Small investment in shares but no idea which ones or how??

[dave0010]

Basically at the moment I have a few ££££ sitting in a bank account and would like to maybe invest up to £1000 in shares as the rewards I'm sure could be alot better than the banks interest on the money. I know that to a lot of people on this forum this is a very small amount of money but to me its my hard earned money and I would like to do something with it but I have no idea how to go about investing it. So if there's someone on this forum that may be interested in investing the money for myself please could you PM and help me go about it and also maybe just include what relevant fee's an things are.

[marky1]

Worst thing you could do is give your £1000 to someone else to invest for you. Just leave it in the bank....

[Somewhatfoolish]

In fact... if anyone does contact you about this, rest assured they are trying to scam you.

[y282]

dave0010 said:

Basically at the moment I have a few ££££ sitting in a bank account and would like to maybe invest up to £1000 in shares as the rewards I'm sure could be alot better than the banks interest on the money. I know that to a lot of people on this forum this is a very small amount of money but to me its my hard earned money and I would like to do something with it but I have no idea how to go about investing it. So if there's someone on this forum that may be interested in investing the money for myself please could you PM and help me go about it and also maybe just include what relevant fee's an things are.

in the exact same position as this atm. squirrelled a lot away in ISAs but still have a chunk sat doing sod all. surely there's some way of stock/share potential. doesn't anyone on here do that?

[Somewhatfoolish]

Transaction costs will kill you with that kind of figure, I'm afraid.

You could buy shares in two companies max, I would suggest.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Saturday 8th January 14:14

[ben_h100]

You could invest in the AIM, if you don't mind losing the cash. Could possibly end the year doubling your money, but could also lose it in a month. More like gambling than anything.

Or if you are more of a gambler - Internet gambling, quidco and cashback/matched betting offers. Loads on moneysavingexpert forums.

[ShadownINja]

ben_h100 said:

matched betting offers

As I understand it, this is guaranteed income as you cannot lose money.

[jdwoodbury]

Talk to an IFA, let them work out your risk profile and take it from there. Most investment funds require a £1000 min lump sum investment or £50 per month.

[BoRED S2upid]

Somewhatfoolish said:

Transaction costs will kill you with that kind of figure, I'm afraid.

You could buy shares in two companies max, I would suggest.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Saturday 8th January 14:14

Seriously? Is this correct? I dabbled a few years back just a couple hundred quid in some penny shares throw away money and the cost was £10 a transaction so if the OP wanted to pick 3 shares to invest in it would cost £30. Or have things changed in the last few years?

[dele]

BoRED S2upid said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

Transaction costs will kill you with that kind of figure, I'm afraid.

You could buy shares in two companies max, I would suggest.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Saturday 8th January 14:14

Seriously? Is this correct? I dabbled a few years back just a couple hundred quid in some penny shares throw away money and the cost was £10 a transaction so if the OP wanted to pick 3 shares to invest in it would cost £30. Or have things changed in the last few years?

Mines £12.95 a transaction then whatever Tax on top

I wouldnt bother going above 2/3 as suggested as youd be loosing £12.95 when you bought then another £12.95 when you sold, depending on your fees of course, ive heard of some people getting it down to £7.95 per transaction?

[northandy]

Depends on your attitude to risk really.

You could take a very big punt on jjb sports, knowing that you could lose the whole 1k instantly.

Or you could take a bet on BP continuing to recover.

I have dabbled a little with small amounts in the past, and made a little bit, but there's always a risk you loose it all. I think the best return I ever had was doubling £250 to £500 in a couple of weeks.

Best advice is to do your own research.

[Somewhatfoolish]

BoRED S2upid said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

Transaction costs will kill you with that kind of figure, I'm afraid.

You could buy shares in two companies max, I would suggest.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Saturday 8th January 14:14

Seriously? Is this correct? I dabbled a few years back just a couple hundred quid in some penny shares throw away money and the cost was £10 a transaction so if the OP wanted to pick 3 shares to invest in it would cost £30. Or have things changed in the last few years?

Those fees are pretty high if you think about it. £30 is 3% of £1000!

[marky1]

If you split 1k between 3 shares and it costs you £30 to get in and out of each you have to make 10% on each one to break even. Complete waste of time, stick it in the bank.

[condor]

You could always just buy some Premium bonds with the money instead.

[Zippee]

northandy said:

Depends on your attitude to risk really.

You could take a very big punt on jjb sports, knowing that you could lose the whole 1k instantly.

Or you could take a bet on BP continuing to recover.

I have dabbled a little with small amounts in the past, and made a little bit, but there's always a risk you loose it all. I think the best return I ever had was doubling £250 to £500 in a couple of weeks.

Best advice is to do your own research.

As above - don't take a strangers advice, research the company yourself. Pick a sector first and then look at individuals within it, theres so many companies listed out there you'll spend most of your life searching everything for that elusive bargain. If you like risk and can afford to lose the money then the mining/drilling stocks may be worth some looking into but it really is down to how you treat your own money. Some stocks need a constant check and the ability to sell ASAP should the time come, others are relatively static and when they move you'll have time to call your broker to shift.

[fid]

You can easily make a good return (5%+) on £1000 with shares, but you really need to follow prices for a while and recognise upper and lower resistance levels to give you an idea of potential returns and time frame. You'll need 3% to cover trading fees and stamp duty, so 8% will give you your 5% profit.

A 20p share will need to become 21.6p, bear in mind there'll be a buy/sell spread. Don't buy for the sake of it, buy when the price is right. Set a limit order, daily if necessary, until you buy the shares at the price you think is most likely to enable you to make the 8%. If you're happy to just make 8% (or whatever the resistance levels tell you is likely (again, bear in mind that nothing should be considered 'likely')), set a sell order at the required price and hope it gets touched. It could happen quickly, it could take a while, or it could dive.

£1000 won't make you rich, it might not make you anything, but it's enjoyable. You do need to research prices for a while though.

[worsy]

I'd be inclined to stick them in a managed fund such as HSBC 250 Tracker or similar. That particulary one has zero charges so the risk is if the Ftse was to crash unexpectedly.

[Kuroblack350]

I'd go with the following two rules;

1. If you can't afford to lose the money - don't invest.
2. Know what your market is - really know it.

I've worked in the defence industry for over 10 years, so would only ever invest there as I know it pretty well. Everything else is just a gamble. (well, just more so I guess!)

[fid]

Kuroblack350 said:

...I've worked in the defence industry for over 10 years, so would only ever invest there as I know it pretty well. Everything else is just a gamble. (well, just more so I guess!)

Fair enough, but you miss out on the majority of opportunities if you stick to one sector...a take-over approach in one sector could net more in a few days than a decade in defence...but who knows

[walm]

fid said:

Kuroblack350 said:

...I've worked in the defence industry for over 10 years, so would only ever invest there as I know it pretty well. Everything else is just a gamble. (well, just more so I guess!)

Fair enough, but you miss out on the majority of opportunities if you stick to one sector...a take-over approach in one sector could net more in a few days than a decade in defence...but who knows

^----Yawn.
Another I can outperform Buffet because I do my own research thread.

As plenty have said on here either put it in a tracker and forget about it.
Or be prepared to lose it all and have a punt on a couple of equities.

I will offer one further suggestion.
If all you really want is a better return than the bank AND if you are happy to leave the capital well alone for a while - why not find a TOTALLY SAFE relatively high dividend yielding stock.

I have been looking at some telcos and many of them yield 6%+.
Of course fixed line is mostly in decline and mobile is barely stable but the cash yield is often 10%+ so the div is well covered.