Smart investor...

Igloo · 31-12-07

Hi, im new to the board and let me start off by saying a what a life saver!

what do you guys think of investing in stock market and the newspaper "Smart Investor"?
i've been interested in investing in the stock market for quite some time but im not really sure where to start so i thought id ask you guys on your thoughts about investing and if the Smart Investor is helpful at all?

Igloo · 31-12-07

i just wanted to say i do have some uncertainties about investing in stock one of my freinds invested 60 thousand in the stockmarket only to have it go up 10 grand, he said investing in houses are a better thought tho. But then again there are plenty other success stories out there any advice guys?

Kustocv · 31-12-07

I am the portfolio manager for the Investment Club at my college, and there are a few very valuable resources that I recommend. The best beginner’s book, in my opinion, is by Ben Graham, The Intelligent Investor. As far as internet resources, a great free resource to do research is finance.yahoo.com. The best material, however, is the SEC's website. www.sec.gov. You can go here and read all the company filings; the best are the 10-K's and 10-Q's (annual and quarterly reports).

12.14 · 31-12-07

Motley Fool: http://www.fool.com/ is decent online introduction for people with very little or no investing background. They used to have real money portfolios and would post weekly updates on the performance of the portfolios. As I recall, the portfolios tended to be tech-heavy, so I'll guess they got the shit kicked out of them with the rest of us in 2001. After that, I started putting all spare cash in a money market fund and forgetting about it. I haven't hit any homeruns with that cash, but then again, I haven't watched $60,000 turn into $22,000 over the course of a few months.

Igloo · 31-12-07

here are some books that i found VERY useful:
One up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch

The Intelligent Investor By Benjamin Graham

Both are great writers but the latter can be a bit dry but still highly recomendable. just make sure you follow their advice. Great reads.

Bizman · 31-12-07

I have used http://www.fool.com/ before, exellent place to start

newterrr · 31-12-07

Ofcourse always research what you put your money into, just incase anyone doesnt know you dont have to be an owner in a share of a company to gain access to their annual reports, they can be downloaded at the companies website. information like that is crucial to investors and easily accessible. sometimes the most useful things are also the simplest ones.

Qwerty · 31-12-07

Mark Cuban is a genious and he has a lot of great advice in this feild, one line of his i will always remember is:
"I'm a big believer that whenever you do a business deal with people you don't know, particularly buying and selling stocks, you always look for the sucker. If you don't see the sucker, then you are the sucker."

Rebok67 · 31-12-07

i agree Qwerty im a big fan of mark cuban he truly is a genious. i remember he once talked about how analysts, mutual fun managers, etc will talk about price targets who will talk about stock and say something like "the price target for stock X being here and is up 30pct from here and it will go there in 6 months" then mark cuban went on to say if thats so why dont they mortgage the house and put the money in the stock its because they want YOU to put YOUR money in the stock.

Qwerty · 31-12-07

thats exactly right rebok67, the nature of the economy and hence the stock market can be very volatile and untrustworthy. the reason those guys want you to put your money in the stock is because it increases the price of the stock they own. at which point they can sell their shares for great profits and who knows what could happen next.