice you are kinda generalising from a few bad or slick financial advisors. Btw, bankers are no angels either ..... but we all bank with them in one way or another. We even get in line to do that too. Go figure! Sigh!

As for the fixer-upper real estate, the evaluation of whether to invest in it or not entails factoring in the costs of fixing it up, of course. Do it within your means, and you will see meaningful returns as your rewards. Provided you get a seller, of course. And fixing it up means doing all the necessary repairs, just to make it liveable not to renovate fancifully. Afterall, one man's furnishing taste is another's headache. Ha!

A lot of these fixer-uppers are also put on the auction block. Some see potential in them, others don't. Some has potential, others (because of location, etc.) don't.

Don't let the few rotten apples in the industry spoil your financial planning. Don't let some bad experiences scare you away from planning for a comfortable future. BUT you HAVE got to make your money work hard.

Regards.