Investing In The Stock Market

[illpressureurhinges1]

I've been wanting to get into investing since I've come upon some solid amounts of money and found my interest in Economics. I just want to start off small and see how it goes. But I don't know exactly know how to get started. Anyone have any suggestions or sites that I could go to that would help me in this endeavor?

[Aaron]

1) Read about it first [don't read wiki].
2) See a financial planner.

[illpressureurhinges1]

Well like I've been reading about it on businessweek.com and learning about it from my Economics teacher.

Where do you suggest I read about it some more?

[Aaron]

Books, not online. Go to a big bookstore and they'll have a section of finance/money. Alternately go to university libraries. The idea is to get an understanding of how the mechanics of it works, not what to invest into.

Once you've got a bit of knowledge under your belt sit down with a financial planner and outline what your aims are, how much risk you want to take on etc.. and get them to help facilitate the development of a plan.

[beso negro]

I use updown.com.

it's not real money more for practice i guess. you can win real money though if you beat the S&P 500.

[Light Fantastic]

http://investopedia.com/university/

n like stuff

[Seafroggys]

long term investment you are almost guaranteed to make money. But that's long term.

Short term risk is pretty high.

[Aaron]

Short term is just that; a short duration.
Long term is... duh duh duhhhh... a longer duration.
The risk varies in both contexts depending on other factors.
Don't make sweeping statements.

[MAthiAS]

Just short sell airlines for the short term and watch the money roll in.

[BassRevelation1029]

Its a very risky game, but if you spend time studying the game, you'll be fine.

For the most part.

[griftadan]

yeah don't start now, invest in bonds if you want to guard against inflation. it isn't entirely clear that the stock market will recover any time soon.

[Seafroggys]

Short term is just that; a short duration.
Long term is... duh duh duhhhh... a longer duration.
The risk varies in both contexts depending on other factors.
Don't make sweeping statements.

statistically speaking, you will make 20-25% return on the stock market in the long term.

This is fact.

I don't know what you were trying to say. You were defining what long term meant for those who didn't know?

[Aaron]

I'm saying that depending on HOW you invest you could be at a high risk in both short-term and long-term ventures. Got a source?

[illpressureurhinges1]

yeah don't start now, invest in bonds if you want to guard against inflation. it isn't entirely clear that the stock market will recover any time soon.

That's what I've been hearing. I'm still not sure though. I really want to invest in stocks, not bonds.

[free_thinkers_are_dangerous]

statistically speaking, you will make 20-25% return on the stock market in the long term.


20-25% returns... per year? are you insane?

20-25% lifetime? that sucks



edit: and yeah, right now is probably not the time to start investing big chunks of cash. If you were already in it would make more sense to hold what you have and wait for it to go back up, but unless you really know what you're doing you would probably consistently lose money right now. Maybe if you know a company that's just getting big and whose products you think are absolutely amazing, but otherwise hedge your bets and go for something guaranteed.

[Seafroggys]

2-3 seperate teachers I have had through high school and college have cited different values. My AP Statistics teacher said something like 15% (this was several years ago), and my current Retail Management instructor has said 25% (he was saying if your business does not make 25+% returns, you might as well sell your business and invest in the stock market).

It may not be as high as 20-25%, but in the long run it is better then savings and mutual funds.

And yes, I'm talking about per year.

[free_thinkers_are_dangerous]

Maybe if you're insanely good and/or lucky. I think the long-term average is more like 7-10%.

If the average is 20%, you could buy $220 worth of index bonds today and retire in 50 years with over $2 million in the bank. We'd all be stinking rich.