How are your stocks doing?

[Defense54]

Most of my stuff has come back and then some. My GE went through the roof yesterday thanks to Mr Buffet buying almost 3 Billion worth of the company. Are we on the upside of this terrible time ?

[Dave Gray]

I don't think I'm all the way back yet, but it's way up from where it was.

I have noticed that there's not been a lot of movement in the DOW in the last weeks.  I think that's good.  Whether up or down, it's only been a few points, instead of these large swings.  I think that stability is probably better than the wild increases.

[Defense54]

I don't think I'm all the way back yet, but it's way up from where it was.

I have noticed that there's not been a lot of movement in the DOW in the last weeks.  I think that's good.  Whether up or down, it's only been a few points, instead of these large swings.  I think that stability is probably better than the wild increases.

YES.  I agree. Good point.  Its like building a NFL team steadily through the draft as opposed to a bunch of free Agents.  But GE went Nuts the last few days. I'm in that for the Long haul, maybe 15 yrs, but its nice to see .

[Dave Gray]

Something big is supposed to happen today.  I saw on the news something about traders waiting for some news (newly released statements or something -- can't remember exactly what it was).  Right at this moment, the markets are all generally up, but just by a little bit, so I guess that's good.

[Dolphster]

I owe a debt of gratitude to my finance and economics professors in college who always preached the Warren Buffett theory of "be greedy when others are fearful and be fearful when others are greedy".  I actually increased all of my stock holdings when everything was tanking, essentially buying more stocks at bargain basement prices.  Now that the thing has bounced back pretty well, I am pretty happy about it all.  But I was pretty nervous when I kept piling in money and I kept seeing everything going down. 

[Defense54]

I owe a debt of gratitude to my finance and economics professors in college who always preached the Warren Buffett theory of "be greedy when others are fearful and be fearful when others are greedy".  I actually increased all of my stock holdings when everything was tanking, essentially buying more stocks at bargain basement prices.  Now that the thing has bounced back pretty well, I am pretty happy about it all.  But I was pretty nervous when I kept piling in money and I kept seeing everything going down. 

Yes. I didn't go in with both feet, but I definitely started investing again late last year and it has all paid off. My GE has doubled its worth from when I bought it. Its really not healthy to watch them day to day when your into it for the long haul (12-15 more yrs before I retire), but with these gains I can't help myself.

[dolphins4life]

I have never invested in my life.  How much should I start with and how does the stock market work? 

[Defense54]

I never did it for the instant return.  I have been investing in 401k 's since 1986. Deducted a percentage of my paycheck . Got used to it and didn't even see it.  In it for a long time I basically Invested it 3 ways.

33% very safe.
33% moderate Risk.
33%  Aggressive.

You need the aggressive to make you money and over the long haul it goes up and down , but will most likely bring you returns. As you get closer to retirement you might want to go less aggressive because you will have less time to recover as you get older.

One rule of thumb that has worked excellent for me is , every pay raise I get I always raise my contribution from my Paycheck. This way I'm investing more and I don't even see it. 24 yrs later I have a nice chunk put away. It took a big Hit last year but its back up and thensome. I still have another 12-15 yrs so I'm going to try to maximize returns as best I can.

I bought a Ton of GE because how can Power ever not be needed? I didn't expect Mr Buffet to agree with me, but you get lucky sometimes. The way Social security is going I highly reccomend you start saving for retirement ASAP. I don't want to be a 70 yr old door greater at Wallmart unless thats what I want to do. Not because I need it to pay for cat food. 

[Dave Gray]

I have never invested in my life.  How much should I start with and how does the stock market work? 

I would go with a Roth IRA.  You aren't taxed on the gains, and nobody can come after it if you go broke.

There are limits to what you can put in and still not get taxed: I think it's like $5,000 per year.

I don't know your financial situation, but put as much as you can (up to $5000 per year) in an account that's set up for you (I recommend using a broker that can help you select - I went with TD Ameritrade) -- since you're young, you probably want a product that is risky for the first several years and then calms down as you get closer to retirement.  Each year, just keep adding to it.

[dolphins4life]

^^^

I do have an IRA, but I was talking more about investing in the stock market. 

[Dave Gray]

An IRA can incorporate investing in the stock market.  Rather than pick stocks individually, diversify by buying a product (a stake in a bunch of different stocks in different industries).  What this does is limits the volatility of just one stock.  It's called a mutual fund, and is much more fitting to your lifestyle.

[Defense54]

An IRA can incorporate investing in the stock market.  Rather than pick stocks individually, diversify by buying a product (a stake in a bunch of different stocks in different industries).  What this does is limits the volatility of just one stock.  It's called a mutual fund, and is much more fitting to your lifestyle.

I agree. I have a few of those as well. Its like Placing a chip on the red or the Black instead of indivdual Numbers. As I get older I'll take it out of the market and buy more of these. At 55 I want to chill , grow my ponytail back , and start a jam band. 

[Dave Gray]

The market was up for 7 straight days which marked the first time in a long long time.  It's the highest it's been in 18 months.  On top of that, it's up again today, which is great.

[Defense54]

I'm certainly not complaining. Hopefully its a sign that things are starting to recover.