Does anyone invest in stocks?
Does anyone invest/trade in stocks?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
Scroll to see replies
Original post by yourguyJM
I feel like the stock market is very volatile and you can lose everything. 
True but if you do it right and take calculated risks, it could work in your favour
Original post by Jedimonkey
Does anyone invest/trade in stocks?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
Yes
Read loads of investing books first, I also work in finance.
Original post by Jedimonkey
Does anyone invest/trade in stocks?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
I'll tackle this from a different angle to anything I normally see. Forget your usual technicalities and jargon for a minute, and think in first principles instead.
This takes more effort and time. So you need to be more patient and prepared to do your research, generally. And the first principles are such that 'stocks' are basically a % of a publicly listed private company. And companies, are made of people.
And people are pretty much at the heart of everything. The wealth of entire countries and the value of the currencies is based on the value which that country's people are capable of producing. And what they're capable of producing depends on things such as their work ethic, social stability, education, income mobility (in the corporate context, this would be 'professional development opportunities' or 'career path'), etc. Things like staff turnover are also important, because they'll give you an idea of whether or not people actually even like working for that company.
People, have values. Conglomerations of people, shape their various values, into a culture. This applies to countries, it also applies to companies.
If you get to know the people behind the business, their values, their culture... and you have some cursory understanding of organisational psychology and what sorts of behaviors are 'healthy' in organisations and which are not, you can get a good idea of whether or not you are dealing with a company of reliable people, or whether you are for example dealing with some sort of a door-to-door pyramid scheme instead, that is destined to collapse.
If you invest in the right people, it doesn't matter as much if something hits the fan and their stocks drop, because you can be more confident that their strong leadership and organisational culture will see it through and pick themselves up. Whereas if you are dealing with the wrong types of people who just roll over in the face of hardship, jump ship and flee to the next best option (fair weather people, as I call them), then the company will probably fall to pieces or end up being bought out by others.
All this applies more so to longer term investments than short ones.
All of that, is in addition to the usual economic, political, etc. factors that everyone else usually talks about. But really, I still place people at the top of my list. Because, even if the economy shifts, and politicians decide to cut government spending, an effective organisation with the right people leading it and working there, will understand these changes, anticipate, and respond to them more effectively than another organisation that does not. So what if the government decides to stop spending money on railways all of a sudden? If led correctly and responsibly, the organisation will just re-purpose themselves to work in a new and related market instead then. Whereas an organisation that is not... will sink.
(edited 3 years ago)
I do. I hold the bulk (50-60%) of my portfolio in a small range of indexes as they’re generally a safe and reliable investment in the long term.
The remainder of my portfolio I hold for relatively short periods (<6 months), and is made up of individual firms I’ve researched and concluded they have fundamental reason to go up.
For example, Amazon up is about 30% from when I bought just as lockdowns were being put in place worldwide - everyone staying at home means that Amazon should logically gain a larger share of consumer spending and therefore increased revenue, if only for the duration of COVID. Not to mention it was already a very strong company to begin with.
The remainder of my portfolio I hold for relatively short periods (<6 months), and is made up of individual firms I’ve researched and concluded they have fundamental reason to go up.
For example, Amazon up is about 30% from when I bought just as lockdowns were being put in place worldwide - everyone staying at home means that Amazon should logically gain a larger share of consumer spending and therefore increased revenue, if only for the duration of COVID. Not to mention it was already a very strong company to begin with.
Original post by Jedimonkey
Does anyone invest/trade in stocks?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
Yes, but you should get a stockbroker. And don't believe people who say or think that stock trading is gambling- it is not! But you need guidance and clarity about what you want to achieve. Also a few thousand quid at least will be very helpful to start with!
Original post by yourguyJM
I agree but I am tired of seeing these 'experts' online teaching people.
Avoid them!
Original post by yourguyJM
I feel like the stock market is very volatile and you can lose everything.
Yes, but that's why you need to work with someone who is an expert. And actually " volatility " varies widely depending on the stocks you are referring to. Gold, for example, is traditionally not volatile at all!
Unless a person is a stockbroker or is a proven trader then i would completely ignore their advice to be honest!
Read, research and talk to experts on the phone or meet them! That's the best way. If you do it properly you can make significant profits. If you have an addictive or compulsive personality, then manage your trading with care and be willing to learn!
Original post by tmr19
I do. I hold the bulk (50-60%) of my portfolio in a small range of indexes as they’re generally a safe and reliable investment in the long term.
The remainder of my portfolio I hold for relatively short periods (<6 months), and is made up of individual firms I’ve researched and concluded they have fundamental reason to go up.
For example, Amazon up is about 30% from when I bought just as lockdowns were being put in place worldwide - everyone staying at home means that Amazon should logically gain a larger share of consumer spending and therefore increased revenue, if only for the duration of COVID. Not to mention it was already a very strong company to begin with.
The remainder of my portfolio I hold for relatively short periods (<6 months), and is made up of individual firms I’ve researched and concluded they have fundamental reason to go up.
For example, Amazon up is about 30% from when I bought just as lockdowns were being put in place worldwide - everyone staying at home means that Amazon should logically gain a larger share of consumer spending and therefore increased revenue, if only for the duration of COVID. Not to mention it was already a very strong company to begin with.
Whats your strat for picking stocks?
Original post by NonIndigenous
I'll tackle this from a different angle to anything I normally see. Forget your usual technicalities and jargon for a minute, and think in first principles instead.
This takes more effort and time. So you need to be more patient and prepared to do your research, as a general advice note. And the first principles are such that 'stocks' are basically a % of a publicly listed private company. And companies, are made of people.
And people are pretty much at the heart of everything. The wealth of entire countries and the value of the currencies is based on the value which that country's people are capable of producing. And what they're capable of producing depends on things such as their work ethic, social stability, education, income mobility (in the corporate context, this would be 'professional development opportunities' or 'career path'), etc. Things like staff turnover are also important, because they'll give you an idea of whether or not people actually even like working for that company.
People, have values. Conglomerations of people, shape their various values, into a culture. This applies to countries, it also applies to companies.
If you get to know the people behind the business, their values, their culture... and you have some cursory understanding of organisational psychology and what sorts of behaviors are 'healthy' in organisations and which are not, you can get a good idea of whether or not you are dealing with a company of reliable people, or whether you are for example dealing with some sort of a door-to-door pyramid scheme instead, that is destined to collapse.
If you invest in the right people, it doesn't matter as much if something hits the fan and their stocks drop, because you can be more confident that their strong leadership and organisational culture will see it through and pick themselves up. Whereas if you are dealing with the wrong types of people who just roll over in the face of hardship, jump ship and flee to the next best option (fair weather people, as I call them), then the company will probably fall to pieces or end up being bought out by others.
All this applies more so to longer term investments than short ones.
All of that, is in addition to the usual economic, political, etc. factors that everyone else usually talks about. But really, I still place people at the top of my list. Because, even if the economy shifts, and politicians decide to cut government spending, an effective organisation with the right people leading it and working there, will understand these changes, anticipate, and respond to them more effectively than another organisation that does not. So what if the government decides to stop spending money on railways all of a sudden? If led correctly and responsibly, the organisation will just re-purpose themselves to work in a new and related market instead then. Whereas an organisation that is not... will sink.
This takes more effort and time. So you need to be more patient and prepared to do your research, as a general advice note. And the first principles are such that 'stocks' are basically a % of a publicly listed private company. And companies, are made of people.
And people are pretty much at the heart of everything. The wealth of entire countries and the value of the currencies is based on the value which that country's people are capable of producing. And what they're capable of producing depends on things such as their work ethic, social stability, education, income mobility (in the corporate context, this would be 'professional development opportunities' or 'career path'), etc. Things like staff turnover are also important, because they'll give you an idea of whether or not people actually even like working for that company.
People, have values. Conglomerations of people, shape their various values, into a culture. This applies to countries, it also applies to companies.
If you get to know the people behind the business, their values, their culture... and you have some cursory understanding of organisational psychology and what sorts of behaviors are 'healthy' in organisations and which are not, you can get a good idea of whether or not you are dealing with a company of reliable people, or whether you are for example dealing with some sort of a door-to-door pyramid scheme instead, that is destined to collapse.
If you invest in the right people, it doesn't matter as much if something hits the fan and their stocks drop, because you can be more confident that their strong leadership and organisational culture will see it through and pick themselves up. Whereas if you are dealing with the wrong types of people who just roll over in the face of hardship, jump ship and flee to the next best option (fair weather people, as I call them), then the company will probably fall to pieces or end up being bought out by others.
All this applies more so to longer term investments than short ones.
All of that, is in addition to the usual economic, political, etc. factors that everyone else usually talks about. But really, I still place people at the top of my list. Because, even if the economy shifts, and politicians decide to cut government spending, an effective organisation with the right people leading it and working there, will understand these changes, anticipate, and respond to them more effectively than another organisation that does not. So what if the government decides to stop spending money on railways all of a sudden? If led correctly and responsibly, the organisation will just re-purpose themselves to work in a new and related market instead then. Whereas an organisation that is not... will sink.
How old are you and whats your starts for picking stocks?
Original post by JokesOnYoo
Do you want a free share using my referral?
I already signed up to trading 212. But thanks anyway
Original post by JokesOnYoo
How old are you and whats your starts for picking stocks?
18, trading since I was about 15. I'm assuming you mean stats?
My portfolio as a whole had averaged real returns of around 35% p.a. including dividends during mid 2016-Jan 2020. With COVID the average has dipped to 26%, but due to volatility that probably isn't accurate (next week it might work out to 28% or 20%
)Around late Feb this year I rebalanced away from the indexes and bought into Moderna, Clorox and Innovio which have almost entirely offset my losses from the S&P500 tanking.
From 2016-Jan 2020 I was heavily in the S&P which gave me a good baseline level of return even after the correction in late 2018. About 80% of the remainder was in AMD, Google and Amazon which all performed really well during that time period.
With all of this in mind, I don't pretend that having high returns was that skilled, seeing as it was practically impossible to lose money on large caps from 2008-2019, and I got quite lucky throughout the last 3 months. Don't confuse a bull market for brains
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by tmr19
18, trading since I was about 15. I'm assuming you mean stats?
My portfolio as a whole had averaged real returns of around 35% p.a. including dividends during mid 2016-Jan 2020. With COVID the average has dipped to 26%, but due to volatility that probably isn't accurate (next week it might work out to 28% or 20%)
Around late Feb this year I rebalanced away from the indexes and bought into Moderna, Clorox and Innovio which have almost entirely offset my losses from the S&P500 tanking.
From 2016-Jan 2020 I was heavily in the S&P which gave me a good baseline level of return even after the correction in late 2018. About 80% of the remainder was in AMD, Google and Amazon which all performed really well during that time period.
With all of this in mind, I don't pretend that having high returns was that skilled, seeing as it was practically impossible to lose money on large caps from 2008-2019, and I got quite lucky throughout the last 3 months. Don't confuse a bull market for brains
My portfolio as a whole had averaged real returns of around 35% p.a. including dividends during mid 2016-Jan 2020. With COVID the average has dipped to 26%, but due to volatility that probably isn't accurate (next week it might work out to 28% or 20%
)Around late Feb this year I rebalanced away from the indexes and bought into Moderna, Clorox and Innovio which have almost entirely offset my losses from the S&P500 tanking.
From 2016-Jan 2020 I was heavily in the S&P which gave me a good baseline level of return even after the correction in late 2018. About 80% of the remainder was in AMD, Google and Amazon which all performed really well during that time period.
With all of this in mind, I don't pretend that having high returns was that skilled, seeing as it was practically impossible to lose money on large caps from 2008-2019, and I got quite lucky throughout the last 3 months. Don't confuse a bull market for brains
Thats pretty nice, whats your total investment and are you day trading or just holding?
Original post by Jedimonkey
Does anyone invest/trade in stocks?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
If so what is your experience and what would you recommend?
It depends what you know & how much education you want. I would recommend not diving head first after visiting a forum compiling mostly students.
But with investing there's different methods, do you want to slowly grow and compound with market inflation, if so pick an index fund compiling mostly blue chip stocks.
The master of investing Warren Buffett & Charlie Monger tend to hold only a few positions but ones they believe have a strong sustainable business model with minimal risk and consistent ability to out perform inflation. They have typically owned things such as Goldman sachs, Costco, Coco-cola, Mcdonalds...
There is also trading, which is buying & selling stocks on much shorter time horizons, this requires more education and skill to do well, increased risk.
Whatever you do, educate yourself properly.
Original post by JokesOnYoo
Thats pretty nice, whats your total investment and are you day trading or just holding?
Thanks. I started with about £200 in 2016 and added bits and pieces of spare money over time. I haven't been keeping exact track of each deposit, but the total investment on my part has been approximately £1400. The way I see it, I had had the freedom to experiment and learn for a few years with relatively small amounts of money while I'm very young - even if I lost 100% of my money it would be inconsequential over my life
I normally stay clear of day trading as that relies much more heavily on technicals, and I wouldn't pretend to have the understanding or ability to consistently trade on them. I did have marginal success using CFDs on a short timescale, but they're too risky for my tolerances and skill level.
As I alluded to previously, I hold the indexes (DAX, FTSE) and my large caps (Amazon etc) for longer periods. The remaining 20%ish of my portfolio I use for more speculative investments (Nio, Inovio for example) which I hold for shorter periods.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by JokesOnYoo
How old are you and whats your starts for picking stocks?
Late twenties. I think I already posted what is a large part of my strategy that is unique & stands out from most things you'll read online.
Other typical strategies you can read about almost anywhere: https://www.ig.com/uk/trading-strategies/how-to-pick-stocks-190926
I think Warren Buffet's advice was "invest time, not money". That's a good principle.
If you just invest money, it's a gamble. If you take your time on the other hand to really research and absorb the information, it's not a gamble.
I'm not really into buying stocks and shares on a regular basis at all. Mainly because I still do not feel I know enough to delve into it productively. I'm just taking baby steps to figure out how the scene works. I'm too busy with other things to give this my full attention. I'm working on aligning my job to the digital sector, and hopefully using that and the networking opportunities arising from it as a platform from which I can understand the market better on-the-job whilst getting paid for it, so I can make smart investment decisions based on actual real deep knowledge. Instead of what's just in the papers.
Original post by NonIndigenous
Late twenties. I think I already posted what is a large part of my strategy that is unique & stands out from most things you'll read online.
Other typical strategies you can read about almost anywhere: https://www.ig.com/uk/trading-strategies/how-to-pick-stocks-190926
I think Warren Buffet's advice was "invest time, not money". That's a good principle.
If you just invest money, it's a gamble. If you take your time on the other hand to really research and absorb the information, it's not a gamble.
I'm not really into buying stocks and shares on a regular basis at all. Mainly because I still do not feel I know enough to delve into it productively. I'm just taking baby steps to figure out how the scene works. I'm too busy with other things to give this my full attention. I'm working on aligning my job to the digital sector, and hopefully using that and the networking opportunities arising from it as a platform from which I can understand the market better on-the-job whilst getting paid for it, so I can make smart investment decisions based on actual real deep knowledge. Instead of what's just in the papers.
Other typical strategies you can read about almost anywhere: https://www.ig.com/uk/trading-strategies/how-to-pick-stocks-190926
I think Warren Buffet's advice was "invest time, not money". That's a good principle.
If you just invest money, it's a gamble. If you take your time on the other hand to really research and absorb the information, it's not a gamble.
I'm not really into buying stocks and shares on a regular basis at all. Mainly because I still do not feel I know enough to delve into it productively. I'm just taking baby steps to figure out how the scene works. I'm too busy with other things to give this my full attention. I'm working on aligning my job to the digital sector, and hopefully using that and the networking opportunities arising from it as a platform from which I can understand the market better on-the-job whilst getting paid for it, so I can make smart investment decisions based on actual real deep knowledge. Instead of what's just in the papers.
Ahh thats so interesting, what other job are you doing if you don't mind me asking? You seem a pretty smart guy actually from what you've written
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