Anyone invest in the stock market?

[purpleronnie]

I'm thinking of investing in the stock market, I'm been studying it im my spare time and started my portfolio, there are so many great stocks out there at record low prices I'm sure returns within the next 5 years will be huge!!!! I predict a lot of ordinary investers becoming very wealthy, of course its a huge risk and I wouldnt recommend anyone doing it unless they have researched and can afford to lose their money.

[Munzie]

I'm thinking of investing in the stock market, I'm been studying it im my spare time and started my portfolio, there are so many great stocks out there at record low prices I'm sure returns within the next 5 years will be huge!!!! I predict a lot of ordinary investers becoming very wealthy, of course its a huge risk and I wouldnt recommend anyone doing it unless they have researched and can afford to lose their money.

Depending on the size of your investment, it takes a hell of a lot of research or luck or both to get it right.

Most of my investments are via managed portfolios, although I get to choose the sort of funds I like, such as specific countries, continents or products/services. Once chosen, the fund manager does the day to day management and reviews progress with me every six months or so.

My advice is to always balance your portfolio with 'safer' environments. Gilts and corporate bonds do provide an element of stability. If they are in your portfolio, it is easier to transfer to and from them during volatile market conditions.

A safer way to play the stockmarket is to drip feed funds in on a regular basis. If unit prices fall your premiums will buy more stock. If unit prices rise your premiums can't buy as much but your stock increases in value. It balances out quantity and quality. THis system won't provide huge gains quickly but will also help avoid hugh losses.

[Tommy G]

I've got almost 1,300 shares in Lloyds Banking Group. At an average price of 54pps. In a couple of years hopefully I will be in the money and enjoying a decent dividend once they are in a position to declare them again. i've already made £130 in a few months. Doesn't seem much but I've done it by sitting on my arse.

[Monk]

I still really think that RBS is a great investment right now. Hovering around 35p you can buy a shed load for long term return. Certainly in 5 years I'd be looking for the price to be over 150p and back to paying a good dividend again. Don't be fooled by the huge losses, they still have a very profitable business.

I have been out of the physical stock market for a year or so, but have been spread betting on currencies with reasonable success. I'm just about to get back in via a SIPP and self select ISA.

[Tommy G]

I still really think that RBS is a great investment right now. Hovering around 35p you can buy a shed load for long term return. Certainly in 5 years I'd be looking for the price to be over 150p and back to paying a good dividend again. Don't be fooled by the huge losses, they still have a very profitable business.

I have been out of the physical stock market for a year or so, but have been spread betting on currencies with reasonable success. I'm just about to get back in via a SIPP and self select ISA.

a lad I work with bought 6,000 RBS shares at 29p, I think it's a really good investment too if you are prepared for the long haul. no way will one of the biggest banks in the world stay at that low sp forever

[purpleronnie]

Thanks for the advice. Its barely worth putting the money in banks at the mo, and some of my dads returns in low risk have made 15% (until recently), I'll keep researching I wont risk much but stocks as low as they are now, its time to try it out.

[Monk]

Its barely worth putting the money in banks at the mo

Wrong - if you are investing for 5 yrs or more now is exactly the time to be buying bank shares. Not sure why you think otherwise?

[Bellend Sebastian]

I'm qualified to advise on this shit, but not actually registered so please ignore me completely.

Although bank shares look good value at the mo, as the collapse of a number of massive companies in the last few years has demonstrated, there ain't no such thing as a safe share, nosirree. A single share is a high risk investment - all your eggs in one basket, so to speak.

That's not to say you cannot make a shedload of money on them, but beware of the share that looks cheap. Although it's certainly true that there are bargains to be had where a whole sector falls from favour, including the strong companies that get tarred with the same brush (banking is a good example of this) shares are often cheap because no one expects them to do anything - recovery is not always inevitable. Just ask my mate that bought 'bargain' Woolworths shares about 18 months ago, or my good self that bought Marconi shares about 6 months before the company collapsed.

For those that want a chance of big returns but don't really know what they're doing, I think collective investments (like OEICs and unit trusts) are the way to go, because at least the risk is spread between a portfolio of shares that's looked after by someone that in theory knows what they're doing. They still go up and down in value and there are at least as many shit ones as good ones, but thanks to our beloved friend Mr Internet, it's easy enough to find decent ones, so for goodness sake don't have the first piece of crap your bank tries to sell you.

Given that the economic picture generally should improve over the next few years, a straightforward UK or Global equity fund would be my suggestion for making a few quid in the next few years, but please remember, nothing is guaranteed and they can go down as well as up in value.

This financial advice lark is easy, ho ho

[Tommy G]

I'm qualified to advise on this shit, but not actually registered so please ignore me completely.

Although bank shares look good value at the mo, as the collapse of a number of massive companies in the last few years has demonstrated, there ain't no such thing as a safe share, nosirree. A single share is a high risk investment - all your eggs in one basket, so to speak.

That's not to say you cannot make a shedload of money on them, but beware of the share that looks cheap. Although it's certainly true that there are bargains to be had where a whole sector falls from favour, including the strong companies that get tarred with the same brush (banking is a good example of this) shares are often cheap because no one expects them to do anything - recovery is not always inevitable. Just ask my mate that bought 'bargain' Woolworths shares about 18 months ago, or my good self that bought Marconi shares about 6 months before the company collapsed.

For those that want a chance of big returns but don't really know what they're doing, I think collective investments (like OEICs and unit trusts) are the way to go, because at least the risk is spread between a portfolio of shares that's looked after by someone that in theory knows what they're doing. They still go up and down in value and there are at least as many shit ones as good ones, but thanks to our beloved friend Mr Internet, it's easy enough to find decent ones, so for goodness sake don't have the first piece of crap your bank tries to sell you.

Given that the economic picture generally should improve over the next few years, a straightforward UK or Global equity fund would be my suggestion for making a few quid in the next few years, but please remember, nothing is guaranteed and they can go down as well as up in value.

This financial advice lark is easy, ho ho

So you can talk the talk but are you minted yourself? Sounds easy as pie to make £££ by what you've said, to get a big return you have to put a shit load in and be prepared to loose it. But if you pull it off you could be quids in.

I'd rather put money in the stock market than bet on horses for example.

[Tabou]

I'm qualified to advise on this shit, but not actually registered so please ignore me completely.

Snap!!!!!!

Although I will be registered once again come 3rd August! New jobbbbbbbb

[Monk]

Sound advice.

Woolies and Marconi are not the same situation as RBS though. The government will make a sack load of cash out of the bailout.

[Bellend Sebastian]

So you can talk the talk but are you minted yourself? Sounds easy as pie to make £££ by what you've said, to get a big return you have to put a shit load in and be prepared to loose it. But if you pull it off you could be quids in.

I'd rather put money in the stock market than bet on horses for example.

Well, the old saying that it takes money to make money is true to a large extent. People generally don't make a lot of money buying penny shares (for example) because a lot of them are a penny because they're shit. Indeed, it's very difficult for the amateur investor to make money buying and selling shares, because they don't have a lot to on other than their hunches, whereas professional fund managers have shitloads of analysts and so forth getting them information and they'll have a much better idea about the companies they are buying into than the layman.

I wouldn't say it's EASY to make money, but it's relatively easy to get hold of good information and make a vaguely informed decision, and to develop a bit of understanding about how it all works.

I've made money investing in the stockmarkets, but I've never really had the spare cash to commit the sums that you need to do to get the returns that would make a difference to my lifestyle. Doubling £200 is nice, but it's not like doubling £50,000, but you've got to have it in the first place. My pension fund is worth more than it would have been if I hadn't fiddled about with it, but in terms of the cash I've invested more short term, it's given me a bit more spending money over the years but I'll hardly be giving up work

[Babylon]

My Last 6-10 months have been cracking, my best two deals were....

Invested in ORE at 9p... ORE was sold to POG and I got 16:1 for my shares which are now £5.53 each.

Invested in TW. at 4p and sold at 50p.

Happy days.

[purpleronnie]

Wrong - if you are investing for 5 yrs or more now is exactly the time to be buying bank shares. Not sure why you think otherwise?

I meant bank accounts not bank stocks.

[Monk]

ahhhhh well..... you're not wrong there! I'm getting 4% on my ISA but even that as a market leading rate is shite!

[purpleronnie]

Yep thats why I'm looking elsewhere I've always been careful with my money but I feel I can now afford to try the stock market.

[Bellend Sebastian]

If you're not sure about whacking in your money in one go, a lot of collectives will let you invest monthly. This smooths out returns, and if everything goes tits up it works to your advantage in the long term as you're buying assets on the cheap assuming you keep contributing, which you'll get a bigger return on when things recover.

Cash ISAs may be crap at the moment, but don't forget the Stocks and Shares option

[breadandcheese]

Personally, I think the current rally from its lows is overdone. The Baltic Shipping Index, is dropping again, which is always a fairly reliable lead indicator. I can see stock markets falling again in the Autumn. Then I'll get in.

[Webbo]

A few years ago, the Jeremy Vine show on R2 gave a stock broker a fictional amount of money and told him to put it in 10 different shares of his choosing. They also threw darts at the share page in the Times and picked 10 shares that way and followed them both for a year.

Unsurprisingly the darts picked more winners than the stockbroker.

[ozleicester]

BAH!

My portfolio, small as it was, (cue "small portfolio" jokes) is currently worth 37% less than i paid for it, and at a guess around 71% less than it was at its peak.

The market is a gamble and to be honest its easier to study the form of a horse race.

but...its great fun isnt it

[stock-investments]

A safer way to play the stockmarket is to drip feed funds in on a regular basis. If unit prices fall your premiums will buy more stock. If unit prices rise your premiums can't buy as much but your stock increases in value. It balances out quantity and quality. THis system won't provide huge gains quickly but will also help avoid hugh losses.

Another safer way to play the stockmarket is to invest in penny stocks. the greatest advantage of such stocks is they cost from one cent to US $ 5

[James.]

Another safer way to play the stockmarket is to invest in penny stocks. the greatest advantage of such stocks is they cost from one cent to US $ 5

Penny stocks - safe! Yes, that's right. With a name like yours I was expecting something a bit better than that.

[Monk]

[Munzie]

Another safer way to play the stockmarket is to invest in penny stocks. the greatest advantage of such stocks is they cost from one cent to US $ 5

Ultimately, it's down to risk versus reward. Penny stocks might mitigate risk, given your initial investment, but also yield little reward.

The only way to make a small fortune on the stock market is to invest a large one in the first place!

[James.]

Ultimately, it's down to risk versus reward. Penny stocks might mitigate risk, given your initial investment, but also yield little reward.

On a relative basis penny stocks can yield huge returns, as reward for the higher risk. It doesn't matter what the size of your initial investment is, they are still very high risk.