Looking for investment advice

[CENTEXHUSKER]

With the epic crash of the economy, alot of people are suggesting buying NOW when prices are low for stocks. Does anyone know which stocks are a good buy/investment? I know we're not fortune tellers, but this is the BS forum so I'm just looking for some feedback on what people are doing with their monies.

 

Also heard that yesterday was the single best day for gold prices, EVER. Thought that was interesting......

[dustinl15]

I have been thinking about the same time. I would assume mutual funds would probably be the safest (but then again I don't know sh#t about the stock market). I was looking at a few shipping carriers that ship oil from the middle east to the US, not a bad deal as long as we don't get our oil cut off. Otherwise I would look at something in technology or healthcare, might not have good dividends but should have at least a return of 3%.

[HuskerExpat]

You should just buy an index fund, which tracks the performance of a stock index, such that the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Most people, including investment professionals, cannot beat the returns of the S&P 500 or the DJIA. Doing this also gives you the advantage of having a diversified investment. A lot of people thought it was really safe to invest in AIG or Merrill Lynch, but they recently learned differently. There are tons of index funds, but the symbol for two that track the indexes above are SPY and DIA.

[nebraskanative]

My answer would be: It Depends. Are you investing short or long term. What is your risk tolerance? Are you willing to risk your principal?

 

The market is, and I suspect, will remain extremely volatile at least until the election, possibly longer.

 

Personally, cash on sidelines is my preference right now until we stabilize a bit. But then again, I'm not as concerned about trying to hit the absolute bottom, but rather limit my downside exposure.

 

Just my 2 cents

[CENTEXHUSKER]

I appreciate the responses. I am 30 and have most of my money in a savings acct with 2.25 interest. I am not that crazy about taking huge risks, but I have some diversification with mutual funds/401k/kids college funds. All three accts have a range of risk tolerances within themselves.

 

I am just trying to figure out if there really is a opportuniity to dump some of my savings into stocks while they are low since I have another 30+ yrs til retirement. Everyone is saying right now is the time to buy, but just not sure which ones! I could go with the index stock like someone said, but I would have to do some more research before jumping in.

 

Thanks for the comments so far!

[huzkerbob]

Gold, Gold, Gold! You can never go wrong with GOLD!!!

[husker rob]

Gold, Gold, Gold! You can never go wrong with GOLD!!!

until a new vein of gold ore is found and the price drops.

 

if i had $1000 to gamble with, i would buy as many shares of Fannie Mae as I could. this morning their stock cost 43 cents a share and closed at 49 cents, a 13% increase. after hours trading and it is up another 5 cents or 10%.

 

with the govt bailout and take over, i would bet that it continues to go up.

 

or you could take the money and go to vegas and try your luck there

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Your right now is the time to buy. I have been thinking about it as well, but an important thing to understand is what you are willing to risk. You are definately going to lose some money in the stock market at times, but you have to be able to deal with that.

[bennychico11]

Almost a year ago this time I was asking the same question of people here. I ended up deciding to just play in the stock market for about a year before I concentrate on getting a retirement fund nailed down. So take my advice with a grain of salt. I've both made and lost money this year...probably more lost than anything though. Some of that has to do with me getting into the market at probably the wrong (or right?) time. And some of it has to do with my rookie mistakes (ie. bad stocks I chose).

 

Mutual funds, index funds and ETF's are great if you don't have the time or desire to watch your own portfolio. A lot of people give flack to Jim Cramer of CNBC...but one thing he has said is that if you do have the willingness to do your own research you can outperform any mutual, index or ETF year after year. A lot of the funds do have good individual stocks to invest in...but they also have a lot of bad stocks. So why not just get rid of the bad stocks and keep the good ones for your portfolio? He also says that mutual fund managers only make money off of the fees people pay them to manage the funds...so they only need to do well enough to attract more fees. I did a little research last week messing with some individual big name stocks that were in a Vanguard ETF. I found that during the past 5 and 10 years if I had just invested my money in those 5-6 stocks I would have outperformed the ETF alone by about 8% a year.

 

Now that being said...a few stocks that I'm going to keep my eyes on are PEP (Pepsi), PG (Proctor and Gamble), MCD (McDonalds), CVS (CVS...lol), V (Visa) and WMT (Wal-Mart). I'm also keeping watch for either a tech stock, stem cell research stock or an alternative energy stock (ie. wind energy).

I also have a speculative stock, APPY (Aspenbio Pharma). They are currently in works trying to get the worlds first appendicitis testing machine approved by the FDA. It works by screening your blood and will dramatically cut costs in doctors offices and hospitals. Not to mention preventing false diagnosis. I've been trading them too for the past few months and it's fun to watch me make $200-300 in a day. BTW, they are in a clear uptrend right now and will probably be getting back to 15 soon (provided the FDA doesn't come out saying "sorry, you're not approved"). Might even hit 20+ once they are approved.

 

Another really cheap spec play I have money in is UVSE. They're an oil/gas company who lately has started generating income. They had a price target about a year ago of $4 and have since sunk extremely low. Why they have dropped so low....recession, market manipulation, naked shorting, dilution...I'm not sure. But I have about 41,000 shares in them so if in a few years they pull out of the rut and people start seeing they actually are making money...I could make a bunch of money too

 

An ETF I was just playing with this past week is SKF. It's an inverse ETF, which can be quite risky, but if you find a good entry point and think the financial sector still has a rocky road ahead of themselves...you can do quite well. If you think the opposite, UYG might be a good bullish ETF

 

Like BRI said, don't risk any money that you're not willing to lose.

[huzkerbob]

I'm not talking about buying gold stocks. I mean you need to physically own gold. If the s%*@ really hits the fan, like Mad Max or Grapes of wrath. Then paper money, or worse paper stocks become toilet paper. And GOLD is never worthless!

 

At least that's what my buddy Hobo Pete told me.

[Igetbored216]

Where is the best place to purchase stock at?

[bennychico11]

Where is the best place to purchase stock at?

 

shop around based on your needs. compare brokers and their commission charges. Some companies require a minimum amount to be in your account at all times, others don't. Some charge per transaction on trades...others offer a monthly rate.

 

I personally use Sharebuilder. They cost $9.95/trade or $4 per trade if you set up the automatic investment option. They don't offer real time quotes as some other companies might...but I find their site extremely easy to use. I know exactly where everything is and can invest easily. They also don't charge for transferring money from or into my account. I have both a Roth IRA and a simple stock account with them.

[DJR313]

TD Ameritrade, the best brokers work there.

[CENTEXHUSKER]

My sister works at TDA, she enjoys it. Too bad she can't "hook a brotha" up with some insider info.

 

As far as investing, I don't have $5B laying around like my man Warren B, but I think I'll roll some of coin into an few stocks to feel it out. I like the idea of buying some gold too.

 

Good points about not investing what you aren't willing or prepared to lose. i told my wife its like legalized gambling

[bennychico11]

TDA also had a hell of a dividend a little while back....@ $6???!