Finding good stocks/ETF/MF to buy

[westkyle]

Where do you guys find a good buy? I've kinda browsed online and it's really difficult to know how to make a good investment it seems. Maybe I'm just hoping to find a really good buy and make a 50 percent gain in a short amount of time . I couldn't bring myself to buy any weapons stocks like raytheon even if it was to just buy then sell for a quick buck. I haven't bought any more silver, but I did purchase a little bit before it went up in price.

 

[Jordan]

Where do you guys find a good buy? I've kinda browsed online and it's really difficult to know how to make a good investment it seems. Maybe I'm just hoping to find a really good buy and make a 50 percent gain in a short amount of time . I couldn't bring myself to buy any weapons stocks like raytheon even if it was to just buy then sell for a quick buck. I haven't bought any more silver, but I did purchase a little bit before it went up in price.

It's a good thing you set your sights low. Fifty percent in a short time should be a piece of cake.

 

[westkyle]

It's a good thing you set your sights low. Fifty percent in a short time should be a piece of cake.

What about cheap promising stocks in BRICS countries?

 

[ILUVRP]

1st , a good investment is a -- return on your money and a return of your money --everything else is a speculation.

if you are serious look at investershub , look at all the penny stocks and read some of their forums on a company you may like . take what you read with a grain of salt as most are just pumpers .


i would think you would have better luck at las vegas , just put your money on black or red and watch the wheel spin , the odds are not that bad , about 51 to 49 against you . better than a penny stock that has 1 billion shares outstanding .

good luck anyway .

 

[Blueskies]

Any money you want to put into stocks, buy a broad-based ETF like VTI or SPY. Both hold massive groups of stocks and charge a small annual fee.

Don't try to pick individual stocks. It's a fool's game.

 

[westkyle]

Any money you want to put into stocks, buy a broad-based ETF like VTI or SPY. Both hold massive groups of stocks and charge a small annual fee.

Don't try to pick individual stocks. It's a fool's game.

Does that fee usually come out of your earnings? Unless of course you come out negative..

 

[Blueskies]

Does that fee usually come out of your earnings? Unless of course you come out negative..

Yes. VTI, for example, has an expense ratio of 0.05% -- the manager's of the fund, in this case Vanguard, take a percentage cut every year. That sounds bad, but it's really not. You're basically paying for the ability to hold of a bunch different stocks -- when you own VTI, you indirectly own over 3,500 stocks. SPY is 500 stocks.

The more stocks you own, the less susceptible you are to blow ups. If you buy three stocks, and one of them goes under, that's a third of your money.

 

[enoch150]

10 - 20 stocks will give you plenty of diversification. More is pointless. Picking 10 - 20 individual stocks gives you the ability to diversify while cutting out the garbage you would be forced to take with an ETF with hundreds or thousands of stocks.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Nickel. Don't ask, just do it.

 

[ILUVRP]

i didn't understand what a short amount of time was in the 1st post , to me a short amount of time is under 2 yrs .

if a short amount of time is 10 yrs just buy a good drug company paying 5% , just the dividend will come close as 7% money doubles in 10 yrs.

 

[MRoCkEd]

Where do you guys find a good buy? I've kinda browsed online and it's really difficult to know how to make a good investment it seems. Maybe I'm just hoping to find a really good buy and make a 50 percent gain in a short amount of time . I couldn't bring myself to buy any weapons stocks like raytheon even if it was to just buy then sell for a quick buck. I haven't bought any more silver, but I did purchase a little bit before it went up in price.

You want a fast 50 percent gain? I have the PERFECT stock for you! /s
(Plenty of people will have an "answer" for you; they are all full of shit.)

Unless you're rich and want to have some fun throwing money away, stick to some low-expense index funds within tax-advantaged accounts and call it a day. This is of course assuming you don't have any debt and your emergency fund is all set.

 

[oyarde]

Where do you guys find a good buy? I've kinda browsed online and it's really difficult to know how to make a good investment it seems. Maybe I'm just hoping to find a really good buy and make a 50 percent gain in a short amount of time . I couldn't bring myself to buy any weapons stocks like raytheon even if it was to just buy then sell for a quick buck. I haven't bought any more silver, but I did purchase a little bit before it went up in price.

, well , for $20 a month I will research two picks ea month for you.

 

[Blueskies]

10 - 20 stocks will give you plenty of diversification. More is pointless. Picking 10 - 20 individual stocks gives you the ability to diversify while cutting out the garbage you would be forced to take with an ETF with hundreds or thousands of stocks.

While true, to set up a portfolio of 20 stocks would require a bankroll of $40-60k. I doubt the OP has that much cash sitting around.

 

[Dforkus]

My 401ks are mostly indexed, but I give you the holding in my scotttrade account

ETP - Nat Gas MLP
KMP - Nat Gas MLP
COP - energy
PSX - energy
INTC - intel
RALY - software
TSLA (bought in the 50s baby!)
F- ford
JNK - a bond etf
WFC - bank

Good low cost etfs, like VDC, VTI, and SPY are not bad ideas either, instant cheap diversification, for better or worse, and there is both with hyper diversification.
IHI is a sector ETF, focusing on medical devices that I've considered recently...

There is always a case for wide moat stalwarts like Mcdonalds, Coca Cola, P and G, and Altria.

 

[ILUVRP]

my question remains --how long is the short amount of time .

 

[enoch150]

While true, to set up a portfolio of 20 stocks would require a bankroll of $40-60k. I doubt the OP has that much cash sitting around.

I don't think so. I started by putting $1,000 into two stocks, then put $1,000 into other stocks as I added money to my account over time until I had about a dozen. Then I started adding to the positions I already had. I wasn't very diversified right up front, but it didn't take long.

 

[Blueskies]

I don't think so. I started by putting $1,000 into two stocks, then put $1,000 into other stocks as I added money to my account over time until I had about a dozen. Then I started adding to the positions I already had. I wasn't very diversified right up front, but it didn't take long.

Rule of thumb: never invest in a stock with less than $2,000.

Why? If you're using, say etrade, the cost per trade is roughly $10. Multiply that by two (buying and then selling) that's $20. If you were to buy only $1,000 stock, you would instantly be losing 2% of your investment right off the top just from the transaction fees etrade charges you. Given that the average annual return of a stock is somewhere in the region of 6-7%, that 2% is huge.

Ideally, you want to buy stocks in blocks of $3k+, but minimum, $2k.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Where do you guys find a good buy? I've kinda browsed online and it's really difficult to know how to make a good investment it seems. Maybe I'm just hoping to find a really good buy and make a 50 percent gain in a short amount of time . I couldn't bring myself to buy any weapons stocks like raytheon even if it was to just buy then sell for a quick buck. I haven't bought any more silver, but I did purchase a little bit before it went up in price.

There are no "quick ways" to make big bucks unless you get incredibly lucky. If there were any sure things, all of the big boys investing billions would be all over them which would beat the returns back down. Slow and steady. Anything else is gambling. Penny stocks are gambling. One thing to keep in mind, the higher the advertised potential returns, the greater risk of losing your money too. And watch expenses. Each transaction costs money which reduces your returns. Then you have to pay capital gains taxes which reduces them further.

Where do I have my money (after paying off my mortgage and putting aside enough money to pay all of my bills for a year should I somehow be unable to work or lose my job)? One is a utility company DRIP or Dividend Re-Investment Plan (google it- probably the cheapest way to own stocks as well as having the lowest price to buy in) and two index funds through Vanguard (index funds have the lowest expenses- they don't do much trading but buy and hold the stocks which comprise the index). Trading individual stocks is not a good way to make lots of money quickly. The expenses will eat you up and risk will be multiplied. And don't use any money you may need in the next few years. Should the investments decline in value, you need time to wait for them to go back up again before cashing out.

 

[Bastiat's The Law]

My 401ks are mostly indexed, but I give you the holding in my scotttrade account

ETP - Nat Gas MLP
KMP - Nat Gas MLP
COP - energy
PSX - energy
INTC - intel
RALY - software
TSLA (bought in the 50s baby!)
F- ford
JNK - a bond etf
WFC - bank

Good low cost etfs, like VDC, VTI, and SPY are not bad ideas either, instant cheap diversification, for better or worse, and there is both with hyper diversification.
IHI is a sector ETF, focusing on medical devices that I've considered recently...

There is always a case for wide moat stalwarts like Mcdonalds, Coca Cola, P and G, and Altria.

What are the dividends like?

 

[Bastiat's The Law]

Rule of thumb: never invest in a stock with less than $2,000.

Why? If you're using, say etrade, the cost per trade is roughly $10. Multiply that by two (buying and then selling) that's $20. If you were to buy only $1,000 stock, you would instantly be losing 2% of your investment right off the top just from the transaction fees etrade charges you. Given that the average annual return of a stock is somewhere in the region of 6-7%, that 2% is huge.

Ideally, you want to buy stocks in blocks of $3k+, but minimum, $2k.

Good point.