My dad got me into investing and always had me read investment books. So he started a small portfolio for me when I was about 13 or so and I just continued to learn and apply different techniques to see what would fit me best. It wasn't till getting to college back in 04 where I started really monitoring the market and doing fundamental analysis. And I continue to keep learning.
I did mutual funds in my early-to-mid 20's (38 now)... late 90's I started trading stocks. Most of these guys know way more about technical analysis than I do - I've never gotten into that; gives me a headache. lol. I just trade hot sectors for the most part (this year it's been ag, energy, mining, etc.) in my "trading" account and a lot of boring stocks for the long(er) term like KO, MCD, JNJ, BRK.B, WMT, large and mid cap funds, etc. for the "safe part" of my portfolio like my IRAs and 401k... which looks more like a 201k right now. I love times like this to a certain extent because I can buy things I think are cheap.
Speaking of technical analysis, what's the difference between technical and fundamental analysis. I was wondering if it's a combo of both that is the best. And for the record, I'm 17, and extremely new to all of this...
Fundamental analysis is looking over the company's numbers to see what it should be worth and making buy/sell decision based on that. Technical analysis is following the price charts and the line of the graph and trying to figure out where the rises and falls will come based on that. For the record, I just found this out last year and am way way way over 17.
I think you'll like this betterinvesting.org. It combines elements of fundamental and technical analysis. Plus they have tons of data already parsed for you. There's nothing technical about technical analysis. Its an elegant way to lose your shirt though... had to throw that in there
Any other resources you guys recommend? I'm in my early 20s and have no real experience investing, but want to buy now while prices are still low. I have a couple grand two play around with that's just been sitting in my savings account earning practically no interest. Would it be a terrible idea for me to open up an account and just buy 10 shares of aapl if I'm not investing for the long term?
just buy the SSO and hold for 5 years. the SSO is the ultra long etf for sp 500. id buy when it is < 30.
It is not a terrible idea. Say that 10 shares of aapl is a $1000 investment. What if it turned into a $800 or $500 investment? What if it turned into a $1200 or $1500 investment? A decision you will have to make is how much downside can you take and how much upside before you cash out. Say you decide to sell at $500 or $1500. Another question is how long will you wait to you get there. If it takes 2 or 5 years, are you ok with that? As an aside, 90% of the money in the stock market is professionally managed. To beat the market (i.e. to beat the market return which you can safely get in an index fund), you got to beat these professional money managers. Something to think about. Getting about to whether this is a terrible idea or not, most Financial Planners advise their clients to not put more that 5-10% of their investable net worth into a single stock like AAPL. The counter example of course is Bill Gates who was grossly under-diversified and became insanely rich because of it. Bill Gates is the exception that makes the rule.
You have one advantage over the money managers because you can move in and out of a position much more quickly. Dumping a 100 shares is a whole lot easier then dumping a million shares.
I would strongly suggest not to put all your eggs in one basket. It's like putting all your chips on black. Diversification in my mind is overrated. I believe strongly in putting your money in the positions you are most confident about. For example, why should I put my money in 15 stocks I kind of understand vs. 5 stocks I completely understand? For someone with no experience investing, I recommend reading the book "The Little Book that Beats the Market." Should be able to find it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. It can easily be read in a couple hours and it is so simple, but it would teach you the fundamentals of how the market works and what you should look for in stocks.
I'm short ISRG and energy stocks via DUG. I'm also short MA but I'm keeping a short leash on that position. I think we have another leg to drop here, and we're likely to at the minimum test the previous lows, if not go further.
ISRG? Any reason why you are short on it other than the market. Their market has a high barrier of entry.
Great idea for those that understand and/or can take the volatility of a 2X ETF. Reversion to mean will happen at some point......heck, the 200 Day Moving Average is around 60 which would double an investment in the 30 range.
Here we go now, slope of hope is officially over. Race to the bottom ... I'm guessing 8500 at least. If it goes lower, things could get ugly.
