Does anyone trade stocks/shares?

[Oz]

Ive just started to get into it and looks like another good thing to do on the side (still havnt bought any yet, but will soon). I got a mate who recently made a hell of a lot of money from the uranium rise, made me sooo jealous.

Anyone here trade?

[Chuck]

yes, and still try and get into uranium while you can.....

[Oz]

ooOooO Chuck do u make much from it?

I think now is a good time to put money into rebel sports.

[wesmip1]

Geez,

The market is so overpriced and stretched at the moment. There is only a few and its very far between stocks which are at a good price.

Uranium is going to tank it in the short-medium term. Yes they shot up, yes they may go up for a few more days but fundamentally and technically it isn't there for a buy at the moment, the horse has already bolted.

If you are going to trade shares as opposed to invest in shares then there can be some good money made on the side but this isn't probably the time to be doing it.... unless you trade both sides of the market (up and down).

Try the forums at Incredible charts if you want some advice on stocks. Most people over there are very helpful and some know what they are talking about.

Good Luck...

[Chuck]

i think the market may be peaking soon...

[Chuck]

Chuck do u make much from it?

enough ;)

[Mr J]

Too much work, too little control.

[Oz]

enough ;)
how long have u been trading for?

[Chuck]

years....

[Bhagwan]

Trading shares is an develpoed art just like Horse racing , so if one is new at it , be prepared to put in the time initially to try & understand the fundermentals of it .

If one wants all the stuff done for you & all one wants to do is pull up the screen at the end of each day to see the days performance , one might be better off investing in a managed share fund .
Most produced 20% + last year but the one that should be looked at is the Geared Share funds if you really want to rock. (40-50% PA, over last few years)

The ones I found to be good is the Colonial First State Geared Share Fund (100% Aust Shares) invests in approx 60 diffferent companies
& their Global Resources fund (Local & overseas) in approx 100 mining companies around the world with very strong Fundermentals & comparitivly low running costs .
This spreads the risk nicely , try & find funds that dont invest in too many companies because it may minimise the risk but it also minimises the profit dramaticly & this is what the majority seem to do.
I have invested 50/50 in them & last year it went up approx 50-60% on both.
Try & look at each funds 5yr performance , any more than that doesnt mean much. That way one can assertain the strength of the fund compared to others.
Also check out the funds Assert ranking, focus on the top 8 performers over the last 5 years , see Trading Room .com.au for this info.
This gives one an idea how stable the fund is.
e.g. Colonial First State has been ranked in the top 3 for the past 5 years in a row.

Unless one can do better in Day Trading (40-60% increase on capital PA), it is probable better to use a managed fund similar to what has been mentioned because there are more people that loose than profit in that game just like horse racing , so do plenty of research.

Once one has decided they are going to have a go , all the experts say to keep ones investment in one particular share (not Share fund) at no more that 5-10% of the total amount of the working bank.

A question raised by those who have bought shares is... when to sell so that I dont loose on a sudden down turn ?
One answer is ..sell as soon as the shares highest value point that one has held them, drops minus ,10-12%.
e.g. Telstra shares bought at say $3.50 went to $9.90 now sell them when it looses say 12% which is $8.71 ,you have still made 149% net profit
In this exercise it would have been a wise move because it has not seen the light of day since.

If one really did like that share , one can buy them back at a later stage, but its an idea to wait until the price increases by approx +5.5% on its new low before doing so.
Doing that with Telstra , one would have never bought them back.

Another example
BHP dropped from $24.00 down to approx $8.90 at one stage.
One would of sold them when it dropped minus 12% = $21.12
Then buy them back once they went from $8.90x1.055(5.5%)= to $9.39
They havent looked back since.

I am trying to keep this as primitive as possible .
If one wants to get into all the basics of it all, check out Trading Room run by Faifax & Incredable Charts (brilliant) & its free.

Cheers.

[wesmip1]

Just a quick note...

If your going to invest in shares rather than managed fund then learn how to use options as hedging.

Using a margin loan and writing "naked" puts/covered calls over the right stocks you can return in excess of 100% p.a.

The puts aren't really naked as you would have the bought the shares anyway, your just buying them at a lower price then you would have orignially paid for.

Its a far less risky way to trade. The gains without a margin loan are usually in the 20-30% p.a.

Good Luck.

[Mr J]

Another example
BHP dropped from $24.00 down to approx $8.90 at one stage.
One would of sold them when it dropped minus 12% = $21.12
Then buy them back once they went from $8.90x1.055(5.5%)= to $9.39
They havent looked back since.

I assume you are talking about recently (about 4-5 years ago). If so, that isn't a good example since since most of that wasn't a 'drop' but simply BHP issuing more shares. The real drop was from around $24 to $22 then around $11 to $9 or whatever it was.

In many cases it is better to skip the mutual fund and just invest in an index. Most if not most mutual funds don't outperform the market and you have to pay fees on top of that.

Any form of investment is work. Hell, I pay for my picks but I still spend 2 hours a day on sports.

[Bhagwan]

In a item I read in the Financial review, the index out performed 70% of fund managers.
Now that`s a worry ...

It raises the question what the hell are those guys doing in between their BMWs , Expence accounts , suits, functions & long lunches.

All fluff & no substance.
Its got me beat how 70% can be still licenced.
Maybe they should give reason each year why their licence should be
re-instated.

Maybe they should call it a...
Playing Games with other peoples money with very little due dilligance but charge fees anyway Licence.

[wesmip1]

Bhagwan,

They are still doing it because the uneducated people keep giving money to them because they listen to financial advisors who are biased ( due to commissions).

Good Luck.

[Mr J]

Bhagwan,

They are still doing it because the uneducated people keep giving money to them because they listen to financial advisors who are biased ( due to commissions).

Good Luck.

Exactly. Most people are also too lazy to make the investments themselves or even do a little research to find out that most funds aren't worthwhile.

Basic these funds are 'I'll get rich of your lazy ********' schemes.