The stock market for beginners
For those of us who haven't learned the first thing about the stock market, this site is very informative.
http://www.investopedia.com/university/stocks/
That is the link to the stock. Very informative. Includes a glossary and a section on how to read the numbers. If any of the great minds on the board think that it can be added on to, please contribute! I learned a lot from it. Things you MUST know before you begin investing.
Hope it helps.
Juliette de Sade
Re:The stock market for beginners
According to that article, I'm a Bear, a Chicken and a Pig at the same time!
Re:The stock market for beginners
According to that article, I'm a Bear, a Chicken and a Pig at the same time!
-Melonie
Goodness Melonie!
I fit the personality of a pig. Not savvy enought for anything else. Getting there!
Re:The stock market for beginners
Melonie you are definitely not a "pig". You do a lot of due dilligence and plan exit points rather than just buying a cab drivers hot tip without paying attention and following the herd chsing yesterday's news and last week's winners.
Re:The stock market for beginners
A bull ......If a person is optimistic, believing that stocks will go up, he or she is called a "bull" and said to have a "bullish outlook." -end quote
I believe in "playing the odds"... the stock market will go down however it will stay up over 70% of the time. I believe in buying more stock (not alot just a little more) when it is a bear market because when that same QUALITY stock goes up again... woo mama! ;D
I've educated myself enough about property for now hence I've moved onto educating myself about stocks.
My two key words are QUALITY and GROWTH in regards to stocks.
Whilst I may have been a Pig with my first investment... I'm not now. I've learnt my lesson: NOT be impatient, greedy, and emotional about investing.
Re:The stock market for beginners
Quote:
Originally Posted by montythegeek link=board=6;threadid=5177;start=msg54483#msg54483 date=1071284518
You do a lot of due dilligence and plan exit points rather than just buying a cab drivers hot tip without paying attention and following the herd chsing yesterday's news and last week's winners.
Frankly, with this particular market, I'm not so sure that due diligence of a company's finances plus emotionless adherence to investing principles like stop loss orders and profit taking after a certain % of gain work all that well. Three days ago I got "stopped out" of PetroKazakhstan which had dropped based on Russia's jailing of a prominent business figure about a month before and had never recovered. No sooner was my stock automatically sold at a 10% loss than the stock comes roaring back for a 15% gain in the last 3 days!
Also, following my "take profits" principle, I had sold a small gold mining company about a month ago after it had risen to double what I paid for it, but then backtracked 15% (netting me about a 75% gain). Sure enough, no sooner than this stock was automatically sold than it began to rise in value like a rocket, with the current price being almost double what I sold it for.
In both of these examples, the "fundamental" company economics did not justify the actual price action. With the oil stock the factor was Russian anti-business politics scaring off large foreign investors temporarily, and with the gold stock the factor was retirement/mutual funds suddenly discovering that this stock existed after it was newly listed in New York and London stock markets as well as Toronto.
I guess my point is that while company research to find "quality" stocks or "undervalued" stocks follows a very logical analytical procedure, market price moves of these stocks often have very little to do with such factors and are instead controlled by "emotional" factors of big players causing illogical buying and selling on their part ! This still makes investing in stocks a "crap shoot" despite logical analysis and company economic fundamentals i.e. "quality" and "growth potential".
Re:The stock market for beginners
Melonie, the technique which works best in dealing with "winners" is to sell in thirds. And I would consider a 75% return a home run even if it was a home run in the fourth row and not the 15th row.
Remember not to kick yourself. Think progress not perfection. Also key your stop-loss orders to the volatility of the stock, or for those with less experience the "beta". Volatile stocks like commodities lsuch as oil and gold may suggest a 20% stop-loss rather than 10%.
Do not get the "IF-I'D's". It is like winning at the craps tables and looking over your shoulder and kicking yourself for not going one more time when your number came up as you walked away from the table with a major win. Thinking about what might have been is a waste of time and effort.