[QUOTE=Pork Chop;181347]Find out if any beer/wine wholesalers in the Manhattan, KS region are publicly traded. Those companies are about to explode.[/QUOTE]
:lmao:
The best way to gauge whether or not to buy a stock would be by monitoring whether the CEO’s are buying or selling stock in their own company. By law they must make it publicly known(to the government) when they buy or sell their own company’s stock. There is a computer program/web service that actually monitors when these transactions occur.
I can’t remember the name of thos program/service for the life of me, but if you can get ahold of that and master it, you stand to make a good amount of money.
I apologize if someone has already mentioned this, I’m at work and don’t have time to read every post.
Good luck.
[FONT=Arial]My advice to inexperienced investors (for what it’s worth):[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]The first thing you should do is your company’s 401k. Put in the amount that your company will match. That’s typically 3% on 6% or something close to it. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]After that you need to max out your Roth IRA every year. That is currently $4,000 and will be until 2008 when it moves to $5000. This money should all be in mutual funds or ETFs (exchange traded funds) only. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Once you can do both and still have money left over to invest, that’s when you can start playing the market. It truly is playing at this point because you’re retirement will be secure because you’re doing a 401k and a Roth already. Because you’re retirement is secure you can take chances on individual stocks and either win big or get crushed. Over time, if you do your research you will win a lot more than you lose. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]When buying stocks, buy from a discount brokerage house (Scottrade, Ameritrade) because of the cheap fees. Unless you can watch the market all day every day, always buy and sell using limit orders. Also, buy in scales. Don’t plunk down a full position (say 100 shares) on any stock at any time. Buy 25 shares at 40, and if it goes to 38 buy 25 more. Then your average cost is 39. With the scaling method, if the stock goes back up to 39.50 you still made money. If you blew your whole load at 40 you lost money. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Finally Chisox, I’m not a big fan of [COLOR=black]Underarmour right now. You may want to consider selling half of your position to lock in some gains. I think that stock is currently overvalued. Altria is a nice speculative play right now because it may split into three separate stocks. It also pays a huge 8% dividend. [/COLOR][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][COLOR=black]Again, just my advice. [/COLOR][/FONT]
Ok, how about saving for children’s college? Thoughts on 529 plans and such?
Definitely use 529 plans with mutual funds and ETFs.
Roth IRAs can also be used to pay certain expenses without penalty, tuition being one of them.
[FONT=Arial][COLOR=black] It also pays a huge 8% dividend. [/COLOR][/FONT][FONT=Arial][COLOR=black]Again, just my advice. [/COLOR][/FONT]
Thats also a good point. Always consider dividends when buying stocks. If your goal is to grow, dividends can help bigtime. Look for moderately low priced stocks with high payouts per share. These will add up over time and if the stock grows consistently, all the more power to you.
As for those who are more experienced investors…I’ve heard that Verizon and Coca Cola both put out reasonable dividends and our decent buys. Any one in the know want to help me out?
Traditionally Duke Energy has paid good dividends…I own a little bit but don’t keep up with it to tell you what its currently paying.
my advice is to hold out and watch this Israel/ME crisis that is driving oil up and stock market down right now…try to guess at the low point of this and buy in then.
Traditionally Duke Energy has paid good dividends....I own a little bit but don't keep up with it to tell you what its currently paying.my advice is to hold out and watch this Israel/ME crisis that is driving oil up and stock market down right now…try to guess at the low point of this and buy in then.
Duke has a 4.3% dividend. You can get in for 250 direct and setup a monthly draft. I do about 60 bucks a month and i think it costs like 6 cents to purchase each month. Duke is VERY long term though. You will not get rich off of it. But it is something very nice for 20 years from now that i dont really feel coming out of my paycheck. especially when my troweprice doesnt benefit me for 43 more years.
Check out SO. Southern Company is like Duke Power without the Enron baggage. Also, Lowes and GE. The reason I like GE is that it is global and doesn’t totally rely on domestic economy. I also have a few big-time speculative plays that if you are interested in, I can list those later.regards, Oldniner
my advice is to hold out and watch this Israel/ME crisis that is driving oil up and stock market down right now.....try to guess at the low point of this and buy in then.
Scale in, scale out. Never invest all at once.
I like Pepsi and J&J better than Coke. I don’t like any of the bells right now, but I do like Citrix Systems.
I also like J&J, also Walgreen has been a very good one in my account. I give you these stocks assuming you are wanting blue chips, however I have made a great deal more in nasdaq and OTC stocks, but you must monitor all day. I am a gambler at heart and my main portfolio is highly aggressive and speculative. Regards, Oldniner
[QUOTE=NovaNiner;181422]Scale in, scale out. Never invest all at once.
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oh definetly, I just meant the market is down alot right now because of this so its a good buy opportunity, hopefully anyway. market is nearly down 1000 points from its high a couple months back
oldniner, what are these spec plays? and since you’re old has this strategy played off over the long haul?
Ninerone, BDGR.PK: this is an oil well play. They aquire mature wells and additional property that has known oil reserves in the ground. I bought at .30, flipped it at .72 got back in at .52 rode it to 2.32. I missed selling it there and still hold it. We are awaiting the audit, hopefully completed in less than a month. Our hope is that it will get off the pinks and onto the AMEX by end of year. Like I say, it is speculative, but the end result could be huge! I am already in the money since the flip. Right now it is 1.00. The company is Black Dragon Resources. check out their website and do your DD. Also, a very interesting play is PHLC.PK. It is an endurance drink company which is dominated by Gatorade and Powerade. Unlike those 2 drinks, which are basically simple carbs that break down to sugar quickly and after a short while, leave you dragging. This drink has simple AND complex carbs and is the only endurance drink that begins hydration as soon as it hits your mouth. Their website is www.drinkaquis.net. It is selling at .013. These stocks are for the person that can afford to lose whatever amount he/she invests in these. In 1999, I bought 8000 shares of SNIC around 1.00-3.00 and suffered for about 2 years with a small paper loss, then it began to move. I started selling at 12.50, 16.00, 22.00. I would jump back in at 17-18 and sell again within 2 weeks at 21-22. I used that money to pay for my divorce and her a house on the lake. Yes, I have had plenty of losers, but I would say since 1999, I am up approximately 350%. Regards, Oldniner
[QUOTE=49erFan1;181352]Those are both incredible rates that you won’t find in a bank.
They are online accounts.
The only problem is making a deposit. They tell you to either A send money in the mail (security risk) or B transfer funds.
The problem with B is that it’s not going to be cheap. Your bank is going to charge you a wire transfer fee (usually 15-30 dollars).
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Not so, at least not with my bank (Wachovia). They don’t charge anything for the transfer of money into or out of my ING savings account. It’s done just like a paypal transfer. Easy peasy, yep and easy.
Ok, how about saving for children's college? Thoughts on 529 plans and such?
I prefer a regular college savings fund you can get at Morgan or Merrill. I have one that’s invested in a Davis Mutual fund. 529’s are good but I wish they had more investing options.
I opened one up right when my daughter was born and I just hit enough to pay for a year of college (at Charlotte) last month. The other good thing about the account I have is I can use it for any college expense (i.e. school supplies, lap top etc.) Also even though my daughter is the benificiary if my wife wanted to go back to school I could pay for her out of it as well. Don’t know if 529’s offer that kind of flexibility.
Thanks a lot for all the great advice guys, I really appreciate your input. Keep the suggestions comming, Ive learned a lot so far.
Your college savings plan sounds similar to the College America 529 plan I got for my two boys.
http://www.americanfunds.com/college/college-america/faq.htm?r=o
It’s the Virginia 529 plan. American funds are offered. It can be used for any higher education expense. You can change beneficiaries within the family without penalty. It was recommended by a fellow Niner over at WallStreet Capitol.
The beauty of these college savings plan is of course that earnings are not taxed as long as they are used on higher education expenses.
Other people say just do a savings account or conservative mutual funds.
Not so, at least not with my bank (Wachovia). They don't charge anything for the transfer of money into or out of my ING savings account. It's done just like a paypal transfer. Easy peasy, yep and easy.
Sweet. How easy was it on startup?
Sweet. How easy was it on startup?
They are pretty easy. I did one through ETrade’s bank. Fill out an application, they verify through a Credit Agency, then you link a checking account to the newly opened account.
Then you do an electronic transfer, like an E-Check.
Just when filling out the applications, see if direct deposit is required. Also see the minimum amount you need to keep in the account to keep from paying fees. Also see how long you must keep the acount active before incurring an early termination fee.
wgnr. I don’t think its beta (price volatility) is as high as it used to be… back when I had money… like 10 years ago. I’d buy 1000 shares for 1000 bucks and sell it less than a year later for double.
Imo, it’s a crap shoot unless you know your crap. Good luck.