Does anyone know about shares??

[Lil Skater]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone knows about shares enough to give me some help, as my parents can't answer this one for me.

I want to invest in shares, i know to invest in something stable that will give back some kind of positive growth..But not sure where to start, get information etc..

I've decided to start on shares as i'm 17 and can't exactly get any IPs started as yet, so any help is appreciated, just to get a bit of experience in investing.

Thanks
Lil Skater

 

[investor888]

You might have more luck posting on a shares forum, rather than a property forum.

 

[Lil Skater]

That was my thoughts too..But i thought i'd try my luck..

 

[skater]

Sammy, there are a few shares guru's on the forum. You could also read some of my books that I haven't had time to read.

 

[The Y-man]

I want to invest in shares, i know to invest in something stable that will give back some kind of positive growth..But not sure where to start, get information etc..

Buying shares in a company is essentially buying part of that business.
So a stable company that will have some sort of growth should mean that there should be corresponding stability and growth in the shares you buy.

So, if you can find a company that you believe is doing well, and has a future for it (both from a market perspective and from the effects of the global financial thingy) - why not get a small (minimum is $500 for Australian shares) batch and see how it goes?

Be warned - the market is not always rational (i.e. sensible) - so prices can (and do) move in strange ways.

So for example, who are the best skate makers in the world? Is their business stable? Will the market for its products always exist? Is it possible to buy shares in that business? etc....

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[SYD]

Technically you wont be able to invest in shares until you are 18 as you are considered to be a minor.

But there is nothing wrong in starting your research now.

Firstly, consider the type of broker you require - full service, full cost or discount online broker.

Next, consider what you want from your investment - capital growth and/or dividends. Also, start researching the level of dividends companies pay, whether dividends are stable or rising each year. In recent times some companies have been cutting their dividends.

Then consider the price per share compared to the dividends.

That is, dividend yield = Annual dividend / Share price.

You could then compare the dividend yield on a share you may like with the rental yield on your parents' properties.

Don't always go for the highest yielding share as there are probably good reasons some shares are high yielding.

Maybe research companies that are well known.

Best of luck.

 

[GreatPig]

i know to invest in something stable that will give back some kind of positive growth

Now there's the rub: if everyone "knew" what shares would have positive growth, no one would ever lose money. All share investing carries the risk of a capital loss. But then, no risk no reward, you gotta be in it to win it, no one ever got a piece of the action standing on the side-lines, etc. etc. etc. Your biggest advantage is that time is on your side: if you blow it, you have plenty of time for another go, and since you say you can't buy an IP yet, you wouldn't be blowing a huge fortune.

Your approach will depend on how involved you want to get. If you just want to buy a few things and then mostly forget about it, go for something relatively low risk but don't expect them to double in price in a week. For long-term (relatively) low risk, you would probably want to read up on some of the fundamental information about the companies, along the lines of SYD's comments, and stick with the top 100 or 200 companies.

If you think you'd like to get more heavily involved (time-wise), and put some money into higher risk investments with more prospect of larger gains (and losses), then you probably want to look at a combination of fundamentals and charts - fundamentals for their prospects and charts for timing entries and exits. Unless you want to trade short-term though, you don't need to learn too much about charting. There are websites that let you look at charts, so you don't need your own software.

Since you are so young, you can afford to take on risk, but you want calculated risk not blind risk. So if you'd like the sharemarket to be more than just another bank term deposit for you, read a lot!

A good place to start is the ASX website. You could also spend time on shares forums (you'll find a list if you do a search here), but you'll need to start training your BS filter. In particular, be wary of ramping (ie. people talking up stocks for their own benefit). Never buy shares because someone else reckons they're a sure thing. Always do your own analysis and buy because YOU think they're worth buying. And expect to be wrong more than once! I'm sure most shares forums will have had the question "what are some good books to read" a few dozen times, so do a search there for other material.

GP

 

[hobo-jo]

***Not Financial Advice***

Look for some gold miners whose prices will rise quickly in the coming gold rush. Some of the things I look for:
- Producing
- Mines based in low risk countries
- Unhedged
- Cash reserves/no debt

Or you know, you could look at the old blue chip stocks which might have passed their 2007 highs in another 5-10 years or so

In my opinion best to put your money into something you think will soar over the next few years. Hence look for shares that you would think do well in poor economic conditions, some areas to consider might be:
- Gold
- Debt collection
- Agriculture

If you are not at all sure what sectors will rise in the coming years why would you consider investing at all (right at this moment)? Why put your money into a market you are unsure of?

You could look at doing some paper trades to start off with. Jot down a couple of stocks that you think will do well each week and track their progress...if all of them are losing then maybe the market isn't for you.

As an alternative to stock markets/real estate why not look at other areas that you could invest, such as a small business, etc. Find a niche market that's not cornered on eBay and sell some items there or similar.

Goodluck!

 

[ColonialBoy]

Read Read http://asx.com.au/resources/education/index.htm

 

[Piston Broke]

Good onya for starting to think about investing.
Lemme give you some views & opinions from my side of the fence.

- If your looking for stability, I doubt you'll find it investing in shares.
- Brokers have no clue about which stock will rise or fall. They'd have retired long ago if they did.
- Just because a business is stable does'nt mean the price wont go down 40%
- There are many books written on how to make money with shares, but why do 90% still lose?
- ~90% of those investing (or trading) in the sharemarket lose. Do you think you should do the same as they all do?
- Patience, lotsa patience is needed. Have a plan and be patient.
- When things go bad, don't expect the newspaper or the broker to say "sell".
- Never ever, ever rely on hot tips by brokers or anyone else.
- If all you needed to do is read a book or buy a course to make millions, all investors & traders would be millionaires, reality is most ain't.
- Don't believe the business show on the tele, they don't have a clue either. Learn to read "between the lines" of the financial press.

I think it's better to do my own research than to rely on brokers or so called experts.
None of them were recommending selling shares when the market was falling like a rock. Infact they we're telling people to buy.
Markets change direction. They don't go up forever, they don't go down forever. Te idea is to go in the same direction most of the time.
Beware of those who been saying for 20 years things like that Gold will go to $2,000. Sooner or later they'll be right, but who wants to wait if and when that happens?
We all make mistakes, you win some you lose some. As long as you win more than you lose it's ok, and the better you get the less you lose. Be aware of the risks involved, buying shares puts all you money at risk. There's always a chance that you lose all of it. You just have to do your best to minimize the probabilities of that happening.
Be prepared for prices to go up or down 20-30% or more. Plan for it, it will happen.
Your plan can be to buy and hold for 20yrs, or hold until XXX, or any combination.
Realise that plans are subject to change, they aint written in stone.

have fun.

 

[GreatPig]

As long as you win more than you lose it's ok

Just a comment on that: it has to relate to dollars, not trades . You can win on more than 50% of your trades and still lose money, and vice-versa. It's not uncommon for most money to be made from a small number of positions, hence the saying "let your winners run". Those big wins may well be what you need to keep your head above water, more than compensating for the low or negative performance of the other positions, so don't cut them off prematurely. Easier said than done of course.

And to reiterate the comment about hot tips yet again: beware Greeks bearing gifts! Otherwise, I have a friend in Nigeria who's dying to speak to you...

GP

 

[skater]

And to reiterate the comment about hot tips yet again: beware Greeks bearing gifts! Otherwise, I have a friend in Nigeria who's dying to speak to you...

GP

Although I know the poster of this thread is quite mature in many ways, I am not sure she knows about "Greeks bearing gifts" or "Nigerian scams".

 

[GreatPig]

I am not sure she knows about "Greeks bearing gifts"

Really? We learnt about the (alleged) Trojan war and a lot of Greek mythology at primary school. Sad to think that there might be a whole generation out there who only know of trojan horses as computer viruses. Wasn't that in the movie Troy as well?

or "Nigerian scams".

I would have thought anyone with an email address would know about these by now.

Cheers,
GP

 

[joanmc]

Hi Lil Skater,
MY son (15) is about to embark on this path himself. I am making him paper trade for a month and then we can re-assess whether this is the path for him. I am getting him to look at websites, trading magazines and the like to get some ideas and then follow them through. My personal strategy is to buy what I consider to be good quality shares, set the amount of profit I want and then sell at that point. There are a lot of strategies out there so do your research and find what sits best with you. I don't do any technical type analysis, but that is just me...you may find it works for you.

I agree with the others- be aware you can lose the lot. Years ago I had shares in a company that went belly-up and actually got a letter that said"notification that your shares are worthless"...that was a special day LOL

I always encourage my kids to have a go as I believe it is fear and/or laziness that keeps most people broke. I don't want them to fear failure and stagnate.

So (and this is just my opinion, not advice blah, blah), If you were my kid and really keen, I felt you understood the risk I would be saying go for it have fun, don't be afraid and don't let the nay sayers put you off as they are only working with THEIR fears. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Sunfish]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone knows about shares enough to give me some help, as my parents can't answer this one for me.

I believe in shares and that you are never too young to start learning so I will add some thoughts.

"Paper trading" is only useful for testing trading systems but "getting a feel" for shares is like riding a bike: Have a go and if you fall off have another go.

Most battles will be in your mind that is it is not as easy to dump bad trades and let the winners run as it sounds. Little voices in your head are telling you different things. Besides, THERE ARE NO RULES WHICH WORK ALL THE TIME!

Open an on-line account (Comsec or eTrade) with your Mother as trustee (?) because you will not feel like handling small trades through a full-service broker, he/she may not want to do them and the brokerage will kill you anyway.

Being young and impatient (that's OK by me ) you will not want to go with blue chips, that's like watching paint dry so you will look for small companies which may become big ones. Junior resource companies have that attraction but also have a high failure rate. You will try some before too long but be careful. We [Australia] also have two companies who have made break-throughs in alternative energy that they are trying to get into full production. If they succeed they will show big gains in a few years. Still unproven, thus cheaper still, are our "hot rocks" electricity generators. The real-estate trusts may be ready for a rebound and in a year or so the banks may have their day in the sun. There are plenty of good ideas and it can be fun testing yourself provided you don't take things too much to heart.

Buy a stock and watch it. If/when it looks a good move and you have saved a bit more, try another. If it does poorly sell it and try again. After a few years of this you still wont have a valuable portfolio but you will have had some valuable experiences and if you study your emotions you will be in a position to make the best of your high income years, hopefully avoiding expensive, silly, mistakes then.

If you become even half good at it, it can a lot of fun. You will never buy lotto tickets or play the pokies either. At least I don't.

 

[GreatPig]

If you become even half good at it, it can a lot of fun.

If you become really good at it, and make heaps of money, remember those who got you started generously.

Depending on circumstances, you might find us either on a park bench down town somewhere, or buying Jamie Packer's casinos off him for 1 cent in the dollar.

GP

 

[Ryan80]

I believe in shares and that you are never too young to start learning so I will add some thoughts.

"Paper trading" is only useful for testing trading systems but "getting a feel" for shares is like riding a bike: Have a go and if you fall off have another go.

Most battles will be in your mind that is it is not as easy to dump bad trades and let the winners run as it sounds. Little voices in your head are telling you different things. Besides, THERE ARE NO RULES WHICH WORK ALL THE TIME!

Open an on-line account (Comsec or eTrade) with your Mother as trustee (?) because you will not feel like handling small trades through a full-service broker, he/she may not want to do them and the brokerage will kill you anyway.

Being young and impatient (that's OK by me ) you will not want to go with blue chips, that's like watching paint dry so you will look for small companies which may become big ones. Junior resource companies have that attraction but also have a high failure rate. You will try some before too long but be careful. We [Australia] also have two companies who have made break-throughs in alternative energy that they are trying to get into full production. If they succeed they will show big gains in a few years. Still unproven, thus cheaper still, are our "hot rocks" electricity generators. The real-estate trusts may be ready for a rebound and in a year or so the banks may have their day in the sun. There are plenty of good ideas and it can be fun testing yourself provided you don't take things too much to heart.

Buy a stock and watch it. If/when it looks a good move and you have saved a bit more, try another. If it does poorly sell it and try again. After a few years of this you still wont have a valuable portfolio but you will have had some valuable experiences and if you study your emotions you will be in a position to make the best of your high income years, hopefully avoiding expensive, silly, mistakes then.

If you become even half good at it, it can a lot of fun. You will never buy lotto tickets or play the pokies either. At least I don't.

Sunfish,

Would one of these alternative energy companies be CFU by any chance? I have been reading a lot about this company and feel its got a great future ahead.

 

[Sunfish]

Sunfish,

Would one of these alternative energy companies be CFU by any chance?

If I was stock tipping I would have named them. But this is a property forum where sceptism and disclaimers are scarce. [I would like to expand on that but cant find suitable phrasing]

I know about CFU but I sold out @ 24c so I can hardly recommend it as a buy now, can I?

If any of my posts prompt some curiosity so people find an interesting stock and research it, that is all I can hope for.

 

[steveadl]

Years ago I had shares in a company that went belly-up and actually got a letter that said"notification that your shares are worthless"...that was a special day LOL

Sweet! I had to pay $80 for the same privelge this year to claim a capital loss. Have an even bigger one sitting over in the US, but not quite sure how to access that yet.

 

[JamesGG]

I started paper trading when I was about fourteen, I think, as part of a game set up by my parents and then through the ASX share trading game. Sunfish is right, Sam, in that it won't necessarily teach you a great deal about how how you'll perform in the market; but, perhaps, it will teach you a little about how the market works.

Whilst I like the suggestion of dipping your toes into the water and seeing what happens, may I be so bold as to suggest at least reading a little first? Understand the terminology, the different leading indicators, the fundamentals and trends; I think being aware of what you are doing would be a good start.

I've long believed that the *only* difference between investing and gambling, with any venture involving potential profit, is simply how much you know. Trading, IMO, is simply a short-term version of either.

Now, you've asked an incredibly vague and open question to a forum where, admittedly, there are a lot of people with skin in that game; but, less so who use shares as their main investment vehicle. As you will have noticed already, there are any number of different opinions as to what will, or won't, work.

What I think you need to do now, Sam, is find out where your comfort zone lies with shares, and decide how far you're willing to push that boundary. Once you've got that sorted, absorb as much information as you can (something you're particularly good at, I'm sure) and then get on it.

Good luck