Has anyone here tried to invest in stocks?
By joram328
@joram328 (503)
Philippines
May 31, 2010 5:03pm CST
I have read that investing in stocks is a good way of investing money for passive income. Is this true? I am planning to invest in stocks before the year ends, but I am still trying to accumulate a good amount to invest. But first, I want to know if it is a lucrative business. Please tell me more since I do not know much about it... Thanks!
2 people like this
15 responses
@max1950 (2306)
• United States
31 May 10
i wouldnt now until the world gets it together, its just not a good time to invest. find a good large bank in your area that has a long term ross ira and invest in that until the market gets it together, right now theres to many ups and downs in a short amt of time. countries are going broke as are states and governments, id sit back and wait out.
@gloryacam (5540)
• Philippines
1 Jun 10
I think that, on the contrary, the economy of most states being unstable and all, it is a good time to invest especially if the prices of stocks at the market are low, which is a usual phenomena. When the time comes that the economy becomes stable, the prices become high.
However, the danger is when the company you invest on closes up, and it has no contingency funds or plans, then the investors would not be paid their money.
So, it would still be okay to invest, but be cautious in investing.
@divitiae (193)
•
1 Jun 10
I think now is the time to invest but not to be cautious; with interest rates so low everyone who needs income is pushing up share prices so a lot of defensive shares are overvalued.
I think health care is still good because of worries over patents, tobbacco is realy great value; similar prices to when it was going to be banned but I would stay away from utilities and defence (pension liabilities) and favour non divident payeres where posible.
@evepin (721)
• Philippines
1 Jun 10
yes, people do get rich from investing in stocks. it depends on what sticks you get though. there are low-risk stocks but have low income too. there are high risks but high rewards too. i have invested before in those high risk high rewards stocks and i've gained considerable income that time (i was a certified stock broker when i was working as a financial analyst hehehe).
try to get blue chips for a more stable income. better yet, just join a mutual fund offered by financial institutions.
cheers and happy myLotting!
@gloryacam (5540)
• Philippines
1 Jun 10
Right, I heard, too, that investing in mutual fund is better than in stocks. Still, before anything, a little research and study would help. It's painful to see your hard-earned money go down the drain because of some bad judgment.
@visijay32 (447)
• Philippines
1 Jun 10
I would like also to invest in the stock market since this is one of my life goals; however, my knowledge about it is not that good. I invest in a mutual fund company though. I've discussed this to one of my friend and he said that you can indeed earn big time with stocks but you must not put all your eggs in it. I've also downloaded some reading materials about this matter and I would like to share to you "My Maid Invest in the Stock Market" by Bo Sanchez. You can download it in PDF format. Try also the books of Francisco Colayco and the "12 Steps to Build Wealth On Any Income". Happy myLotting and may our search for riches be fruitful.
@lealuvy2j (1986)
• Philippines
1 Jun 10
I am currently investing in the Philippine Stock Market since December last year. If you are really interested, I suggest you try the free seminars provided by CitisecOnline if you are currently residing in the Philippines. CitisecOnline is my current broker and I have bought stocks from a variety of industries like Megaworld, Manila Water, Metro Pacific Investments and many more. The trick is to pick a company that you know will profit in the long run and you do this by reading their financial statements. There is also a technical analysis needed if you want to invest in stocks. It is a good thing that my broker provides free seminars for this once you use their brokerage services. Check out this link so that they will give you a trial username and password. http://www.citiseconline.com
@lealuvy2j (1986)
• Philippines
2 Jun 10
I would have to disagree with you because a good stock investor researches the company she invests in so P/E ratio and the fundamentals are very important. You are right though that profits are not enough to be basis of buying or selling but disregarding technical analysis will hurt you if you are a solid long term investor. Based on my experience, I have already profited from the stock picks I chose based on my technical analysis so you saying that is a con I think is pretty baseless.
@divitiae (193)
•
1 Jun 10
tech analysis is worse than useless; companies aren't worth more just because they have a pretty chart.
Profit is only half the story, you also have to look at what price you are paying and any seminar which implies otherwise is a con; they want to get your dealing charges so they pretend anything which reported more than a few millions in profit can't fail.
@AjaySinghBaghel (5506)
• India
1 Jun 10
I have been investing from last 3 years and gained few thousands till now however booked loss as well. I still hold good number of securities, few of them are still red from last 2 years and showing negative profit. I invest in stock regularly but in limits, there is money allocated from my salary to be invested every month and I do not cross my limits as it may become dangerous.
I would suggest you to invest only after doing your own homework instead of taking suggestions from friends or market analysts. They do predict things which turns positive but not always.
@gloryacam (5540)
• Philippines
1 Jun 10
Yes, I think it is a good way of investing your money. I have not yet invested but soon I will. However, be cautious in which companies to invest. And, it is best to look for a broker who will facilitate your investments. But, first, do a lot of research on it because it can be tricky especially nowadays that the stock exchange is not stable.
There are a lot of investments to choose from. Long term, or short term. You could invest in a company so you could earn from dividends the company declares. This is more on the long term investment. Or, you could buy stocks now and wait for a time that the price is higher and sell the stocks. The difference would be profit for you.
I am targetting to invest some this year, too. Oh, by the way, if you want to play stocks, go to the site of the Philippine Stocke Exchange and there are a lot of materials there to be read. I think there is even a game there that could teach you how to play the stocks.
Here's to a profitable future for us!
@joram328 (503)
• Philippines
1 Jun 10
Thank you for the positive response and precautionary warnings. I will try to look up the PSE site and study the materials there when I will have some free time. I'd really want to invest in this before the year ends so that I can have my eggs in different baskets, just so I can also see the risks and possible advantages.
Cheers!
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
11 Jul 10
I have been investing in stocks for over 40 years. Yes, you can with a lot work, make money over time. It is not lucrative, merely better than a savings account, if you are good at picking stocks and timing when to buy or sell. I have a free web site dedicated to the study of stock market behavior at:
http://fp1.centurytel.net/polydimensional/
@ellago (127)
• Philippines
2 Jun 10
I've been investing in the stock market for 3 years now. I used to be a trader but now I learned my lesson after attending a coaching program. In there, I learned that if you know a little in the stock market, you should not be a trader but an investor. Right now, I am using the law of averaging. Whether it's a bear or bull market, I invest. I plan to park my money in the stock market until I retire. I have enrolled in the program of my stock broker of investing regularly.
@Naisan (215)
• Philippines
1 Jun 10
as an accountant i can probably say that the market is testy right now; but yes investing in stocks is a great big leap for your finances;
there are many kinds of stocks and i suggest you should take a seminar first--based from my expirience the safest investment that you could put your money on is givernment bonds. it is sure and fixd.
@goodfundadvisor (671)
• India
4 Jun 10
Further to what I said earlier, I maintain a blog which is listed in my profile. You can visit the same. My blog has been ranked as India's BEST investment advise blog.
@goodfundadvisor (671)
• India
4 Jun 10
I have been investing for more than 20 years now. I started investing in stocks as soon as I was legally allowed to.
You can make good money out of stock investing. Note the words, I said 'investing' not 'trading'.
Whenever you buy stock for 'investing', you will definitely make money, if not now, at least some time in future. But, when you buy stock for 'trading' on some rumour, you are more often than not, more likely to lose your money.
But, is investing in stocks a good way for passive income. I have some reservations here.
I would rather prefer Mutual Funds.
Mutual funds are not only managed by professionals who are experts in picking stocks but also very transparent, more than all this, mutual funds are cheaper than buying stocks and following up day in day out.
@dav20b (507)
• United States
1 Jun 10
I would not invest in stocks since with stocks the go up and down in value so one day you could be making lots then the next loosing.In my opinion they are too risky.I think you should try some thing more stable like bonds or buy one cheap home to rent out.
@elvieb02 (695)
• Philippines
1 Jun 10
hi, investing in stocks need you to learn about stocks. please check my blog on investing, just go to my profile.
you need several things to know, first is that you must learn the vocabulary used, second, you must know how to choose a broker, are you going to do it online or offline? most of the investors now do their transactions online. you must also gather information on the stocks that you are going to buy, that means studying the company profile, debts, profit, products and services, management, and market statistics. you need to build your portfolio. investing in stocks is just for investing, you will get profit after several years, that means buying stocks and forget about it.
another option is doing an intraday trading with stocks, but with these you need to have at least intermediate knowledge on stocks buying and selling. i think this is not your choice.
there are other options aside from stocks, you can go for mutual funds, or SIP, or forex, real estate, and other investment vehicles. you need to gather informations on each vehicles before deciding where to put your hard earned money. check my blog for more posts that will help you.
good luck!