The Share Trading thread

[Christmas Tree 4725]

Always fancied having a go at this. One of my ex fellow directors had a wife who started doing to avoid boredom and did very well. (Until black Monday or Friday?).

 

If you start with a couple of hundred, what sort of return is feasible within a year?

 

I thinking of it in the same way some of you gamble on sport. IE not betting the house on it but starting with certain amount you are happy (if unfortunate) to say farewell to and looking at more risky business.

 

Anyone ever done it?

[Ayatollah Hermione 13869]

Right, every other fad you've went through is fairly harmless. Knowing your inability to do anything without being highly reactionary and the fact you're blind to any sort of outside advice, you really, really shouldn't start putting your money into any kind of stock market.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Ayatollah Hermione

[ewerk 30612]

Well he already believes that greed is good.

[Howmanheyman 33223]

If your local pizza/kebab shop floats on the stock exchange I WILL be investing.

[Christmas Tree 4725]

Fuck me :lol:

[NJS 4386]

Never done it on principle but it's very much just like gambling.

 

I suspect its rigged against amateurs as well - companies thst make money do so with a lot of backup like research departments and of course networking.

[Kevin Carr's Gloves 3894]

Watch wolf of wall street. Money is not made by those actually buying and selling the shares. The money is made by dodgy salesmen making the transaction.

[Christmas Tree 4725]

Anyone want to me in on the first floor of a superb new market garden venture with an already growing customer base.

 

£50 a share.

 

Be Fast or Be Last

 

CT Acme ltd

[ChezGiven 0]

Never done it on principle but it's very much just like gambling.

 

I suspect its rigged against amateurs as well - companies thst make money do so with a lot of backup like research departments and of course networking.

I take it you don't have a pension then?

[JaMoUsE 0]

A mate of mine heard from a bloke in his local pub that Grekka Drilling was going to be an absolute gold mine. He put over 10 grand of his savings based on this 'bloke from the pubs' advice. Think he paid 30 odd pence a share. Its currently on 12p a share 12 months later.

 

Im pretty sure he was told it would be at least a quid a share by now. very glad i didnt take his advice and invest.

 

http://www.lse.co.uk/SharePrice.asp?shareprice=GDL

[Monkeys Fist 42452]

Life's fucking desperate below the Poverty Line, isn't it?

[NJS 4386]

I take it you don't have a pension then?

Through gritted teeth and not much choice - yes - but I still think they are a con considering the payment period/lifespan anomaly.

[ClubSpinDoctor 0]

Sounds like you're more The Wolfs Down All Sweets than The Wolf Of Wall Street

[Ayatollah Hermione 13869]

Sounds like you're more The Wolfs Down All Sweets than The Wolf Of Wall Street

 

My word

[Meenzer 15531]

 

[Monkeys Fist 42452]

" Thinking about trying some quaaludes, anyone ever tried the......zzzzzzzzzz"

[Brock Manson 0]

Anyone want to me in on the first floor of a superb new market garden venture with an already growing customer base.

 

£50 a share.

 

Be Fast or Be Last

 

CT Acme ltd

[TobamorisRevenge 0]

short the dollar via an ETF (put it in an isa)

 

america is dying, make money off that fact.

[Rayvin 5223]

I bought about £200 worth of shares in Pearson Education (low risk - the market Beta is less than one). Chose them because I work in the same industry and they paid out fairly good dividends.

 

My observations are this:

 

1 - You can't make any real money through just a couple of hundred quid. Making any money at all, with any regularity, involves understanding the markets and industries that each company operates in. This is time consuming, and not worth it for the sort of money you'd make back on £200.

 

2 - You can choose to play the long game, and buy shares with a view to holding onto them and earning dividends as the company appreciates over time. This is what I'm doing, and it's like holding the money in a savings account. How well you do depends on the company performance, but Pearson last year paid out on around 4%.

 

3 - The people who do well have an algorithm that allows them to spread the risk while increasing their return. This requires a diverse portfolio, including very low risk assets like government bonds; it also means that you need to chose both high and low risk stocks, along with investments in companies that are opposed in terms of performance (i.e., the sorts of industries that benefit from the failure of each other, which protects you against one or the other failing).

 

Anyway, long story short - only worth it if you're prepared to risk thousands. But there's very little risk in just punting a couple of hundred and getting a sense for how the market works.

[Meenzer 15531]

Might as well just follow my Eurovision betting tips.

[Christmas Tree 4725]

I bought about £200 worth of shares in Pearson Education (low risk - the market Beta is less than one). Chose them because I work in the same industry and they paid out fairly good dividends.

 

My observations are this:

 

1 - You can't make any real money through just a couple of hundred quid. Making any money at all, with any regularity, involves understanding the markets and industries that each company operates in. This is time consuming, and not worth it for the sort of money you'd make back on £200.

 

2 - You can choose to play the long game, and buy shares with a view to holding onto them and earning dividends as the company appreciates over time. This is what I'm doing, and it's like holding the money in a savings account. How well you do depends on the company performance, but Pearson last year paid out on around 4%.

 

3 - The people who do well have an algorithm that allows them to spread the risk while increasing their return. This requires a diverse portfolio, including very low risk assets like government bonds; it also means that you need to chose both high and low risk stocks, along with investments in companies that are opposed in terms of performance (i.e., the sorts of industries that benefit from the failure of each other, which protects you against one or the other failing).

 

Anyway, long story short - only worth it if you're prepared to risk thousands. But there's very little risk in just punting a couple of hundred and getting a sense for how the market works.

Nice post.

[Rayvin 5223]

The other thing to consider is transaction fees (which is why it isn't possible to make money on smaller investments). It costs about £!2 per transaction, so that's £12 to buy, and then £12 to sell. So your stock has to appreciate by at least £24 across the period you hold onto it for it to break even. That would represent a 12% increase in the value of the shares (which is a lot for most companies). And that's before you've even earned anything.

[Kid Dynamite 7029]

My Grandparents made a canny chunk out of shares in Thomsons Holidays iirc.

[jonasjuice 0]

Know someone who made a very good profit (apparently just under 50% growth over about 4 years, he may have exaggerated that though) from buying a few thousand pounds worth of Gregg's shares when the recession started.

 

There's a killing to be made if your clever/lucky, Rayvin summed up the reasons I've never got into it personally though. Would rather just put it in a bank and not have the stress.

[asteroidblitz 12]

I bought about £200 worth of shares in Pearson Education (low risk - the market Beta is less than one). Chose them because I work in the same industry and they paid out fairly good dividends.

 

My observations are this:

 

1 - You can't make any real money through just a couple of hundred quid. Making any money at all, with any regularity, involves understanding the markets and industries that each company operates in. This is time consuming, and not worth it for the sort of money you'd make back on £200.

 

2 - You can choose to play the long game, and buy shares with a view to holding onto them and earning dividends as the company appreciates over time. This is what I'm doing, and it's like holding the money in a savings account. How well you do depends on the company performance, but Pearson last year paid out on around 4%.

 

3 - The people who do well have an algorithm that allows them to spread the risk while increasing their return. This requires a diverse portfolio, including very low risk assets like government bonds; it also means that you need to chose both high and low risk stocks, along with investments in companies that are opposed in terms of performance (i.e., the sorts of industries that benefit from the failure of each other, which protects you against one or the other failing).

 

Anyway, long story short - only worth it if you're prepared to risk thousands. But there's very little risk in just punting a couple of hundred and getting a sense for how the market works.

 

 

Their 52 week high is about 30% greater than their 52 week low, and they are somewhere in the middle of that range at the moment.

 

I wouldn't call the publishing/education industry a safe bet... ITK alert