Anyone dabble in Shares?
Discussion
As a latecomer to the thread, I'd just say "only invest in something you know about". Whether that's something to do with your job, hobby or simply your research it doesn't matter, but the one thing I never do is follow someone else's tips. By the time they are in circulation the bandwagon will already have started; you might make a bit but you could easily over-pay and lose money.
I'd also say never to invest money you might need. We had £80k invested a few years back and then suddenly realised we needed the cash to move house; that was a few nerve-racking weeks and you don't need to make mistakes like that.
Our approach is very un-inspiring. I only started again when the returns from fixed bonds dropped at the beginning of the year and I figured that I could do better in the market. So I deal between £2-5k bundles which makes the dealing charges insignificant. I pick FTSE100 companies that I can either research or know something about the industry and never bother with the internet share-tip forums. Somewhere like http://www.iii.co.uk/news/ will let you do some basic research on the company, it's performance and the usual trading ranges. The byword is DYOR - do your own research.
Perhaps most importantly for us, I pick companies which have a good chance of paying a regular dividend above the bank rate.
We don't day-trade, I look at them as at least a 2-5yr investment and don't expect to make any significant capital gains other than hopefully keep pace with inflation. We currently have BP, Glaxo & Tesco shares and dividends vary from 3%-7%, which means every 3 or 6 months you get a nice donation to your bank account and it's better than most fixed bonds.
And as a pure bonus, they've all risen by at least 10% since I bought in - but remember that's only a profit if you sell.
I'd also say never to invest money you might need. We had £80k invested a few years back and then suddenly realised we needed the cash to move house; that was a few nerve-racking weeks and you don't need to make mistakes like that.
Our approach is very un-inspiring. I only started again when the returns from fixed bonds dropped at the beginning of the year and I figured that I could do better in the market. So I deal between £2-5k bundles which makes the dealing charges insignificant. I pick FTSE100 companies that I can either research or know something about the industry and never bother with the internet share-tip forums. Somewhere like http://www.iii.co.uk/news/ will let you do some basic research on the company, it's performance and the usual trading ranges. The byword is DYOR - do your own research.
Perhaps most importantly for us, I pick companies which have a good chance of paying a regular dividend above the bank rate.
We don't day-trade, I look at them as at least a 2-5yr investment and don't expect to make any significant capital gains other than hopefully keep pace with inflation. We currently have BP, Glaxo & Tesco shares and dividends vary from 3%-7%, which means every 3 or 6 months you get a nice donation to your bank account and it's better than most fixed bonds.
And as a pure bonus, they've all risen by at least 10% since I bought in - but remember that's only a profit if you sell.
Should have got onboard on Friday. mercGLowner said:
northandy said:
mercGLowner said:
I have set myself up with a share account with Selftrade and am ready to start, but I lack a bit of confidence! Anyone dabble in this field?
Was thinking a high risk strategy required, speculate to accummulate and all that. Idea is to buy £7K of LLoyds Banking Group or RBS shares and sit back and see what happens! There is no way these institutions can go to the wall, afterall the taxpayer owns a vast share of them, and this must be about the bottom of the market, so actually risk is acceptable to me.
Like others have said dont do it if you cant afford to lose it. Also be careful tying it up, if you need it in an emergency then you could get caught out if the price has dropped.Was thinking a high risk strategy required, speculate to accummulate and all that. Idea is to buy £7K of LLoyds Banking Group or RBS shares and sit back and see what happens! There is no way these institutions can go to the wall, afterall the taxpayer owns a vast share of them, and this must be about the bottom of the market, so actually risk is acceptable to me.
When I first started it seemed like every time I bought a share its price dropped, It didnt make any sense until I realised I was late to the party every time.
Having all your eggs in one basket is risky.
I dont trade huge amounts, 1k is my biggest single purchase, I reckon in the last 12 months I made about £1,500, but most of that came from buying RBS at 15p, and lloyds at 40p, prior to that I was down for the year.
The important thing is not to get greedy, set yourself a target, say you invest £7k, what would happen if the share price rose rapidly and you could sell for £10k in a month ? ask yourself what you would do ?. You need to be ready to jump when you are happy with the return. dont sit thinking once its at 10k it will continue to rise.
Best of luck
On reflection the banks are too higher risk at the moment, I am going to take a watching brief on them and see what happens. The consensus appears to be that RBS may well dip down again anyway. I have been looking at Vodafone, a 'medium' risk FTSE100 company. It seems to be in favour at the moment and I have read about a possible takeover of T-Mobile in the future, which wouldn't do the share price any harm.
I learnt a lot in the early days, and I reckon I only know 10% of how the market works, but it can be fun (and can be a nightmare).
I only have a grand or so invested at the moment, 3 holdings, but currently at about 2.3k value, so well up, but as I said one of them is Lloyds which I bought at 40p, and bought my bonus allocation as well.
Best of luck with it.
The Lukas said:
The stock market is something I've always thought about but never actually put my foot into. Maybe I should try, could be surprisingly good at it! Banks do seem a safer bet than most places at the moment.
LLOY & RBS both took a kicking today -3% , -4%. Tis only 1 day but do your research.Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff