The Stock Market..... help please.

[pokerchap]

I am a complete noob when It comes to the stock market ( im pretty young) and know nothing about it. I have some extra money from poker and want to start investing. Would anyone be willing to talk to me about it or point to towards a web site? I have a book but I don't think that is the best way to get things done. You can coach me to be a stock market master and ill pay you if you are reputable...

[pokerchap]

Basically, i am a student who plays poker and I want to know another way to get money without having an intense job so i can enjoy myself and have extra money in the long run.

[gull]

Try searching or reading stickies.

Individual stocks are risky. It's very hard to consistently/accurately predict the future.

The best way for the average investor to invest is with a fund. A fund owns hundreds of stocks, whose ups and downs cancel eachother out. This effect is known as diversification. With a fund, you get the same expected returns as stock, but with much less risk.

There are a few types of funds. Some are "actively managed" and typically charge high fees. Others are known as "index funds" and charge low fees. Costs will hurt your returns. History shows that actively managed funds fail to beat index funds.

For these reasons, index funds are your best bet because they have the same high returns as stocks, are very diversified, and are low cost.


There are a number of ways to invest in index funds.

1) Get a good financial advisor. If you have hundreds of thousands of dollars, you can afford to have a good financial advisor manage your assets for you. They will help determine an asset allocation for you and maintain your portfolio.

2) Invest in index funds directly with a fund company. Vanguard is the best company to invest with directly. They offer a wide selection of extremely low-cost index funds.

3) Invest in exchange traded funds that follow an index. These work very similarly to index funds and will offer the same returns. The only difference is that you buy and sell these on an exchange through a brokerage, just like stocks.



Here's a great and simple way to start:
Go to vanguard.com
Open an account.
Deposit money.
Invest it all in a target retirement 20XX fund.
Sit back and let it grow.

[ilikeaces86_]

Go to Vanguard.com Invest in some diversified funds. Maybe put it in the star fund or something if you want good diversification and less risk since its like 65/35 stocks bonds.

[midas]

1. Buy a book like Stock Market for Dummies
2. Buy a book on reading a financial statement
3. Buy a book on basic company valuation

After completing steps 1,2 & 3 you now know more than 99% of individual investors but less that 10% of your average Wall Street trader.

After that, forget everything you read in those books because most people can't beat your average index fund in the long-run and individual stock trading may have more to do with market money flow than fundamental analysis.

A better stategy is to pick a highly cyclical group of stocks like shipping companies or semiconductor equipment manufacturing companies. Learn everything you can about the industry and how those stocks move in cycles and react to money flows and follow them investing both long/short and with options. Good Luck

[pokerchap]

thanks. appreciate it.

btw- I am talking about like 10k here, not like 250k

[mtgordon]

fundadvice.com

[wdcbooks]

Gull, I think I am developing a man crush on you (or at least your advice).

Midas -

[ QUOTE ]
A better stategy is to pick a highly cyclical group of stocks like shipping companies or semiconductor equipment manufacturing companies. Learn everything you can about the industry and how those stocks move in cycles and react to money flows and follow them investing both long/short and with options. Good Luck


[/ QUOTE ]

This advice however is ruinously poor.

[pig4bill]

[ QUOTE ]
History shows that some actively managed funds fail to beat index funds.

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FYP

[bet2win]

funds are complete crap, basically if you want to be a chump invest in funds

if you want to someday retire and be in control, buy stocks just diversify a bit and buy mainly blue chips to start

obviously read a couple of books and make low risk trades