Interested in buying stocks, can someone help? Beginner - I know NOTHING.

[derrekmay]

what I would strongly sugest is that when you invest in stocks, and you start earning some good money, just close down those stocks and use the profit to reinvest.
In this way you won't lose your initially money you've invested...

[Fredledingue]

Yes. That's what I'm trying to do now.

The problem is that stocks that grow (and which brings unrealized gains) are precisely those you wouldn't sell. But selling when you earn big or let's say, decently is the rule of the game.
If you don't play by this rule your gains are never realized and will vanish on the first bad news.

I have sold for example DT at $18.25 thought I expected that it will go higher (now it's at $19) and I don't regret it.
Today i just sold JNPR though they are precisely in a sector where I want to be and that I expect the stock to reach $40 soon. But I took my gain because the last time I didn't the stock fell from $34 to $14. Today i sold at $35.8. And i won't regret it even if the stock rebounds to $40.
Now I plan to sell MS when it reaches $68.8 thought I'm sure it will go to $73. That because I would have made 10% in 3 weeeks.

I have to be a more active trader.

As the saying goes "Don't fall in love with a stock."

[aquaswim47]

I did a slight study of the major indexes and if you had taken the money out of the market in April of 1998 in the 5 year period, you did equally well in equities or fixed income.

[mat420]

how do u know if for example, NMX IS A GOOD company to invest in? ive been watching it the past few weeks but i doubt that enough...iev been googling NMX daily almost and getting the results

125.10 on august 20th 10pm
129
128.48 september 4th
145 septemnber 5th (could be wrong)
124.89 sep 6
123.00 september 8th
121.86 september 10th
127.31- 9/11
125.91 september 12th
124.88 september 16th
122.35 septemmber 17th
125.21 septe 18th
123.85 septemer 19th
123.30

also interested in purcahgin tax liens, like when people dont pay their taxes. idk i got all these ideas, just no motivation to takeany of these on...like this idk how to even start besides a. paying someone to take care of all my finances or b. reading like crazy which i dont like to do.

tax liens on the other hand..no idea how to get started with that.

[Fredledingue]

I takes quiet a lot of reading. Not like crazy, but everyday 15 min at least.
You can't trade stocks with wathing the price movement only.
Maybe a fund (in other words: paying someone to take care of your money) would be good for you. And definately safer and easier.
There is no "easy" money with stocks. Poeple use to say "I won $10,000 doing nothing". That's not true: I took them years of experience and knowledge until they got into one deal in which they won enough to make their time investment profitable (I mean doing more than $10 an hour).

[lippy]

If people are to believe "don't put all eggs in 1 basket", why would they believe "separate your eggs in a few baskets" ?

Does it make sense?

Putting all or most eggs in 1 basket = you have time and alertness to stay focus. So if anything bad that is just about to start to your eggs, you can do somekind of prevention.

Putting eggs in several baskets = You have less time to monitor in each basket and thus, risks are there you will miss something.

If you are convinced to get the facts right, don't bother to put your eggs in several baskets. Afterall, research and analysis of several months to make a possible gain of less than 10% is terribly su*ks!

[Airelon]

First of all, if you make 10% a year on your investments, you need to pay yourself on the back. It doesn't "Suck". Warren Buffet, one of the single greatest investors to ever live, has only averaged 20% out over all the years. However, he accumulated in key areas, diversified into a few areas he could track well, and hit a few home runs. He's now a billionare. So far, YTD, I've made 98% on my money.

But that's this year. Next year I might make 6%. If you can average 10% - you are staying ahead of inflation and taxes - and you are doing very well. The absolute worst thing a new person can do is set their sights too high. They start dreaming of billions of dollars, their eyes get bigger than their stomache. They start buying into claims and dreams of 1000% returns, HYIP garbage, and the like.

Associated with this is the problem of putting all of your eggs in one basket. You might hit a home run. You might not. But then, that isn't the way a good business operates. A good business doesn't expose itself to uneccessary risk, and protects itself, from itself. If you put all of your eggs in one basket, you're not conducting business. You are gambling. You're hoping for one thing to do well. It might, it might not.

Experience teaches an investor that we are our own worst enemy. Psychology is the reason the markets move as they do. They move based off fear. And based off Greed. And I have yet to meet the individual investor who has perfect control over his emotions when investing. I'd bet ya ten dollars to the hole in a donut Warren Buffet himself doesn't have perfect control over those emotions. And experience teaches any investor that the idea of "put your eggs in one basket" - is a poor one. You might hit a home run? But in the long run - you'll end up in the poor house. Mathematics all but guarantees it, and it's been proven again and again in mathematical theorum after mathematical theorum. Gambling houses have literally based their wealth off those theorums.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to knock ya. I understand what you're saying, and I used to believe it. But time and experience have taught me how to build wealth in the markets.

[EvaluatingStocks]

Hi All - Good points on both sides. I believe research has shown that investing in 12-18 stocks (which are equally weighted in the portfolio) allows you to obtain about 90% of the benefits of diversification (I think this was per Reilly/Brown in Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management). However, in practice I follow Airelon's strategy of conservative investing while keeping an eye on fees (i.e., funds) and inflation. This is really the way to win in the long run unless you have an eye like Warren Buffett or Bill Miller.