Does anyone here play the stock market?

[Hunter115522]

Go to AC and hit the craps tables, so much more fun! 

 

[BenedictGomez]

 I have been thinking bout precious Medals...

 

You cant have my 4-H Medal, it's not for sale.

 

My Question that I never got a good answer for is. When you Buy X amount of shares at $500,00 one day and the next Day your advisor calls you to tell you that you have just lost all that investment.  Where and who got all my $500.00

 

 

The person or entity which in that same time-frame Sold X amount of shares at $500.00.

 

 

Tell that to the suckers that bought at $1800 an oz.. see what they say...

.

 

Yeah, unfortunately there's no such thing as a safe investment.

[Haskell_Hunter]

Tell that to the suckers that bought at $1800 an oz.. see what they say...

 

  CD's interest rates are fixed for the duration of the CD.. I don't see the risk there.. Annuities, ( NOT Variable ) are NEVER risky.. No one has EVER lost a dime when they are held to maturity.. And their rate of return is usually tied to interest rates ( excluding Indexed annuities ) .. And again, Where there is inflation there are higher interest rates..

 

You misunderstand how gold retains its value.

 

Like anything else, the price will fluctuate with highs and lows.  Those are short-term fluctuations and are common.  However, gold works this way:  If you bought $100 worth of gold in 1971, that gold will have the same buying power today as that $100 would.  46 years ago $100 would buy a lot of things because things didn't cost as much back in the day.  They do now because of inflation.  The $100 of gold today may be worth somewhere around $3,040.  Here is an excellent graphic that shows how this works:

 

 

 

Sure you can play the highs and lows of gold price fluctuations, but the best investment strategy for gold is to retain value and protect against inflation.

 

Inflation can outpace interest rates, and most investments are not protected specifically against the rate of inflation.  TIPS are protected against inflation, they are the only government bonds that are.  They are attached to the federal internet rate or more specifically LIBOR.

[Merkel]

I've never done any sort of investing before, other than the 403b (non-profit's version of a 401k) and I'm looking for some good resources, information, etc.  My father in-law is really in to it, but I don't really speak with him very often and I was just curious if anyone here is in to it.

 

I actively trade the market. Pm if you would like and I will try to help. I'm a former investment banker with a MBA in finance.

[Rdfhunter]

Great advice Haskell .. Your #4 ruined a year of my life ...

[kanigie]

Stop loss limit orders are your friend. I use a trailing stop loss of 8% on all my positions. 

 

Set it and forget it.

[NorthJerseyMike]

Haskell said it the best.   If you do buy individual stocks, do your homework.  I did well with Crox at $6 a share and FB at $20 a share.  Also had made some coin with HAIN and WFM over the years.  Diversify.  Don't invest your money into AXA if you have 403b because you'll get screwed with fees long term.  

[BenedictGomez]

Like anything else, the price will fluctuate with highs and lows.  Those are short-term fluctuations and are common.  However, gold works this way:  If you bought $100 worth of gold in 1971, that gold will have the same buying power today as that $100 would.  46 years ago $100 would buy a lot of things because things didn't cost as much back in the day.  They do now because of inflation.  The $100 of gold today may be worth somewhere around $3,040.

 

 

 

Well this is false academically from an investment standpoint, it only happens to be true because.......well..... the chart's correct in that that's exactly what happened. 

 

  But it's akin to having the sports pages after the superbowl is over versus trying to predict the game before it's played -  you already know the score if you have tomorrow's paper in your hand and know the Patriots beat the Falcons, but that doesn't necessarily mean the next 2, 4, 10 times they play the Pats are going to win.

 

Ultimately I dont disagree with you though, I believe the dollar will continue to be crushed as America's economy and unfunded liabilities continue to grow.  This country is totally &*!@#&* I believe, and I think very few people understand just how bad it is, because most people possess neither the education nor the prognosticative ability to see the trainwreck 5 minutes before there's a bunch of mangled steel.   In that climate gold absolutely should increase in value.  SHOULD, based on past results.  But the bit where it gets dicey is suggesting that gold will always maintain it's value in tough times.  That's mostly been true throughout human history, but if things get REAL bad, this is certainly not necessarily so.  The reason gold holds value is because society "agrees" to say it has value, primarily due to his legacy use as currency in ancient times, but frankly this is inherently illogical in contemporary times if you think about it, and there is no such thing as a "sure thing" to hold value.

 

Basically this is all a really long-winded way of saying something that everyone who works in the investment world has committed to memory, "Past performance is not indicative of future results".   Just because gold has appreciated well in value for a while doesn't mean it always will. 

[Haskell_Hunter]

Well this is false academically from an investment standpoint, it only happens to be true because.......well..... the chart's correct in that that's exactly what happened. 

 

  But it's akin to having the sports pages after the superbowl is over versus trying to predict the game before it's played -  you already know the score if you have tomorrow's paper in your hand and know the Patriots beat the Falcons, but that doesn't necessarily mean the next 2, 4, 10 times they play the Pats are going to win.

 

Ultimately I dont disagree with you though, I believe the dollar will continue to be crushed as America's economy and unfunded liabilities continue to grow.  This country is totally &*!@#&* I believe, and I think very few people understand just how bad it is, because most people possess neither the education nor the prognosticative ability to see the trainwreck 5 minutes before there's a bunch of mangled steel.   In that climate gold absolutely should increase in value.  SHOULD, based on past results.  But the bit where it gets dicey is suggesting that gold will always maintain it's value in tough times.  That's mostly been true throughout human history, but if things get REAL bad, this is certainly not necessarily so.  The reason gold holds value is because society "agrees" to say it has value, primarily due to his legacy use as currency in ancient times, but frankly this is inherently illogical in contemporary times if you think about it, and there is no such thing as a "sure thing" to hold value.

 

Basically this is all a really long-winded way of saying something that everyone who works in the investment world has committed to memory, "Past performance is not indicative of future results".   Just because gold has appreciated well in value for a while doesn't mean it always will. 

 

It is true.  Do you need me to build a spreadsheet for you to track inflation against the price of gold for the past 200 years?  I thought the same thing until we went through it in one of my finance classes.

 

Gold holds value, it doesn't appreciate.  That's what's wrong with your understanding of it.  It's a common misconception.

[Sticks n' Stones2]

I have a little experience with how the market works, my father is one who really knows what he's doing though. I'd recommend investing in pharmaceuticals. Arena Pharmaceuticals, and Mankind Inc. are good choices.

[Zipper]

Buy some silver now.

[Axiom]

Gold holds value, it doesn't appreciate.

 

 

 I want something that will appreciate.. I hate maintaining the status quo..

[newjerseyhunter]

This is the only investment thread I found that mentioned Mutual Funds. I do my stocks and ETFs through TD Ameritrade but wanted to get into some mutual funds, also through TD.

The interface for MFs on TD is not nearly as good as my two 401k providers so I'm having a hard time comparing and contrasting. I'm looking for something with more stability (lower risk) than the ETFs I have which are leveraged and I don't want to trade individual stocks.

Anyone out there using TD Ameritrade to invest in mutual funds?

[Bowhunter444]

Besides the stock market I also have money in municipal bonds and some in government bonds also have some money invested in precious metals. You need to have a diverse portfolio to cover your investments

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Haskell_Hunter]

I prefer the Vanguard funds.  The fees they charge are the lowest in the industry.  When you look at funds always look at the fees they charge.  Some funds charge 1.5%-3% fees, which can erode your gains quickly.

ETFs are good if you are making frequent trades and moves.  For long-term investing, something like an index fund is a reliable investment.

Are you going to be making periodic investments or just moving into a fund looking for dividend-reinvested growth?