tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61855260412075064372024-03-13T19:54:19.520-07:00How to Buy Stocks for BeginnersStock Market and Investing Advice for BeginnersIBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-60295933281162754422016-08-21T09:23:00.002-07:002016-08-21T09:23:45.189-07:00Post Brexit InvestingWith Brexit looming large, has anyone changed their investing approach? Stocks in the U.S. and Europe fell dramatically after the vote on June 23rd but they have rebounded. The S&P was actually showing record highs three weeks after the vote. In the UK, the FTSE 100 index was almost at a 52 week high. Just what is going on?<br />
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For the most part, advice seems to be to stay the course and don't make any knee jerk reactions. That's always the way with the value investing approach. It doesn't look like there will be any immediate concerns and in fact there might be lots of opportunity created by the uncertainty. Stocks in the UK may be undervalued due to the concern and you may just get yourself a bargain. You can always look to other markets like the U.S. which is looking particularly strong at the moment as a way to diversify your portfolio and reduce your risk exposure in the long term.<br />
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There's some great advice on how to approach Brexit over <a href="http://www.iii.co.uk/articles/334569/top-10-post-brexit-opportunities">here</a> which focuses on diversifying your portfolio and potentially looking for stock bargains in a post Brexit world.<br />
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Personally, I haven't changed my investment approach and have looked at this as a great opportunity to make some money! Much of the volatility has been created due to the uncertainty but I'm optimistic with new Prime Minister Theresa May in charge that things will settle down.<br />
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<br />IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-79881697278830965502010-11-22T19:28:00.000-08:002010-11-22T19:34:50.779-08:00Automated Stock Trading Software and GM StockUsing stock market software is part of the game now whether you are comfortable with it or not. It just makes thing so much easier and quicker. I can manage all my stocks in one place using Google Finance. I can see everything quickly at a glance without having to log into multiple web sites and compare the data across split screens. Yes it was a bit of a pain to set up in the first place as I have accounts with different brokers. I still tend to use Fidelity’s site every now and then to keep track of how my mutual funds are doing. I haven’t found a way of integrating that with Google Finance just yet. If anyone knows let me know as I’ll be all set from the one screen. I want the perfect <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2010/01/stock-market-for-dummies.html">stocks for dummies</a> interface!<br /><br />Automated stock trading software is something I get emailed about every now and then. It tends to be those annoying spam emails that end up in my junk mail box and I really have no business reading. Still, I find myself pondering over them wondering if they could actually make this whole game any easier. Its human nature to try and find shortcuts and lets face it some of the work in buying stocks is really boring. I mean seriously, who enjoys reading over companies annual reports. Especially if it’s the fifth one you’ve read that day. Unfortunately automated software isn’t quite as sophisticated that it’s going to replace all the boring manual work for you. Well, none that I’ve seen anyway. You can use them if you’re interested in day trading or currency trading to manage all those transactions for you. I can’t imagine trading in those markets without using some sort of software. The idea with the automated offerings is you put in a host of parameters at the start and it goes off on it’s own buying and selling as you have instructed. The keyword in that last sentence is ‘you have instructed’ as there’s no thinking involved in this software. It’s just matching patterns based on your initial criteria. Unfortunately we don’t have any Skynet style system that will make you rich. If I did I wouldn’t tell you anyway.<br /><br />Anyway I’m not saying they’re all bad I’m sure they have their uses. Day traders and currency traders will know what I’m talking about. For value investing, I’ll be keeping my money for now.<br /><br />In other stocks news this well GM stock is back and available to trade! It’s been up and down like a fat kid on a trampoline since opening on Monday. My advice? Stay away for now and let it settle down. I’d imagine the price will dip and climb until the end of the week. So check back at the start of next week and see how the GM stock price is doing then. The stock market has been pretty unstable as it is lately without this giant of a company making a reappearance. General Motors Co. pulled off an IPO worth $15.8 billion, which was quite hard to believe but in many ways announced the return of the company. I’m sure many of you will remember GM being bailed out by taxpayers to the tune of $50 billion not too long ago. The U.S government sold 478 million shares at $33 each share on the opening day. Things are about to get interesting. Many market experts are estimating that the stock will level out at $36 a share but how can they really be sure. I’d stay away for now, but that’s just me ever the cautious one. General Motors has a bit to go to convince me of parting with my cash. If you're new to <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com">how to buy stocks for beginners</a> I'd recommend you do the same.IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-78266755159666378332010-07-09T13:27:00.001-07:002010-07-09T13:42:45.234-07:00A Few Other Trading OptionsMost of the posts on this blog related to buying stocks and shares in a company of your choice. I thought it would be useful to do a little round up of the other trading options available to you. I can honestly say that the traditional method of buying stocks, thats getting an online broker and then making an investment through them for companies I identify is not the only way I invest.<br /><br />You've probably heard a lot about mutual funds but maybe not so much about all index trackers. It's basically an investment fund that buys up the whole market. All the securities in a particular index are picked up by your investment. Why would you want to do this? Well there's several very good reasons. Firstly it offers you a great deal of protection. If you're buying up say the top 100 stocks in a particular index, if one of those companies goes bust you won't take the hit as hard as you would if you owned single stocks. The threat of losing your money is spread very thinly and you really avoid the problem of having all your eggs in the one basket. Just take a look at <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2010/06/should-you-buy-bp-stock.html">buying BP stock</a> to see how much could be wiped off the stock price in a matter of months. All it takes it one major incident and the companies price as halved. Imagine you had all of your stocks in BP before this happened? I'm sure some of you had you poor souls!<br /><br />Another major advantage is low maintenance fee. Most mutual funds require an annual fee paid for the management of the fund. The people who do the investing have to identify stocks and their time costs money. This isn't the case with index funds. There's no real research involved and so the actual management is minimal. This of course means less costs to you. You will probably still have to pay an annual fee but it will be much less than compared to a traditional mutual fund. If you're buying stocks through a broker you'll have to pay a brokerage fee for each transaction. This payment is not required when you're using an index fund.<br /><br />The other reason I'd recommend you take a look at index funds as another trading option is the fact that you can set up a monthly payment and sit back and relax. No need to worry about how your stocks are performing. You don't have to watch the prices go up and down every day. If your stocks go down in price, great you pick up a few bargains with the next payment. If they go up in price, it's also great as the total price of your holdings just went up! It's a win win situation. Just take a looking at buying BP stock to see how much could be wiped off in<br /><br />I'd recommend looking an index funds as a great way to invest almost in the background. You set up your monthly payment and forget about it. In many years time you'll be surprised at how much your regular payments have added up to a nice little nest egg perhaps for retirement or for that dream home you always wanted.IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-22208125029859427852010-06-21T14:18:00.000-07:002010-06-21T14:43:39.644-07:00Should You Buy BP Stock<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXlm2WjHackggguHFILgodFipN45zsLZi47HYuPb9vniB_hbk8UjCZTjoqTM2XVqi-Sl0H9AZL31P9OpaSSNX0t1Fd2T_V-QD86dStmO1xzUuBpnEEZtOe0dsBwI7tIXffGuXZ3onfvs/s1600/bp_logo_color.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 152px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXlm2WjHackggguHFILgodFipN45zsLZi47HYuPb9vniB_hbk8UjCZTjoqTM2XVqi-Sl0H9AZL31P9OpaSSNX0t1Fd2T_V-QD86dStmO1xzUuBpnEEZtOe0dsBwI7tIXffGuXZ3onfvs/s200/bp_logo_color.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485344239916182034" /></a><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><p class="MsoNormal">With the environmental disaster that's happening in the U.S at the moment there's been a lot of talk regarding BP's share price. It's almost halved in value since all the trouble started. So is this an opportunity to create something good out of the catastrophe and actually make some money from it? You could always give some of the money back to the environmental agencies involved in the cleanup if it helps to clear your conscience.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Before you rush off to log in to your broker account and buy a 100 in BP stock, have you done any research to decide if it's actually a good buy. Are you simply getting caught up in the media hysteria again. I've done it myself. I sit and watch tv all day and then I'm convinced that I must buy x amount of stock in that company because Bobby Bigshot on CNN told me. I feel like that after some of those infomercials too but maybe that's just me. The key is to keep your head. Always do your research and don't get caught up in the media hype.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In any case, lets look at BP. They're going to have to pay back billions of dollars to the U.S government. A final figure hasn't been agreed yet. You therefor have no way to predict what kind of profit they're going to make in say the next 5 years. Any profit they do make is going to end up going straight back to the U.S government to pay for the mess they've caused in the south. That for me means I won't be picking up the bargain stock while it's low. Don't let that swat you one way or the other though.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You might think it's worth the risk. You've done your analysis and can't see a downside to this. If not then great, go for it. I just don't like taking any risks with my money. I worked to hard to get it in the first place! It's certainly something I'll be keeping a close eye on in the future though. It'll be really interesting to see how it affects the share price of the other big oil companies operating in the region. Will they go up as a result of BP's downfall? Or is the slick back stink they've lot going to stain the other oil companies and force investors away from backing this type of area with their cold hard cash? Time will tell, lets save the birds first and worry about all this later.</p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><p></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> </span><p></p>IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-92033150345030701152010-02-19T15:43:00.000-08:002010-02-20T11:23:59.599-08:00Hot Stocks for 2010I know I'm a little late with this post since we're almost in to March already but I thought it would be useful to have a little round up of what we can expect in 2010. You haven't all gone and blown your budgets already have you? No I didn't think so. This is actually a trick post anyway because if you've read any of my other messages I'd never actually recommend a stock tip to go and buy. I will however pass on a few ways on <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2010/01/stock-market-for-dummies.html">how to buy stocks for beginners</a> and how to buy stocks for dummies. That way you can do a little work yourself and retain no liability if it doesn't work out. Sometimes it won't work out! I've been down that way and unfortunately suffered from the technology bubble bursting. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to suffer from that right? Anyway Kraft finally bought Cadbury in the UK much to my disappointment. To be honest it's not about the stock is more about my love for chocolate. If you've read any of the press coming from Warren Buffett you'll see that he was dead against the move from the start. Don't listen to Warren Buffett at your peril! One piece of advice I would give if you're looking for quick stock picks for 2010 then why not have a look at what Berkshire Hathaway has been buying. It's kind of cheating I know but it's not at the same time. You can see what Warren Buffett decides is a good purchase and then do a little research of your own to decide if it's still a good investment. The problem with following a trend like this is that you often get on just as the price has been ramped right out. Just the shear mention of Berkshire Hathaway's name against a stock is enough to drive the price up through the roof. Everyone see's who's interested in and decide to invest in it themselves. This is a sure fire way of paying over the odds for a share or stock in a company. This is the same the world over. It doesn't matter if you're in the Japanese stock exchange or UK, a bargain is still a bargain.<br /><br />So now that my ranting is over here's the stocks that Warren Buffett's been buying in 2010. Could this be an insight into 2010 hot stocks? Perhaps. If you're looking hot penny stocks, well that doesn't really go with the ethos of Berkshire Hathaway. The two biggest investments Buffett made this year has been in the document and information management company called Iron Mountain. You might have seen them in your office coming to collect the back up tapes from your servers and such like. Buffett doubled his investment in the company to 7 million shares. Can we expect that this type of company will be on the rise in the near future? Probably, Iron Mountain is the market leader in this kind of work and will only get stronger and stronger. Fantastic name too. Buffett always increased his shares in Republic Services Inc. to 8.3 million. This company deals with garbage and waste management. Again this is a service that is going to grow and grow and will likely be unaffected by recession or any other type of outside interference. Investing for dummies this could be, stick to what you know and the market leaders in their field.<br /><br />Buffet also increased his shares in Wal-Mart by more than a million bringing the total to 37.8 million shares. Wal-Mart are always a sure fire bet due to their stranglehold in the US supermarket area. They also own number one supermarket chain ASDA in the UK. The most interesting investment he made, perhaps another hot stock for 2010 is his purchase of more stocks in a bank. Which one was it this time? Well it wasn't Sun Trust Banks Inc. He actually reduced his shares from 2.22 million to 1.54 million. So which bank has he shown faith in? Wells Fargo & Co. Another 2010 hot stock? Do your analysis and find out for yourself! It was interesting that he chose to invest in another bank though considering the terrible time of it the financial sector has faced recently. It is somewhat reassuring that someone of Buffett's caliber has decided to back a bank and invest heavily. Could this be a sign that things in the financial sector are about to pick up?<br /><br />OK so I know it's not quite a hot stock for 2010 list but to be honest things don't change from year to year. If you do your analysis properly, work out the intrinsic value of a company and decide if its worth investing in. There's no point in trying to predict the future and don't get carried away because you can buy stocks online so easily these days. You want to try to keep a clear head and look at things from a very analytical point of view. Keep emotions out of it and assess investment opportunities on their relative positives and negatives. <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2010/01/stock-market-for-dummies.html">Stock market for dummies</a> is probably a misleading title but I guess we all have to remain focused on the job in hand. Warren Buffett's purchases are a little taster of what we can expect in 2010. Just make you do your research properly first before you jump in and copy him blindly! You might just have missed the chance of a bargain in the stock market by that point.<br /><blockquote><p><br /></p><br /></blockquote>IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-3731174069255227192010-01-18T15:44:00.000-08:002010-02-20T11:26:45.202-08:00Stock Market for DummiesIf you’re new to the stock market I can appreciate the amount of information online can be totally overwhelming. I’ve been investing in the stock market for over 5 years now and when I think back to when I first started out I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I made the terrible mistake of jumping in too early before I really understood the market. I spent days in my local library pouring over investing guides and on various sites online trying to get a handle on what I was doing. I got so bored of doing this that I decided to jump in and finally buy some stocks. Big mistake!<br /><br />At the time the economy was booming and houses were being built all over the place. As a result I bought stock in one of the biggest house builders in the country. I spent some time looking over their company results for the past few years and it all looked like a good investment. However over the past few years my stocks have plummeted in value. The economy is shrinking and so no one is looking to buy a new home. For those who are it’s become almost impossible to get a mortgage and so there are so many new homes left empty all over our great nation. The house builder’s stock getting money and so stop building homes. You can see where this is going right? So what’s the moral of the story? Don’t be a dummy in stock market! Make sure you keep your patience and don’t dive in too early or you’ll be sorry. An ill informed investment is just a gamble and I don’t know about you but I hate gambling with my money. <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2010/02/hot-stocks-for-2010.html">Stock market for dummies</a> is difficult enough without taking unnecessary risks.<br /><br />I’ve gotten better at it over the years perhaps I’ve learned from my earlier mistakes. To be honest, if you make a mistake like this which looses you a large chunk of your free cash it’s not something you’re likely to do again. It’s perhaps the kick in the back side you need to give you a little bit of common sense. I always advise to go for the long term game with stocks. With that mindset you loose the fear of missing that next hot stock pick. You’re buying a stock that you’re going to hold for life and so you won’t dive in and buy it simply because it’s gone down a few points. You’re only buying it because you’ve done the necessary stock market research and know that it’s a good buy anyway. It’s not that it’s a few points cheaper than yesterday. I did that with the before mentioned housing stock. It looked like excellent value for money at the time but if I knew then what I know now I would have avoided it like the plague. That’s why I’m not ashamed to admit that I was a bit of a dummy in stock market. When you start out there’s a good chance you’ll make a few mistakes in some cases it’s the best way to learn. Just try not to loose too much money while you do it.<br /><br />If you’re looking for a stock market broker here’s a tip to look out for. Some of them have started introducing a yearly fee for simply having an account with them. It’s ridiculous right? I certainly thought so when I got the bill in the post. They not only charge you per stock market transaction they’ll also charge you just for holding your stocks for you. Anyway I’ve decided to switch and ditch my current broker for purely this reason. I can get cheaper elsewhere so keep this in mind when you first setup your stock market broker account. Look to see if they have an annual charge for simply having account with them. This is slightly different for companies like Fidelity who you may have a mutual fund with or a tracker account. They apply a charge once a year to your investment for management purposes. They have never been sneaky about it like my broker and have always told me about the charges up front. You’d expect to pay this management fee for mutual funds anyway but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re going down that road.<br /><br />I’ve always felt that there is a real lack of <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">stock market education for beginners</a> out there which is one of the reasons I started this site. If I can teach people <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2010/02/hot-stocks-for-2010.html">how to buy stocks for beginners</a> by telling them about the mistakes I’ve made in the past then great. The money is better in your pocket than being lost to the market.<br /><br />I’m planning to write a whole post about the <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">best stock market books for beginners</a> later on. There’s a few out there and to be honest most of them are terrible. So if you buy the right book when you’re new to stocks and bonds then maybe I can save you a little bit more money here too. I can only recommend the ones I’ve read obviously some have become completely invaluable to the way I play the market. Some of them are truly terrible and are used for various other purposes around my home. It was absolutely not used to guide me in buying <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">stocks for dummies</a>. That’s the thing that can be quite hard to understand at first. All the so called gurus and authors of these books have they’re only methods for investing online and you can’t really mix and match especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. You might end up taking the worst points of two theories and mixing them together for some awful stock market investing technique. But hey at least you created something new! I’ve mentioned quite a few times on this site that I follow Warren Buffett’s value investing technique. I’ve been watching with great interest to see what happens with Kraft’s takeover bid for the UK Company Cadbury. Warren Buffetts investment company Berkshire Hathaway is a major shareholder in Kraft and so Warren Buffett could well be calling the shots for this takeover over bid. Cadbury have so far resisted the takeover but I’ve got a feeling that Warren will be back in there. I read that Kraft had talked about raising money from various different sources to which Buffett seemed opposed. Perhaps because buying things on credit is one of the main reasons that the economy is in such a state. In any case, I always watch with great interest when I see Buffett’s name mentioned in the media to see if there are tips I can pick up. The best <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">stock market advice for beginners</a> can be found from the great man himself through the Berkshire Hathaway website or from the various books he’s published. Value investing will of course be no use to you if you’re looking at penny stocks for dummies. Maybe this isn’t the site for you either!<br /><br />Anyway the point of this post was to show you that it’s not usual to make mistakes in the stock market just try not to make them too costly or too frequent. Stocks for dummies is a massive subject and the best time to start working on it is…yesterday. The sooner the better. Each day you will pick up some new terminology that you didn’t know the day before. Each little piece you learn will let your brain hook on to more complex topics and it will become easier and easier to follow the terminology and get stuck in to reading those annual reports. To be honest it’s something that I still hate doing! It’s so dry buy I’m at the stage now where I can skim read various parts of it and look at certain figures and know how the company is doing. The various calculations you need to know to work out the value of a stock are in my head and so I can do the math fairly quickly. At the start you may find yourself pouring off these statistics and feeling like you’ll never be finished. Stick with it though, each one makes it easier and easier to read the next one. What we really need is some sort of classes offering stock market education for beginners. Perhaps we could ask Warren Buffett to setup a few classes to pass on his knowledge. The other way is of course to buy some ‘A’ stock in Berkshire Hathaway and then you can attend the shareholders meeting each year where you can ask the great man himself any questions you have. Purchasing stocks for dummies might be a little easier after that question and answer session.<br /><br />So what can you expect from 2010? The answer to that is…who knows. Much of the stock market literature out there is about predicting which company is going to do well so you can buy the stocks cheap then sell them off when the pick up over the course of the financial year. The problem with that is that you have to look at the past to try to predict the future of a stock price. If you think about it though it doesn’t make any sense. The past can’t be used as a predictor for the future. You’ll often see this on the small print of the companies out there trying to sell you mutual funds. It’s basically a disclaimer for them saying “We can’t predict the future”! Oh and of course don’t come and complain to them if your stock disappears down a big black hole. Stock market advice for beginners is always tricky to give because no matter how careful you are there’s always a bit of a gambling element involved in the process. So the hot stock tips for 2010 should follow the same process you’ve followed for 2009 and 2008 etc. Stick to markets that you know and understand. Try to stick to companies who are leaders in their field (Coca Cola, Gillette). If this is all too much for you then try an all index tracker and save the same amount each month. That way you’ll get bargains when the market is cheap and maybe overpay when it’s not. In the long run it’ll even itself out. I know it’s not as sexy as buying stocks yourself. You don’t hear people at parties bragging about how they’re all index fund is doing do you? Time after time it’s proven to be one of the most successful ways to invest in the stock market. If you’re a cautious investor like me it’s the least risky way you can buy stocks online. You buy the whole market each month, if one company goes bust then you don’t feel it so much as if you had a 100 stocks in the company. The way I approach it is a bit of mix and match. I buy stocks separately and I also have the all index fund which buys the whole stock market. I am a cautious investor buy I still like to have a few stocks to brag about when I’m at the neighbors BBQ…<br /><br />The way I look at the mutual fund which buys up the stock market is that it’s part of my retirement fund. It’s money which is almost guaranteed to provide me with a little profit and help my retirement be a little easier when the time comes. There’s been a few times when I’ve been tempted to dip in to the money because I’ve seen the latest hot stock tip online and decided that I have to take my safe money and go for a little bit more riskier investment. Thankfully common sense has prevailed in the end and I left the money alone. It makes sense to have two pots of money for this. Allocate a set amount say $50 a month for the all index fund and then whatever you’ve got spare to use on the stock market. That way they are kept as two separate entities and one doesn’t affect the other. You won’t find yourself tempted to dip in to the safe retirement money to fund your stocks. I’ve got it setup so that it comes straight out of my bank account each month and I don’t even notice it’s gone. I’m hoping in 30 years time when I retire there will be something there for me to notice, well I hope my eyes pop out of my head when I see it! Look out for my <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2010/02/hot-stocks-for-2010.html">hot stocks for 2010</a> post coming soon.IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-91170835910910363812009-10-11T05:26:00.000-07:002009-10-11T05:47:14.556-07:00What is a Stocks Portfolio?Have you ever heard experts on TV talking about a stocks portfolio and wondered what exactly that is? Well it's quite a simple concept. A stocks portfolio is simply the collective term for all the stocks that you own. Every investment you have made can be thought of as being in one big group which is your portfolio. Have you ever heard the term diversify your portfolio? This is simply in reference to the logic that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. You want to keep the stocks you buy spread across different companies and industries so that if one takes a hit the rest of your shares won't be affected by a sharp decline in value. For example if you had a large amount of stocks three different airlines and one has an accident all three will no doubt be affected in their value. Industries tend to be affected by events like this even if it isn't the company you own who had the accident. Investor confidence is fragile at the best of times and all those affiliated with the airline industry would feel the after shock of this. So to diversify your stock is simply an insurance policy you can take out yourself to make sure all your bases are covered.<br /><a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/07/value-investing-for-beginners-warren.html"><br />Warren Buffett</a> has a slightly different opinion to diversifying your portfolio. Rather than buying up stocks from 20 different industries he has tended to focus on those he is familiar with and ensure you're buying in to good companies in the first place. Anything major like my airline example above won't affect the companies profitability in the long run and can be seen as a minor blip in the chart. I've also read a few articles where he's recommended buying more stocks in a company you already own rather than branching out and investing elsewhere. Now by this I'm sure Warren Buffett isn't recommending that you don't diversify your stocks, simply that if you have a good company there's no reason not to invest more money in to it. We are after all trying to make money from buying stocks and shares. There's a lot of websites out there from people claiming to have stock guru portfolios and I'm not even sure what that term is. I'm always wary of taking advice from someone who's claiming to be a stock guru, the proof is in the pudding as far as I'm concerned. I'll listen to people who have proven themselves over decades such as Warren Buffett who could actually claim to have a stock guru portfolio!<br /><br />I've recommended quite a few times on this site about trying out f<a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/08/fantasy-stock-market-for-beginners.html">antasy stock markets</a> online to get a feel for <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">buying stocks for beginners</a>. It's a great way to try out the industry and see if you're getting the hang of it without putting any money out. No risk attached. It's also a great way to get your head around the idea of having a portfolio and managing it, it would be a mock portfolio or practice portfolio. Most of the fantasy stock market games will let you browse stocks by industry and you can then see if you've bought stocks which covers a wide variety of industries protecting you from any downturn. This way if you diversify your stocks you won't get hit across all your holdings. If you do eventually decide to buy stocks online for real you'll be able to manage them in much the same way. Many of the online brokers provide excellent stock management software where you can get at a glance figures and stats per industry. Remember Warren Buffett's tactic though, don't invest in an industry you don't have any knowledge of! It makes it much more difficult to work out if it's a valuable company to invest in. If you're interested in this have a look at <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/10/looking-at-intrinsic-value-of-company.html">how to work out the intrinsic value of a company</a>.IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-40185572297275321682009-10-10T05:52:00.000-07:002009-10-11T09:47:48.702-07:00Looking at the Intrinsic Value of a CompanyI don't think I've covered a basic <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/10/stock-market-trading-for-beginners.html">introduction to the stock market</a> or the intrinsic value of a company in any of my posts so far so I'll run through some simple terms so we're all comfortable! I know the stock market can be confusing for lots of people out there including myself. When I first started out buying stocks and shares I felt like there was no way I'd ever get a good handle on what all the terms mean and the TV shows move so quickly. The hosts often assume you know what they're talking about and so skip over what each term means and leaves viewers (like me) even more confused and disheartened by the whole process! How can I work out which stocks to buy if I don't know what they're talking about! I know a lot of people out there look at the stock market as a form of gambling. Take a leap of faith to today on a hot stock pick and then sell it again the next day making a nice little profit! Yes that is gambling and it's something I'm telling my readers not to do. There's no science behind this process you're relying on hunches and luck and to be brutally honest the market doesn't care about you or your money. There's no one out there determining if its your lucky day so do your research! Don't take any leap of faith with your cash. I know I don't, I like mine too much to throw it away on Jimmy McShoes warehouse stocks!<br /><br />So we've agreed we're not going to gamble right? So we're looking for long term investments. The next question is how do we identify a long term investment. The secret to this is working out the real or intrinsic value of a company. By this I mean you should be able to look at a companies balance sheet and work out if it's worth $40 a stock or $1 a stock regardless of what the market is. Once you work out a companies true value you can spot bargains and snap up the hot stocks. You won't have to sit and listen to the TV hosts recommending whatever the buzz stock is as you'll have your own research and analysis to call on. It's much more satisfying knowing you've done the research and watching that share price rise and rise over the years. Yes I said years! Buy and hold. Buying stocks just to dump them the next day won't make you any serious money in the long term. You'll end up losing large amounts of it by all the trading fees the stock brokers charge you for each transaction. This is of course all relative to the amount of money you're investing but if you're just starting out I don't imagine you'll have bags of money to throw at this. That's why it's so important to have done your research and make your stock and share choices wisely. Oh and <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-is-stocks-portfolio.html">diversify your stocks portfolio</a>!<br /><br />The dividends a company is paying out each year is a good indication of what profit it is actually making. John Burr Williams is a famous investor who recognized that a companies intrinsic value is key to determining the worth of stock. He famously stated that earnings are only a means to an end, and the means should not be mistaken for the end. A stock derives its value from its dividends, not its earnings. In summary a stock is only worth what you can get out of it. If it's not showing any returns is it worth buying? A stock is only worth the returns it will generate for you. You can get all this information from the companies balance sheet which is available for free in most cases from the company itself. How to buy stocks for beginners can be confusing especially when starting out but companies balance sheets are generally easy to follow. Unfortunately calculating the intrinsic value of a company will spark a debate between investors as there is no 100% perfect way of doing it as some of it is based on projected earnings which as you can imagine is never going to be perfect. There is software out there that will do this for you but it won't be any more accurate than doing it yourself. It will only act as a time saver. Make sure you read up on the software before you buy it too as you never know how they are calculating the intrinsic value. It might be completely different from the way you have found to value a company and so you may end up buying stocks that are not worth the price. We're interested in value investing after all and looking for undervalued stocks to buy.IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-69610285138463809092009-10-01T12:25:00.000-07:002009-10-06T14:55:42.218-07:00Stock Market Trading<span>Stock Market Trading</span> for beginners ties in with the whole theme of this site which is to educate newcomers out there to the world of stocks and shares. When people want to learn how to trade on the stock market they generally think that you have to start looking at charts and stock tickers to find the hot stock. This only one part of buying stocks for beginners and it's certainly not a place I would recommend someone should start. It doesn't matter what reasons you have for wanting to get into the stock market whether it be to boost your retirement fund or just for the fun of it I don't believe anyone should just jump in blindly without doing a bit of research first. I've always thought that buying shares is a bit like gambling. You should never gamble what you can't afford to lose so don't be out re-mortgaging your house to buy whatever the hot stock of the week is. The idea behind Ben Graham's Security Analysis and the development of the value investment approach so successfully applied by <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/07/berkshire-hathaway-warren-buffetts.html">Warren Buffett</a> is that they take the gambling aspect completely out of the picture. Research is done so thoroughly that it's as close to a sure thing as you're ever likely to get. <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">If you are a beginner to <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">stock market trading</a> then you might feel swamped with information at this point. There is so much of it out there that you'll be left wondering where on earth you can start. You can buy online stock so easily and quickly now. The cost of buying stock has come down considerably too with all the competition out there from online stock traders. This should not be seen as a green light to go nuts and buy every penny stock in sight! I would always recommend using the value investing techniques described by Warren Buffett. He describes buying shares as being more like buying into a business. Try to look at buying stock as becoming a partner, albeit a very small partner, in a business. That way you may stop yourself from acting emotionally and dumping your stocks at the first sign of trouble.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Stock market trading for beginners is also very tough because of all the investing jargon used out there. I've covered the differences between <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/07/understanding-bear-and-bull-markets.html">bull and bear markets</a> in a previous post so that may be a good place for you start. It's one of the simplest concepts to learn but I always feel that if you get the basics learned it will help you later on with the more difficult concepts. Your brain will have some hooks with with to cling on to when I start talking about price to earning ratio and its like! Websites like MarketWatch are good places to start. I've also found a lot of useful information on the Motley Fool website which also as a great forum with lots of people willing to chip in if you're stuck with understanding some stocks term. I would never take direct advice from someone in a forum regarding hot stocks. You never know why someone could be recommending stocks to you and if it was so great believe me they'd be buying it themselves rather than offering you up the chance to share in the spoils. I'd always recommend spending a good few weeks just reading over these sites and familiarising yourself with the jargon. Introduce yourself in the forum and get to know the users. The library is also a great place to go for more in depth information. Please check out Ben Graham's Security Analysis as a starter. Yes it is a bit of a slog but its the closest thing we investors have to a Bible!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">To help you stock market trading beginners out he's a few basic terms explained. First up, what actually is a broker? You'll have heard it a hundred times already. A broker is short for a stockbroker and that is simply someone who carries out stock transactions. This is buying or selling stocks. You get all different types including full-service, online and auto-trade. They work for you to buy and sell your stocks. Dividends are something you'll be hopefully be seeing lots of! If a company you own stocks for makes a profit, shareholders are entitled to receive a bonus payment which is a percentage of this profit. You as the stockholder can choose to keep this money or reinvest it back into the company which will increase your percentage of stock. Futures can be a bit tricker to understand. Futures are purchased with the price of future commodities in mind. If the price of a commodity a future is purchased on increases in time, the investor will earn money. Alternatively, if the price of the commodity drops below what the investor originally paid the investor loses money. Confused? Don't worry about it the penny will drop eventually! Day Traders are people who I don't really understand but if they're making a killing on the stock market who am I to argue. Rather than keep stocks for the long term they buy and sell constantly with the aim of making small profit margins which all add up to big profits. This totally goes against the grain of Warren Buffett's value investing theory and mine too! Too much risk involved in day trading for my liking. Trading on margin involves buying stocks for a for a small fraction of the total cost of the share. The balance of the price is paid when the share is sold or on a subsequent date. Trading on margin could be compared to stock trading, it's very similar, with the exception that borrowed money is used rather than payment in full at the time of purchase.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">These are a few basic terms which should help stock market trading beginners out there. They are obviously pretty simplified but hopefully I've made it easier to understand but still with enough detail that it's still useful. The stock market is a complex thing so don't get too frustrated if you can't grasp all the jargon right away. Also don't try and read everything out there as you might find all the concepts contradict each other! You've seen it all ready with day trading and value investing. It's far more important at this stage that you understand the basic terms and then you can dive in to the different investing approaches and decide which one is for you. You might find that a combination of two works! It's entirely up to you how you approach stock market trading!</p>IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-79320042274743889222009-08-21T14:08:00.000-07:002009-10-06T14:52:43.598-07:00Fantasy Stock MarketLets face it everyone’s sick of working for a living to the idea of making a killing on the stock market appeals to most of us. So how do you <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">buy stocks</a>. And how do you<a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/"> buy stocks online</a> making enough cash that you can quit your job and live off your stock market picks? Is your imagined type of work to take it easy, sit back and watch the profits role in while your business grows with little involvement from you? Making money from the stock market can make these dreams come true. Beginners can make money in the stock market. Trading stocks is not just for a chosen few.<br /><br />With the current economic climate there’s never been a better time to start buying <a href="http://www.sharescity.com/">stocks and shares</a>. There are a lot of bargains out there. There is of course the question of how to invest in the stock market. The great thing about buying stocks online is that you can now practice without using any of your own money. There are what’s known as fantasy stock markets now online where you can sign up for a free account and use your knowledge you have learned from my previous posts to buy stocks. This will cost you absolutely nothing but it is a good way to learn techniques at work. You can also take risks with which stocks to buy safe in the knowledge that you won’t lose any of your own money. If you want to try the <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/07/value-investing-for-beginners-warren.html">Warren Buffett style of investing</a> then go ahead in the fantasy stock market. Try for yourself to see if these techniques work.<br /><br />If you look around the Internet you’ll find stock market investment advice all over the place. Do you really want to take a risk with bad stock market investment advice and lose your own money not to mention the time you’ll waste. Fantasy stock market trading is excellent to get a feel for the market and find ways you can make money and make the stock market work for you. It is so important to understand what the market is- the stock market-and how this market operates. If you don’t understand the market there is absolutely no point in throwing your money away. Trading stocks in a fantasy stock market will act as a good guide. It will let you know what you do know and what you still have to learn. Your results should answer this question. The simplest definition calls the stock market as the public market where stocks and derivatives are traded at the set price. There are those securities that are listed on the stock exchange that are traded in private. All kinds of people trade in the stock market including individuals (no doubt like you) and private companies who trade in bulk and perhaps work for investment firms building hedge funds. These investors then indicate whether they wish to buy or sell the stocks they have or the stocks they are interested in buying.<br /><br />There’s also different places that stocks and bought and sold. You may have seen the mayhem of a stock market trading floor on TV. Lots of paper flying around and people shouting. Trades are bought and sold verbally on the trading floor. What’s becoming more popular nowadays is the virtual trading environment where stocks are bought and sold online. Exchanges can be considered as physical locations and there is also the virtual exchange. The world's largest physical trading market is the New York Stock Exchange where listed securities can be traded. The typical orders will start from traders going to the floor broker up to the floor trading post specialist that trades the order. This specialist matches any buy and sells orders, and when trades are made this is reported on the tape and sent to the brokerage firm who is interested in buying the stocks. NASDAQ is a good example of a virtual exchange in the US where all the trading is done online. The process is similar; the only difference is that traders are matched electronically.<br /><br />The stock market is simply a place for traders to trade. Hence the market! It’s often used as a barometer for the way an economy is performing. Queue pictures of traders with their heads in their hands on a bad day. It is much a part of culture as anything else today. There have been numerous movies made of it notably the Oscar winning Wall Street starring Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas as the infamous Gordon Gekko which is well worth a watch.IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-65671298293846209972009-07-13T14:31:00.000-07:002010-01-31T16:09:12.606-08:00Berkshire Hathaway<p>Yes I'm posting more about <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/07/value-investing-for-beginners-warren.html">Warren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Buffett</span></a>! But then <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">How to buy stocks for beginners</a> would not be the same without constantly mentioning the daddy of all investors. Anyway, Berkshire Hathaway so if you're trying to learn how to invest like Warren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Buffett</span> then why not take a look at Berkshire Hathaway's holdings. The shear mention that this company is interested in another is enough to make a share price rocket in the stock market. So as a beginner what can you tell from looking at these companies? For a start you can see that Warren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Buffett</span> always stuck to the rule of investing in something you know or can easily understand. He doesn't own any tech stock because he doesn't know anything about it. He does own a large number of stocks in Gillette and Coca Cola. How hard is the razor and soda business to understand? Not very...hence he bought them. He did of course split up the stock to A and B stock to let others who don't have quite as much cash to jump on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Buffett</span> gravy train. I've resisted the buffet gravy tie in I bet you're glad.</p><p>So if you fire up any tool I keep mentioning yahoo finance but anyone will do and look up <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">BRK</span>.A or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">BRK</span>.B that's the stock symbols by the way, you'll be able to see a breakdown of the company. The stocks are quite expensive. Then he is very successful at this. You can also check out the Berkshire Hathaway website which is absolutely atrocious I have to say. This free rubbish from Blogger is a better template. I can't quite claim to have the same wisdom to bass on about how to buy stocks. That's the great thing about the Berkshire Hathaway site, you can read the letters than Warren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Buffett</span> sends out to his <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">shareholders</span> without being one yourself. <strong></strong>. Like I said earlier, he's the best in the business so why not learn from him? I have to mention Charlie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Munger</span> as well. He's the Vice President of Berkshire Hathaway and widely regarded as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Buffett's</span> partner in the <a href="http://freefinancialplanningadvice.com/category/investing/stock-market/">stock market</a>. He's also just old. Anyway, he's someone worth looking up as he applies the same techniques that Buffet does taught by Ben Graham all those years ago. There's no point in telling you how much Berkshire Hathaway is worth at the moment because the nature of the business makes it clear it'll be out of date as soon as I post this. There's so much information out there on <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/10/stock-market-trading-for-beginners.html">basics of stock market for beginners</a> it's hard to know where to start...or stop.<br /></p><p>In short, read up on Berkshire Hathaway and Charlie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Munger</span>. End of lesson for today folks!</p>IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-47351424066787558702009-07-12T11:46:00.000-07:002009-10-06T14:49:04.070-07:00Keep Your Investing Head Clear!The hardest thing I found about <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">buying stocks and shares</a> </span>is keeping your head when everyone else around you is loosing theirs! It can be quite easy to get caught up with the herd and acting in the same way they do. When I first started trading I was obsessed with checking my stocks every day. Well that's a lie, it was all day every day. Having that little ticker in my browser at work became natural, a point here and point there would affect my mood. In the end it's not a big deal.<br /><br />This is one thing that beginners in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">stock market</span> have a real hard time with. <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/07/value-investing-for-beginners-warren.html">Warren Buffett</a> has always said that the best time to sell stocks is....never! Forget about the 1 or 2 point gains. If you do your research properly in the first place you're buying into a good company. You just have to realize that buying stocks is a long term investment. To <span style="font-weight: bold;">buy and sell</span> constantly is foolish. You'd end up loosing more in commission to the stock brokers than you'd actually make in the sale.<br /><br />So in summary, do your investment research properly at the start. Buy your stocks and hold...unless of course the business model changes...IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-37398967711258505422009-07-08T13:21:00.000-07:002009-10-06T14:43:28.717-07:00My Investing Mission<p><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ok</span> so lots of people have asked me why I'm creating <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/"><strong>how to buy stocks for beginners</strong></a> and there's several answers to that. Firstly I remember how daunting it was starting out with <strong>stocks and shares</strong>, what is the <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/07/understanding-bear-and-bull-markets.html">bull or bear market</a>, how do you actually buy shares online? I thought I'd start this blog and offer up some of my own findings and save you the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">valuable</span> reader some time! I can remember way back when I first started researching the stock market and all those books I read, the informative sites and the not so informative. If I can save you 5 minutes of research and wasting your time on some sort of get rich quick scheme then I've achieved something. Not that I'm saying I can give you all the answers I just mean to give you a little jump start.</p><p><strong>Investing online</strong> is certainly here to stay and I've used a few online brokers which of course I will recommend. There's so many useful online tools to be used to. I absolutely love Yahoo Finance. The stats on offer are absolutely mind boggling and they can be searched and filtered anyway you require. There's also some fantastic online communities you can get involved with such as the guys at Motley Fool. There's so many experienced campaigners on there which is just a wealth of experience for you to use. Anyway enough about other sites back to my blog!</p><p>I love talking about Value investing and guys like Warren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Buffett</span> and Ben Graham and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">contributions</span> they have made to the industry. It can be quite hard to understand their concepts at first as it seems to go against the grain of what every other advisor will tell you. They love it when stocks are on free fall as it means bargains galore. You don't need to look for the stock tips, if you research a company and then hold your stocks you will hopefully end up making some money in the long term. So anyway I can spread the word about these guys the better. I know its not exactly a secret but people tend to get too caught up in the stock ticker and forget they're actually making an investment in a real company. It's not just about the numbers! Warren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Buffett</span> has modified Ben Grahams initial theory and puts a lot of value in the management of a company. If he believes in the person at the top then it adds to the value of the company.</p><p><strong style="font-weight: normal;">The market </strong>is a tricky subject to keep contained, its so easy to go crazy with the information out there. Anyway if I can help any of you out there I'll be delighted.</p>IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-63445695693350020152009-07-07T12:35:00.000-07:002009-10-06T14:48:03.175-07:00Value Investing for Beginners Warren Buffett Style<p>Ever heard of value investing? How about Warren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Buffett</span>? He's only the single most successful person in the stocks game. When I was first learning how to buy shares I stumbled on this technique. Warren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Buffett</span> followed a technique known as value investing first coined by Benjamin Graham way back in 1934 with his book on Security Analysis but its probably his book titled The Intelligent Investor published in 1949 for which he is most famous. In this he detailed the approach of value investing. He would study a company in depth and look for shares where the price was lower than what he believed the company was worth. He determined this through different types of analysis and this is the basis of value investing. </p><p>So how can you determine the value of a company? The first step is to look for companies that trade at discounts to book value. Book value is the value of a company based on its balance sheet account balance. To determine this you'd have to get the companies annual report and get the total of the assets minus any liabilities. This is a good start now on to the next stage. Then also from the annual report check to see the dividend paid out to its share holders and ensure its high. Finally, look for shares which have a low price to earning ration. Many sites online now let you add this column in when searching for shares. Yahoo finance certainly does if you decide to buy stocks online.</p><p>Hopefully this guide is useful and provides you with a good <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">introduction</span> on value investing!</p>IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-88162822359880276032009-07-05T04:08:00.000-07:002009-10-06T14:45:14.599-07:00Understanding Bear and Bull Markets<p>One of the terms you'll hear most frequently when trying to work out how to invest in the stock market <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>is a bear and a bull market. So what does this actually mean? In it's simplest term, a bull market can be described as optimistic. Investors feel that prices are due to rise. A bear market can be described as pessimistic. Investors feel that stock prices are on the way down. As you can imagine a bear market is a self fulfilling prophecy as investors feel the price is coming down so sell shares rather than buying which adds to prices being driven down.</p><p>One of the most famous bear markets was the Wall Street crash of 1929 where 89% of market <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">capitalization</span> was completely wiped out. Marking the start of the Great Depression. In more recent times bear markets have occurred between March 2000 and October 2002 when the Internet bubble burst. Then of course depending on who you listen to we're living in a bear market right now with the current financial crisis!</p><p>Where did these names come from? One explanation is related to the way each animal attacks its opponents. That is, a bull will thrust its horns up into the air, while a bear will swipe down. These actions were then related <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">metaphorically</span> to the movement of a market: if the trend was up, it was considered a bull market; if the trend was down, it was a bear market.</p><p>As I mentioned earlier a bear market can be seem as pessimistic as the stock prices are tumbling. In a sense it can be seen as positive for the investor as its likely there will be bargains to be had with undervalued shares. It really depends on your point of view and what kind of investor you are! Hopefully this post clears up any mystery and act as a step in the right direction!</p>IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-48565393737712170532009-07-04T17:33:00.000-07:002010-02-20T07:15:49.504-08:00WelcomeHi and welcome to <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/">How to Buy Stocks for Beginners</a></span>! With the current credit crisis there are bargains galore in the stock market. There has never been so much value for money and with the web it's so easy to <span>buy stocks online</span>. Stock prices continue to tumble but this the best time to invest. But don't dive into your wallet right away! Good research is the key. Beginners at stock trading should take the time to get the education they need in order to succeed. It takes time and knowledge to be good at anything in life and this include buying stocks.<br /><br />I will never tell you which stocks to buy but I will point you in the right direction of what to look out for. Hopefully through reading this blog you will be able to spot a bargain or two. One piece of advice I've always adhered to is 'buying what you know'. In other words if you're a bit of a geek and know about the tech market chances are you'll know what a good product is and if a company is worth investing in. Stick to what you're familiar with and it'll at least give you a head start on someone starting from scratch. <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2010/02/hot-stocks-for-2010.html">How to buy stocks for beginners</a> need not be a total stab in the dark if you follow some of the lessons I outline on this site. It should at least help you navigate your way through the minefield that is the stock market.<br /><br />Like everything in life, the stock market can be a bit of a gamble but as long as you do your research and keep your head if the price dips you'll be fine! <a href="http://howtobuystocksforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/10/stock-market-trading-for-beginners.html">Stock market trading for beginners </a>can be a straight forward process if you follow the guidelines!IBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451672291406994927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185526041207506437.post-9322405445699490072008-08-30T09:45:00.000-07:002009-08-30T09:46:37.305-07:00Privacy Policy<span style="font-weight: bold;">Privacy Policy</span><br /><br />This website/blog uses third-party advertising companies to serve ads when visiting this site. 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