noob coming into stocks, where to start?

Discussion in 'Stocks & Derivatives' started by BootyBandit, Aug 6, 2011.

  1. BootyBandit

    BootyBandit New Member

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    Im starting to get interested in investing stocks n shares, i heard bell direct is the cheapest place to get started in aus online as the fees are only $15 per trade, also any helpful guides you could throw my way, any help will be great thanks
     
  2. Silver Soul

    Silver Soul Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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  3. jnkmbx

    jnkmbx Well-Known Member

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    Getting into the market during GFC2 is just too cool. :p

    I'll just say one thing: Don't use leverage to buy shares, use cash you already have.
     
  4. SilverSanchez

    SilverSanchez Active Member

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    Things I've learnt from being in the markets since oct 2010
    1. You can be told 1000 times but until you have lost money or profits on it you will never learn properly, its just stubborn human nature

    2. You are an emotionally driven investor.... no, dont get mad or try to deny it, i dont care what you think, you are... no- the more you deny it the more serious it prooves you are emotional. Emotional traders sell too late, buy too high or without thinking and having a plan and hold when they should sell because they didnt have an exit strategy before they entered a trade - if you are going to fail it will be because the 'idiot' in all of us thinks we know better or it wont happen to us. Get a book on investing psychology and read it like it was a sacred text (many guys even here havent done that yet i assure you).

    3. Dont buy stuff because someone told you, or you heard a tip from your mate, or any other form of hearsay.... DYOFR - Do your own f*n research - if you dont know how or why or what you are investing in, your going to loose. find out podcasts, newsletters, ask, read reports. And remember cheap could be $5, $50 or .05c per share... and expensive can be $100, $10 or 0.01c per share - it just depends on what the companies net assets and income minus costs, taxes and expences is compared to how many shares are on issue.

    4. Most people loose money on the market - so you have to do better than most - the deck is stacked aginst you in one way (because fund managers have $10000 tools and programs) but you can get in and out of most stocks quickly given a certain amount of liquidity (liquidity - how many shares traded in the average day) because you are playing with less money. You are mining the share market for profitable investments... companies are mining the share market to get capital to further their companies exploration, development, growth or personal bank accounts... the trick is when your goals and the companies goals are somewhat in line that a good partnership is made. If the company doesnt care about its shareholders - the shareholders shouldnt invest further in that company.

    5. Good managment of a company can make a bad mine work well, and bad managment of a comany can make a great mine a smoking hole in the ground where all your money went. Managment is important to take notice of.

    6. Get a podcast feed get information from good places like 'financial sense news hour', 'King World News', 'The Mercinary Geologist' - these three are great but remember DYOFR :)

    I care about you - its a hard market to invest in at the moment - you have your work cut out for you - but if you learn quickly in this environment you will get better fast. Remember there is nothing wrong with sitting on the sidelines and running some fake trades to practice for a while. These are just the things Ive learnt and I offer them if they may be of some help. God bless and Good luck :)
     
  5. SilverSanchez

    SilverSanchez Active Member

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    +1
     
  6. SilverSanchez

    SilverSanchez Active Member

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    Oh another good reasource is Boardroom Radio (www.brr.com)

    Financial Sense Newshour (American but talks about world markets, comodities, companies, interviews) http://www.netcastdaily.com/broadcast/podcast.php

    King World News (American - vairous markets interviews) - www.kingworldnews.com

    The Mercenary Geologist www.mercenarygeologist.com (investing, evaluating mining junours, reserves vs resource, markets, geology, just go through all of the archives and learn as much as you can!) great free sight.
     
  7. SilverSanchez

    SilverSanchez Active Member

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  8. Blippy Whorebucks

    Blippy Whorebucks Member

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    Hey Booty

    I do agree GFC 2 is a great time to be getting into the market but as the peepz above said DYOR. I reckin theres a lot more downside before we see the bottom. So maybe just watch it for a bit

    I would split your investment into 2 portfolios: (1) I would get some of that cash into Blue Chips while they are low - ones that pay dividends so that at least you are getting something back from your investment. These are the keepers IMO and you sit on these for awhile. (2) research some speccy stocks - the miners or energy companies who are about to produce are always a good punt. But you have to be willing to lose some or all of your money on those. (3) One thing that a lot of people don't think about is CGT - The tax dept will sting you 40% (ish) on profits if you sell and trade shares within a year. If you hold it for longer the CGT will be less. SO maybe think about holding for more than a year unless you wanna daytrade but if thats the case disregard everything i wrote above.

    Just my view - Im not a person that looks at charts everyday and stress about the sideway action of everyday trading. I prefer to sit back and just look at the portfolio from time to time, get informed with the news of each company you have invested in and act accordingly.
     
  9. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Playing the stock market is Gambling,accept that at the start and it becomes easier to accept losses and keep profits in proper perspective.
     
  10. Clawhammer

    Clawhammer Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    My advice is work out through a simple budget how much inflation is based on your own expenditure. If you believe the govt stats that inflation is 0.009% and only there because bananas have distorted the figure then all you have to do is find stocks that are returning 0.009% or better to maintain your wealth.

    If on the other hand you calculate your own figure to be higher say 8-10% (personally I get to know my local 'merchants' and ask them what their price rises are and calculate from there) then all you need to do is find a stock that returns better than 8-10%. Anything less than that and you're going backwards.

    P.S.
    If you can find a stock that is returning 8-10% dividend....would you please be so kind as to let me know? :D
     
  11. Contrarian

    Contrarian New Member

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    You're looking to get in while everyone else is getting out so you've already got the hardest part sorted. That's pretty impressive for someone who is new to the sharemarket.

    It does take guts to enter the sharemarket at times like this but now is the time to start dollar cost averaging in. Slowly but surely. Only invest what you can afford to lose. Or more correctly, only invest money that you can afford to leave in the market for as long as it takes to come good.

    I sold out of my geared funds in 2007 and can buy the same number of units back now with 1/5 of the money that I pulled out. Same number of units, less money at risk and more upside potential over the long term.

    While now is the time to start entering the market be sure not to go in over your head. You need to survive in the market long enough to enjoy the fruits of your foresight.

    Remember, little fish are sweet.

    C
     
  12. phillis

    phillis Member

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    this. this right here is info i wish i knew when i started investing 12 months ago. one of the best books i read was 'a random walk down wall street'. its not so much a technical analysis of the stock market, but it goes over a lot of reason as to WHY you would invest on the stock market. believe it or not, the australian version of 'the stock market for dummies' is really really good. its wherei started it, id definatley hit that before a random walk down wall st.

    also, what BootyBandit said in post 2. I cannot stress this enough. i had as much warning as one could possibly have about being emotionally attached to securities when entering the stock market. i knew it was pretty much inevitable and i knew that i would try and avoid it at all costs. sure enough, i came across a great little company called Demil Group (ASX:DCG). i brought low, cant remember the exact price, but it went up. and up and up. and up. and even now, though it hasnt COST me any money, im teetering on the sell threshold- i am so emotionally attched to this little baby but i just cant bring myself to sell it. i have since then found many more securities that have made me quite a lot (SIP, ILU) but again, i cant bring myself to selling them! DO NOT FALL INTO THIS TRAP AT ALL COSTS!!
     
  13. millededge

    millededge Active Member

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    take your time - this is number one lesson

    a great temptation is to think you will miss out

    you won't

    wait until the time is right

    the time is right when you have watched your prey, are familiar with those who buy and sell that stock, meanwhile keeping an eye on the fundamentals

    most stock buyers at the individual, unprofessional level, talk in a way that betrays their lack of understanding of a stock - they regurgitate, they spin, they strut like peacocks and chest each other

    they are quiet when the stock tanks badly

    the volume of trade tends to quieten

    that's your time, but often you have time to watch it bleed sideways
     
  14. Peter

    Peter Well-Known Member

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    If its going up,hang on to it.
    If its going down,sell it.

    Most people do it the other way around.

    They dont sell the losing shares because they would have to admit they made a wrong choice.(ego)
    They sell the good ones being afraid it might reverse and they would lose their profit.
     
  15. BootyBandit

    BootyBandit New Member

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    wow thanks for all the replies, Ive bought a couple books about trading so i will finish them before i start investing money,I will definitely up a trial account to practice with since stocks are still going down :D
     
  16. noddy

    noddy New Member

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    Anyone buying stocks in this enviroment needs a psychiatrist.
     
  17. Contrarian

    Contrarian New Member

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    Why?

    It's a good hedge for anyone buying gold at record highs!


    C
     
  18. phillis

    phillis Member

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    stockwatch.com.au is my favourite game. just dont blow all your $50,000 grand at once :D
     
  19. Stacks On

    Stacks On New Member

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    Keep very accurate records of all trades (date, quantity, price, etc) and dividends.
     
  20. systematic

    systematic Well-Known Member

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    buy low
    sell high
    repeat
     

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