[BlackedOutBimmer]

o

[Joekerr]

Well, when a company reaches its peak, they normally release a report to the public stating this, in order to provide their shareholders with appropriate notice.

So I would hold onto the stock and wait until that happens.

[Patrick303]

Originally Posted by Joekerr

Well, when a company reaches its peak, they normally release a report to the public stating this, in order to provide their shareholders with appropriate notice.

So I would hold onto the stock and wait until that happens.

LOL!

Basically Joekerr is saying you don't really know when a company reaches it's peak. Constant research is necessary when investing in individual stocks yourself. Keep reading those books and learning more about Price/Earnings multiple, trends, and what factors really move a stock price.

[KingOfJericho]

You need to diversify. You might like tech companies but you don't want to put all of your money into a single industry. What you could do is play around with ETFs. I use Scottrade for online trading and made good money during/after the credit crisis but finding that type of value is much harder now (I owned AAPL at $88). You should look at a good charts site and try to familiarize yourself with the market before blindly buying any stock.

[bolinp78]

If you are looking to enter into the market with a couple hundred bucks with the intent of learning how it works, how to execute trades, the experience of watching a portfolio then great. If you're looking to get into the market with a couple hundred bucks to make money, you're going to be disappointed.

As an aside, having a better-than-average understanding of an industry because of your job doesn't necessarily make you any more advantaged than someone that is not in your industry. In fact, I would say that as a beginner you would have a much higher risk profile than someone that has general experience in the market but not in the construction industry. You also have to understand the macro impacts of the industry, what makes it tick, what economic numbers to watch, etc etc etc. If you are just invested in construction, what happens when the economy takes a hit and new construction is negatively affected? The narrowness of your field lends itself to being a slave to the macro economy of the U.S. and the construction industry in particular.

Not trying to discourage you but you need to realize that just because you know an industry like the back of your hand, it does not necessarily translate into an understanding of that industry in the stock market and the management of a healthy portfolio. As another important aside, there isn't a financial adviser or market guru in the world that would tell you that a portfolio that is 100% filled with construction stocks is a good idea in the long term.

[gatorfast]

lol OP if there was an easy answer to your questions we would all be very rich

[RandomHero]

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

I get that... not looking to open an account to "make money" ... (I would open it with 1500-2000 anyway) ... but def to learn, and hopefully, make a little money... obviously I will not become rich this way.

And, I would argue, that while i agree with the "narrowmindedness" of the construction industry, the poistion i am in, I am not out building new buildings or worried about a "lag" in the economy...

What i am directly interested in, is the technology, and companies assocaited with that tech, and how it impacts the construction industry. I would argue you have an ignorant mindset on what I am trying to say, no offense. The term "construction industry" is VERY general, just like saying the "food industry" ... just because the industry as a whole could suffer, does not mean certain aspects of it will not flourish.

I am very in-tune with new tech and how it is being applied to construction... ever think a 60 year old foreman would be walking around a jobsite with an Ipad? there are many NEW emerging markets with tech in construction, and I am just looking to jump on board some of them, with some small investments at first, learn how it works, and then hopefully be able to pick out the elite few companies and really sink some money into them.

As a Financial Advisor by trade, I'm telling you right now that his advice was very relevant and helpful. Do you actually want help, or do just want confirmation that you're doing the right thing?.....you're not (I'm sorry to say).

He's not calling you an idiot, and he's not being a jerk. He's giving you helpful and relevant advice about a topic you know almost nothing about.

[Uber V8]

Originally Posted by RandomHero

As a Financial Advisor by trade, I'm telling you right now that his advice was very relevant and helpful. Do you actually want help, or do just want confirmation that you're doing the right thing?.....you're not (I'm sorry to say).

He's not calling you an idiot, and he's not being a jerk. He's giving you helpful and relevant advice about a topic you know almost nothing about.

I see you're a Financial Advsior. I'm actually in a similiar position as the OP, but instead I wanted to know who/how you would suggest me finding a broker/investor who has studied the market for years and can coach me when to buy/sell?

I'm assuming this is somewhat your field. What costs are associated with securing a broker? I'm figuring there's a startup cost and they take a percentage of my profits?

[jophish17]

You can't really diversify with only 2k$. Investing that in 1-3 stocks is very risky - I'd call it more like a legal gamble. Invest in more companies with 2k and you'll notice that commissions will kill you.

I'd suggest investing in a broad etf. If you insist on investing in construction/building, there are a couple of etfs for that industry. I know ishares has one. But I wouldn't suggest investing all of your money in the industry that you work in: Construction is very cyclical, and do you really want to be in a spot where you may lose your job in the next downturn AND your portfolio has lost a bunch of value?

[Nkc]

Learn by experience. No advice on here would do you any good if you are already set on doing something. Just trust your gut and invest since its a small amount. The financial market is a totally different monster, nothing really makes sense when it comes to investing into future perceived value.

[RandomHero]

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

No I understand, I don't think he was being rude at all.

I'm not looking to do this to make money per say... I mean profit is great, but also as a learning tool to get myself into it. Start with a few companies and a few shares and work my way up to more.

I know I can't really diversify 2 g's , I would Invest in 3-4 companies...

For example... A company like SSYS that does the whole 3d printing... (This is not one of the company's I'm looking at, just using it as an example). So ex, if I was nuts over this company, what harm does it do to invest $500 bucks into them and see what happens?

Not using this for my sole investments as I have Roth IRA and my 401k which both are well diversified. Want to use it as fun, learning tool, and my knowledge of my industry to serif that can help me in some way. Would also do non-construction type related companies such as Apple or google as an example.

If you want to learn then your head is in the right place. You have to start somewhere and it sounds like you have a good basic approach. It seemed that you responded to him a bit defensively which is what prompted my post. Even though I do this for a living, I always consider myself a student of the market. I learn something new every day and I remain very humble when it comes to investing.

Peter Lynch’s book called “One Up On Wall Street” follows the same method you’re planning to use: invest in what you know about not what someone else tells you to invest in. Peter Lynch is considered to be one of the greatest investors of our time so again I'd dare to say that your head is in the right place.

Originally Posted by Nkc

Learn by experience. No advice on here would do you any good if you are already set on doing something. Just trust your gut and invest since its a small amount. The financial market is a totally different monster, nothing really makes sense when it comes to investing into future perceived value.

Good advice.

In theory things SHOULD make sense and I honestly believe that many changes in the market can be explained. However, there are also many market anomalies that largely cannot be explained.

[BayMoWe335]

For $2,000, not even worth wasting the time messing with it. Keep it in a checking account.

[hudamang]

You gotta start somewhere. $2K is $2K.

If I invested $20K in Tesla like I was telling my friends in February(I didn't), I would have an M3 by now haha....

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by hudamang

You gotta start somewhere. $2K is $2K.

If I invested $20K in Tesla like I was telling my friends in February(I didn't), I would have an M3 by now haha....

You would have sold it earlier than now had you bought it anyway. If I had kept all my winners until now, I'd be retired. Easy to look back, hard to actually hold stocks long enough to double or triple. You'd be stupid not to take big gains.

[Nkc]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

You would have sold it earlier than now had you bought it anyway. If I had kept all my winners until now, I'd be retired. Easy to look back, hard to actually hold stocks long enough to double or triple. You'd be stupid not to take big gains.

I wouldn't. I have a different approach to investing, I buy and and don't sell. Been doing this for nearly 4 years now and I have to say, I have failed lol.

[bolinp78]

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

I mean, i hear you, but don't you have to start somewhere?

I'm 27, trying to buy a house, a have other bills, like this damn BMW

I don't have a ton of money to just throw into the stock market, espeacially since I really don't know much about it.

I relate it to sports gambling... only put in what you are willing to lose, no?

After looking through all your posts on the thread it sounds to me like you need to do a lot more reading/researching before you throw money into an account and start buying. You do have to start somewhere but your base knowledge does not seem to be adequate to even begin investing in my opinion. In real life this could be totally wrong though, all we have to work with is your words online. That book you are reading is great, but you also need to learn basic market fundamentals and the basics of portfolio management. I understand that some aspects of this must be learned by experience but you will help yourself a great deal by reading as well.

[RandomHero]

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

I mean, i hear you, but don't you have to start somewhere?

I'm 27, trying to buy a house, a have other bills, like this damn BMW

I don't have a ton of money to just throw into the stock market, espeacially since I really don't know much about it.

I relate it to sports gambling... only put in what you are willing to lose, no?

I look at investing in the traditional sense more like poker than sports betting. Starting off with 7-2 off suit gives you about a 32% chance of winning head to head. Starting off with A-A pre-flop gives you about an 85% chance of winning.

Does that mean you should only play A-A pre-flop? Not necessarily, but it means that when you take out all other variables you have the greatest chance of winning after playing the same hand 1000 times. A veteran poker player might play 7-2 offsuit because they have the experience and understanding of how to play it. A novice poker player generally should play more conservatively because they don’t know how to bluff, how to bet, and how to play a 7-2 hand.

To relate that to the investing world, 7-2 off-suit is like investing in penny stocks. You may still come out ahead, but statistically, your odds are much lower. Starting off with A-A is like investing in companies such as McDonalds. You still have the potential to lose, but the likelihood of coming out ahead is much greater.

You do have to start somewhere and $2000 is a lot of money for everyone on here, I don’t care what they say. While your funds may be enough to learn to invest, I don’t think your knowledge is quite there yet, but it sounds like you're working on that

You may consider opening up a Roth IRA and managing it yourself. Roth IRA contributions can be withdrawn tax and penalty free. The gains however do not qualify for early withdrawal (without penalty). Many people use a Roth IRA as an emergency fund and it is a great investment vehicle for a new investor (or anyone for that matter). The advantage a Roth IRA has over a normal taxable account is that eventually when you reach retirement age, you can also withdraw the capital gains tax free as well.

Simply put- It can serve a dual purpose of helping you save for retirement as well as helping to cover unexpected emergency costs in the immediate future should you ever need that money.

Disclaimer- This is entirely meant as discussion. In no way, shape, or form should this information be interpreted as professional advice.

Originally Posted by Nkc

I wouldn't. I have a different approach to investing, I buy and and don't sell. Been doing this for nearly 4 years now and I have to say, I have failed lol.

A buy and hold strategy is perfectly fine, although I question if it’s the best strategy for most individual companies. Most companies evolve or devolve over time. They naturally go through the business cycle. Sometimes, a company may be right for your investment objectives at a certain time, but 5-10 years later the company may have changed and they no longer have the potential to satisfy your goals.

That’s the joy of a buy and hold strategy in regards to mutual funds. The fund manager is required to maintain the objective of the fund may it be growth, income, value, etc. Even though you may hold the fund for 20+ years, the underlying investments are constantly changing.

One of the few times I could ever personally justify a buy and hold strategy with individual equities is when choosing to invest in mega-cap dividend payers. These companies are long past the growth stage, have a significant presence, and their primary focus is to remain profitable in order to pass along profits to their shareholders. Companies like McDonalds, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, or Coca-Cola fit that bill for me.

Disclaimer- Again this is entirely meant as discussion. In no way, shape, or form should this information be interpreted as professional advice.

[Nkc]

Agree. My buy and hold strategy came after years of just random trades. In the long run, I could never really say that I won in the financial market when factoring in the time and money invested. I just know that this is not a game that I find fair enough to justify the potential losses. I generally buy and hold blue chip stocks in HK such as HSBC, Bank of China, real estate stocks, and insurance stocks that pay high interest and hope they grow in value. My best interest paying one is BOC at 6.5%. I see my investment strategy as a savings account. I keep putting money in and dont take it out. Hopefully someday it will be worth more than what I've put in with inflation and standard interest accounted for. I could never make money doing day trades like most of my friends in HK. I'd much rather trade physical products.

[Maestro]

First and foremost if you going to buy individual company either you need to know the company really well and understand the markets they play in or hire someone to help you.

Next, and this is more important than the first thing, Walls Street fucks with companies' stock prices all the time. Many time there is no rhythm or reason why a stock it at a price that is is other than wall street has some love affair with that company or just hate them.

So you have to know the company and what they do and you need to understand how Wall Street views them and why the are promoting the stock or kicking it in the ass. Grant not all stocks are that interesting to Wall street, some just move up and down with the market and their real value, but those are not the ones which will make or break you.

So if you want good old reliable stocks like a GE or Proctor and Gable or something similar there is not much you need to know or watch you will get your dividend ever quarter and a nice single digit value increase ever year.

However, if your goal it serious growth then you need to chase the stocks which are most interesting to the market. I give you 3 example of ones I play in and have made lots on, First Apple, everyone know apples, but I been buying and selling it since the 90's and never took a loose on it. But I know the company and how the market has a love hate relationship with Apple and Steve Jobs. The other two are more recent which is Green Mountain coffee and Rack Space. Both of these company have it stock going up and down all the time for various reasons, rumors of buy out, or they going to corner the market or they did not make as much as wall street thinks they should make, or issues with how they recorded earnings. All the things drove these stock up and down.

If I did not buy and sell them as these things happen, I would not be ahead in the stocks.

BYW, I have been working with a private broker for years, he is the source of information on what driving the stock up and down, i.e. he has a direct line to the traders on the floor of the exchanges who see transactions and see who buying and selling and he also has direct line to the analysis who follow these companies all the time.

My last piece of advise and this is the one I can not believe people do not do. If you're going to have someone invest your money make sure you talk to them all the time. I hear this all the time people send their money to a broker and then never talk them and then they are surprise they lost money. I talk to my broker all the time, sometime 2 or 3 times in a day depending on what is happening in the market or as information is coming out about a particular company.

[RandomHero]

Originally Posted by Maestro

I talk to my broker all the time, sometime 2 or 3 times in a day depending on what is happening in the market or as information is coming out about a particular company.

2-3 times a day? I would hate you as a client, lol. 95% of my clients never call me. I'm the one who calls them at least once a month or more frequently if there is a need for it.

I will say that communication is the number one reason why clients are unhappy with their financial advisor. Finding someone you trust and someone who will call you at least once a month are two of the most important qualities to seek in a Financial Advisor.

[Maestro]

Originally Posted by RandomHero

2-3 times a day? I would hate you as a client, lol. 95% of my clients never call me. I'm the one who calls them at least once a month or more frequently if there is a need for it.

I will say that communication is the number one reason why clients are unhappy with their financial advisor. Finding someone you trust and someone who will call you at least once a month are two of the most important qualities to seek in a Financial Advisor.

Yeah most Financial advisers do not like me, most want to take your money put in what they think is a safe place and never look at again let alone talk to you but once a year or so. I get calls from these guys all the time, they some how get my name. As I tell them, it is my Fucking money and if I want to call you everyday or you call me everyday you will do it. Because when I loose money it far more than they lose. They only losing a fraction of their commission or fee when I loss 10's of thousands because their failed to see that the stock was not coming back.

My financial guy likes me, I am a source of information, he actually bounce ideas off me once in a while since I have some market insights myself. There has been times I told him to hold or dump a holding based on what I believe was really happening and if played out well for us. Also most Financial advisers do not like to deal in individual stocks, they want to put the money in bonds, mutual funds or ETF.

[RandomHero]

It sounds like you and your advisor have a strong relationship which (in my opinion) is the most important quality to seek in a client/advisor relationship.

As far as the rest of your comments, there are good and bad people in every profession. That’s why it is so important to find a good advisor, lawyer, doctor, etc. Those are the people you trust with your wellbeing.

The best advisors are the ones who always put the needs of the client before their own. Everyone has different needs and some require more attention than others. The joy of this business is that you can choose who you do and do not want to work with both as a client and as an advisor.

I have worked with people who had less than $20k in their accounts because I knew they appreciated my help and I felt like I was making a difference in their lives. I’ve also turned down $150k+ accounts in the past because the relationship wasn’t a good fit. I knew that there weren’t enough hours in a day to make these people happy and no matter what I did they’d still be asking more.

Again, it sounds like you’ve found a good fit for your situation. Appreciate the fact that many people aren't as lucky as you.