what should I invest in

[slothman]

I have a small amount of money to invest in.
I don't want things like gold.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Any businesses?

 

[Jordan]

I like stocks that are pushing some decent dividends. Good dividends help cushion any dips in the stock market by displacing capital losses as well as creating a buffer at which point fixed income investors look to stocks for better returns.

ATT (T) is yielding 6.9% and is a solid blue chip
BP (BP) is yielding 7.8% (if the dividend isn't cut) but you'll have to have some serious risk tolerance

Since the dollar isn't popular on RPF:

Coke (KO) is yielding 3.3%, and has anti-dollar exposure
McDonalds is yielding 3.3% and has anti-dollar exposure
Philip Morris International (PM) is yielding 5.3% and has anti-dollar exposure (I love PMI, high yields, tons of income, high ROE, and its product is addicting. )

Again, I don't know your risk tolerance so it's hard to say.

 

[legion]

Well? What industry do you work in? My picks work for me but may not for you. I'm assuming what you are looking to do here is speculate, or gamble.

One symbol I'm watching very closely: TRMD - as domestic production is likely to become entangled in regulations, shipping oil will become much more important! but watch out for dilution in the future!

my current holdings:

small: IXYS - electronic chips used in high efficiency power inverters. crazy ass israelli ceo that responds to patent litigation threats from larger competitor with "over my dead body" and wins.


mid: JEF - small up and coming boutique investment bank stealing talent from the big boys. the more the big ibanks get bad press, the more wealth will look for different people to deal with.

large: ABB - largest electrical engineering company in the world


If you are wanting to invest instead of speculate, I have an audio series by Harry Browne I can suggest.

 

[legion]

BP (BP) is yielding 7.8% (if the dividend isn't cut) but you'll have to have some serious risk tolerance

You'd have to be smoking crack to touch anything being investigated by the DoJ. No farkin way I'm going to be paying their legal bills.

 

[jclay2]

I have a small amount of money to invest in.
I don't want things like gold.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Any businesses?

Before you ask these questions make sure these are answered:

Do I have an emergency fund in place (min of $1000)?
Do I have any consumer debt (credit card, car loans)?
Do I have 3-6 months in savings in the chance that I lose my job?
Will I need this money in the next 3 years, by retirement?

If you answered correctly to these questions, then I would think about putting the money to work in some type of a balanced (mix of stocks and bonds) index fund. The main reason is that you will get instant diversification. With a small amount of money, it will be hard to get good diversification of stocks. If this isn't risky enough for your liking, i suggest you put asside 10-15 percent of the money to put in a brokerage account of some type for you to buy up individual stocks that you have done EXTENSIVE research on and would like to purchase. Remember, if you are going to pull the trigger, be ready for a very bumpy ride in either direction. Just look at the last month (13/20 trading days with 1 percent moves or greater).

 

[Andy_MIT]

Suzlon, buy a lot of stock in Indian Co. like Suzlon, HINDALCO,

I have a small amount of money to invest in.
I don't want things like gold.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Any businesses?

OK

 

[The Grinning Maniac]

What I'm wondering is what sort of things do you look into regarding a company to see if they are worth investing in? Particularly smaller companies. There are a few medicinal marijuana companies I've heard of that you can buy stock in, and they're really cheap as they're relatively new companies (~1yr old). How would I know if they're a good bet?

 

[ibaghdadi]

Any businesses?

You wanna invest in Dubai?

The government here may be going broke, but since it's a free market we're all so much the better coz of it...

 

[Andy_MIT]

Dubai is toast

You wanna invest in Dubai?

The government here may be going broke, but since it's a free market we're all so much the better coz of it...

OK

 

[dannno]

Dubstep. Wave of the future, dude.

YouTube - UNHOLY GRAIL - ALEX KIDD

 

[peacepotpaul]

I like stocks that are pushing some decent dividends. Good dividends help cushion any dips in the stock market by displacing capital losses as well as creating a buffer at which point fixed income investors look to stocks for better returns.

ATT (T) is yielding 6.9% and is a solid blue chip
BP (BP) is yielding 7.8% (if the dividend isn't cut) but you'll have to have some serious risk tolerance

Since the dollar isn't popular on RPF:

Coke (KO) is yielding 3.3%, and has anti-dollar exposure
McDonalds is yielding 3.3% and has anti-dollar exposure
Philip Morris International (PM) is yielding 5.3% and has anti-dollar exposure (I love PMI, high yields, tons of income, high ROE, and its product is addicting. )

Again, I don't know your risk tolerance so it's hard to say.

what's the time frame for these single digit yields you're talking about?

 

[pacelli]

I have a small amount of money to invest in.
I don't want things like gold.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Any businesses?

At this point if you don't want any PMs or mining companies, you might consider something like surgical and medical technologies such as minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgical equipment manufacturers.

 

[ibaghdadi]

The whole middle-east is going to be very unstable until this never-ending Arba-Israeli conflict ends. .

I don't think you're apprised of the economics of the UAE. It's probably the only country in the Middle East that prospers on nearby crises. This is from a report I recently read:

With this in mind, I can barely explain or describe the opportunities here – this is a gateway to an enormous market. Everyone from everywhere seems to convene in Dubai to do business. More than 200 nationalities, and all make it clear that they mean business, and have the resources and connections to see it through. Dubai is attractive as a safe island in a very turbulent region. Whenever a bomb goes off on Pakistan or tensions mount in Iran, capital flows into the UAE.

Besides, if Dubai is toast, then how comes me and other entrepreneurs here are doing so well? I'm having my best year so far.

I don't agree with your assessment of India either, but I'll leave that to another discussion.

Just curious, do you actually have any money invested in India? If so, which companies/sectors?

 

[Jordan]

You'd have to be smoking crack to touch anything being investigated by the DoJ. No farkin way I'm going to be paying their legal bills.

Sure, I understand that. They could easily have some crazy legal bills.

On the flip side, BP made more than $20 billion last year with oil prices roughly the same as today. Even if they have to give up one year's income of $20 billion, you're still getting a sweet company for 7 times earnings. If they have to give up 2 years of income, you're getting it for 8 times earnings.

 

[Jordan]

what's the time frame for these single digit yields you're talking about?

That is their annual dividend yield. These aren't bonds, they're stocks, so it isn't like you have to lock your money up for years. Then again you can liquidate bonds, so I don't really know how to answer your question.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Before you ask these questions make sure these are answered:

Do I have an emergency fund in place (min of $1000)?
Do I have any consumer debt (credit card, car loans)?
Do I have 3-6 months in savings in the chance that I lose my job?
Will I need this money in the next 3 years, by retirement?

If you answered correctly to these questions, then I would think about putting the money to work in some type of a balanced (mix of stocks and bonds) index fund. The main reason is that you will get instant diversification. With a small amount of money, it will be hard to get good diversification of stocks. If this isn't risky enough for your liking, i suggest you put asside 10-15 percent of the money to put in a brokerage account of some type for you to buy up individual stocks that you have done EXTENSIVE research on and would like to purchase. Remember, if you are going to pull the trigger, be ready for a very bumpy ride in either direction. Just look at the last month (13/20 trading days with 1 percent moves or greater).

Important questions and some good suggestions. Index funds give you more diversity at lower costs. Non- index funds have higher costs due to more trading velocity without necessariiy giving you any better returns (the average fund will match the market before their costs and the index copies the market at a lower cost- they buy and hold the stocks (or bonds) which comprise the index they track).

Another suggestion I would make would be to check out DRIP funds (Dividend Re-Investment Plans). These are also extremely low cost (as well as will take small amounts for initial investments). You buy at least one share to get set up and any dividends paid out are not given to you directly but instead used to purchase more shares. I have a local utility DRIP and the purchase of additional shares are at no cost to me. You can't get lower cost than that. Some info on DRIPs: http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/what-a-drip-3919/

On another note, buying any stock because it has a low price is not good advice. The price of an individual share depends on the perceived future value of the company divided by the number of shares. So unless you are convinced that the valuation of the company is wrong on the low side, you are likely to lose money by purchasing low priced stocks.