[jj thumper]

SKYNET!!

I agree, no doubt about the along for the ride part. That’s how life is now-a-days.

Those trading algorithms computers really leave no doubt. I for one welcome our new robot overlords. In the mean time, I’m going to play the fixed game.

[Never-Enough]

I'm not looking to drop a lot of $ in the market right now (I am thinking around $1k to start) so I was looking at the cheaper stocks with potential vs the more expensive stuff.

[NYC6]

Instead of individual stocks look into low cost funds such as Vanguard and dont believe money cant be made in the market by regular folk. Safe investing can yield safe returns that will do much better than MMA or savings acct returns. The people who espouse you cant make money are nitwits.

[AngelinIsRich08]

I use fidelity but would honestly have switched to scottrade if it weren't for their iPhone app. Also you need a minimum of a couple grand to start trading online, fidelity is $2500, but you can still just use your $1000. You won't be making a lot of money using only a $1000 because a 10% profit, which rarely happens, will only give you a $100 return. lol: I've allocated half of the money that was in my bank account to mutual funds and mostly just Vanguard. I've made a lot of money trading but I've lost a lot too and it is very stressful in a down market. Also, wait until next week or the week after before you start trading, it's extremely volatile at the moment.

[mact3333]

Originally Posted by NYC6

Instead of individual stocks look into low cost funds such as Vanguard and dont believe money cant be made in the market by regular folk. Safe investing can yield safe returns that will do much better than MMA or savings acct returns. The people who espouse you cant make money are nitwits.

Hmm...I just plotted a 10 yr chart on SPX and it is exactly where it was 10 yrs ago....

So if the "safe" investments usually mimic the SPX in general...may I ask how everyone did so well?....

Last time I checked, inflation also affects equity prices, that havent kept with inflation, which has doubled or tripled over the past decade.

Now anyone can do well with good timing or luck over the short or int term...but facts dont lie....its not that money CANT be made, but unless we are in a super cycle bull again, it is alot harder to make money in the equity mkts...when we tank starting next yr again I wonder what everyone will say then.



To the OP, why didnt you say you were starting with 1K...in that case roll the dice and gamble...it will be fun, scary, emotional...no different that going to Vegas and same odds too...gambling with 1K is alot diff that doing it with 100K.

[NYC6]

You didnt check my portfolio. I can assure you its not nearly the same after 10 years. Nobody said invest in funds and let it ride for 10 years straight and a portion of my pie is in funds, Vanguard and others. Companies like Vanguard have tens of thousands(at the very least) because they make money for most, at a much better return than 1%.

[nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn]

Originally Posted by AngelinIsRich08

I use fidelity but would honestly have switched to scottrade if it weren't for their iPhone app. Also you need a minimum of a couple grand to start trading online, fidelity is $2500, but you can still just use your $1000. You won't be making a lot of money using only a $1000 because a 10% profit, which rarely happens, will only give you a $100 return. lol: I've allocated half of the money that was in my bank account to mutual funds and mostly just Vanguard. I've made a lot of money trading but I've lost a lot too and it is very stressful in a down market. Also, wait until next week or the week after before you start trading, it's extremely volatile at the moment.

Do you honestly trade? Using real money?

[Never-Enough]

Originally Posted by AngelinIsRich08

I use fidelity but would honestly have switched to scottrade if it weren't for their iPhone app. Also you need a minimum of a couple grand to start trading online, fidelity is $2500, but you can still just use your $1000. You won't be making a lot of money using only a $1000 because a 10% profit, which rarely happens, will only give you a $100 return. lol: I've allocated half of the money that was in my bank account to mutual funds and mostly just Vanguard. I've made a lot of money trading but I've lost a lot too and it is very stressful in a down market. Also, wait until next week or the week after before you start trading, it's extremely volatile at the moment.

Scottrade etc require $500 min

[AngelinIsRich08]

Originally Posted by ferrari355fi

Do you honestly trade? Using real money?

Yes I honestly do trade with real money

[ES_TRADER]

Scottrade / etrade....ha... The only thing these 2 are good for are for their commercials

[BayMoWe335]

The dude saying (Mact) you'll lose all your money is giving good advice overall. I know it sounds harsh, but he's basically right. You aren't smarter than the market.

However, you can do OK if you aren't impatient and don't have any emotion about money you lose on paper. Buy more or continue to hold. You DO have to know when you've bought a loser and cut it. Even if you do well, you still probably won't beat the index.

I'll give a few examples of wins. I took a pretty signifcant position in AAPL around $340. I watched it drop to $315 and loaded more. You can't blow your wad on one trade and you can't be afraid when you're down. Scale in and buy more on the dips. I added more and sold at $404. I had friends panic selling at $320 and are now crying.

I am a value investor that will wait as long as necessary as long as I believe in the company. Mact is right though. This shit can go south FAST and if you aren't prepared to have some paper losses and dollar cost average, keep your money in savings. AAPL is a great company, but even they will move down if the S&P decides to move back to 600. The market can stay down longer than you can stay solvent. Chances are you sell at the exact wrong moment and miss the move up. That's just how it works.

I've beaten the market this year on pure luck, but there are pretty obvious plays out there. GLD is a winner (although, starting to run up pretty quick). AAPL is going to continue to destroy their guidance. I scaled into AT&T for the dividend of nearly 6% and some growth potential (in my opinion).

Read more than you trade. It is so easy to buy and sell shares that you'll let emotions come into play and do something stupid. I guarantee it.

I remember buying BP at $33 and seeing it drop to $26. I doubled my position and lost sleep over it, but it eventually came back. I can't tell you how badly I wanted to sell and how much a made myself believe BP would declare bankruptcy within days. That was irrational, but it's sickening to watch.

If nothing else, consistently buy an index fund every month and hold onto 20+ years. You're almost guaranteed to make money unless you load at the exact wrong point. Perhaps double down at every 10% move down. Yeah, SPY has been flat over 10 years, but you'd have done OK if you bought more during the dips (which were obvious). I loaded huge at S&P 700 and made a killing.

If you're trading like $5,000, don't even bother actively trading. Open an IRA or something and throw it in there for 40 years. You should invest only money you won't need in case you need to hold. Generally, I don't really recommend holding individual stocks to total amateur investors. I'm definitely not seasoned myself, but I take the Warren Buffett hold forever if necessary. Just remember you can hold all the way to 0 if you buy a crap company.

I'm no genius and have a few turds in my portfolio. I've averaged down in CSCO around $17 and continue to believe they'll turn it around. Their competition certainly hasn't killed it. I made money on a pattern of buying their earnings dip, then watching it go up before the next earnings. A few quarters ago, it never went up but just keep falling. This is what sucks about being wrong. Do you buy more, hold, or cut?

And diversify.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by mact3333

you are playing with fire...1250 on SPX is CRUCIAL...if mkts accept prices below that level then we have entered a bear mkt again and to hold anything long is going to cost you...now if mkts rally from here then you will prob be ok...watch 1250

We took out 1250 today intraday. I was scared.

[AngelinIsRich08]

I bought CSCO at $18.50 and $17.50. Before I bought I watched it go from $24 to that price within a couple months. I thought what a great deal and bought. After my initial buy at $18.50 it continued to decline so I thought I should buy on the $17.50 dip as well and did. I didn't do enough research and didn't realize it was in a long term down trend. Since then it's fallen to $14.70 and now it's stuck at $15.40. I'm not depressed over it since I'm using rationale that's telling me I have a massive amount of money invested in a company that has hundreds of billions in assets and are considered a large-cap stock that will eventually rise in value. If it dips even more I'll buy again and consider it a great deal. In the beginning you'll probably be emotional in your trades but you should always keep in mind that no profits or losses will be made until you sell and almost all of the time if you wait it out, some might take years, you'll profit.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by AngelinIsRich08

I bought CSCO at $18.50 and $17.50. Before I bought I watched it go from $24 to that price within a couple months. I thought what a great deal and bought. After my initial buy at $18.50 it continued to decline so I thought I should buy on the $17.50 dip as well and did. I didn't do enough research and didn't realize it was in a long term down trend. Since then it's fallen to $14.70 and now it's stuck at $15.40. I'm not depressed over it since I'm using rationale that's telling me I have a massive amount of money invested in a company that has hundreds of billions in assets and are considered a large-cap stock that will eventually rise in value. If it dips even more I'll buy again and consider it a great deal. In the beginning you'll probably be emotional in your trades but you should always keep in mind that no profits or losses will be made until you sell and almost all of the time if you wait it out, some might take years, you'll profit.

While CSCO has a hoard of cash (I believe 3rd most behind AAPL and MSFT), they don't have nearly "hundreds of billions in assets." I think their balance sheet says about $80b in assets if I remember.

If you back out their cash, the market is valuing their entire business at under $10/share and something stupid like 8 times forward earnings. For the joke the JNPR reported and RVBD crumbling, I'd be shaking in my boots if I were a competitor to the "stumbling" Cisco who has a fortress balance sheet and still a near monopoly on the networking business. Instead of longing CSCO, I wish I shorted JNPR back when it was trading at over 40 times earnings. I knew they weren't worth that premium and last quarter showed it big time.

[AngelinIsRich08]

I knew JNPR was overvalued and am glad they dropped 25% last week. Didn't bother with shorting it though but should have.

[Fantom555]

which vanguard funds are you guys holding for long term as stated earlier? I have been putting my roth money into high yield stocks recently and plan to let them sit....MO T KMR, probably a few others soon.....I want some funds as well though

[NYC6]

Did you see the #'s today?
Tomorrows job report is expected to be bad and further tank the market. You might want to hold off for a bit. The R word is being thrown around again.

[Never-Enough]

The market always goes back up. I probably won't be buying anything until later this month or Sept anyway though.

[NYCGP]

Originally Posted by Never-Enough

The market always goes back up.

You shouldn't be investing your own money. Save yourself a lot of heart ache and stress and find someone to manage it for you. If you want to gamble, go to a casino.