Investing

[darkfiire5000]

I have seriously put some thought into investing some of my money so that I can eventually get my shop built and work on the charger . Anyone have any experience or recommendations on this type of subject. Any help or info greatly appreciated  .

[charger_fan_4ever]

Economy is so unsecure these days hard to guess which sector to invest in. I would stick to penny stocks. After some business class' in university a few of us each put a $1000  into stocks thinking we were going to be laughing our way to the bank. THe dropped so much in such a small time i never even sold them. Was Intel corp. That same $1000 is worth around $250 today. That was ~10 years ago.

Lets just say now i will buy a vehicle and flip it instead. Buy one for $5k flip it for 6500 in a month or so is pretty good on the side fun.

[Troy]

I wouldn't suggest blindly investing in anything - or following random other people's suggestions. If you have no idea what to invest in then pay a professional. Otherwise you just gambling and might as well go to the casino.

Things are crazy right now so it's best to stay away from anything that carries a lot of risk (like most foreign/EU stocks). Bond rates are very low so you basically put your money in there for a long time and get it back (after factoring in inflation) without interest. Gold and Silver have been run up like crazy and tend to be way more volatile than they have been in a long time. Not a great way to jump into an investment!

It typically doesn't hurt to invest in a strong US company that consistently pays dividends (make sure you reinvest these). You won't become a millionaire overnight but should do well over the long term. Be sure to keep adding to the pile as well. I use direct deposit so I never have the money in my grubby little hands to spend. Even without interest this "hidden" stash grows to a respectable amount before you know it.

Honestly, picking up a second job or flipping stuff (as mentioned) will net you a bigger return if you only have a small amount initially. A job is more of a "sure thing" because not every sale makes a profit. An extra $100 here and there (if you actually save it) will turn into an amount you can use soon enough.

Troy

[Indygenerallee]

Flipping cars is my claim to fame  , I find em broke fix em' and make at least 2g's profit on each one. The earlybird gets the worm (on Craigslist anyway)

[Vainglory, Esq.]

Investments aren't a good return unless 1) you're saving (and dollar-cost averaging) over your lifetime for retirement; or 2) you're an investment professional. There is a very, very good reason why people in the investments industry call the uninitiated the "dumb money."

For probably about 95% of the population, the main focus of "investment," such as it is, should be maximizing take-home pay and securing the amounts in very safe investments. A second job is a far better idea than speculation in the markets, where you will get chewed up and spit out. Take everything you earn from the second job and put it immediately into a savings account. When you can afford a shop, buy it. No sooner.

[RallyeMike]

I agree. Screw regular investments these days. Buy cars low, spruce em up a little and sell them high. It's a great way to make side money.... way better than a CD, real estate, or the stocks.

Flipping cars is my claim to fame lol, I find em broke fix em' and make at least 2g's profit on each one. The earlybird gets the worm (on Craigslist anyway)

Admitting to flipping ranks you right up there with Satan and Hitler according to some folks on this site. This is America, the land of the free and home of capitalism, but shame on you if you buy a car just to sell it.

Good for you 

[sunfire69]

if your talking about penny stocks    THEY ARE NOT INVESTMENTS  ...they are "plays"..."flips"...."trades" and you better know how to read a stock chart and level 2s.....our you will be broke in a week...!!!!!....and the sumer months are notorisly bad for trading...as the saying goes "sell in May and walk away"...and timing is everything $1000 "investment" in Ford (sorry just a great example) when it crashed to just under a buck in Nov 2009 would be worth $10,650 today....3 years later....GM was another good one to play......but you have to know what your doing.....the learning curve is steep...and can be very expensive....

There are better...safer way to make extra money...be very careful...

[Mike DC]

            
Read the book "Fooled by Randomness" before thinking of getting into the markets.  

It's written by a statistician.  He's talking about how so much of what passes for wisdom in economics is actually pure chance.  

Humans have a strong tendency to look for patterns because of our brain programming.  In economics we tend to see patterns when they aren't really there.  

[1970Moparmann]

Flipping cars is my claim to fame  , I find em broke fix em' and make at least 2g's profit on each one. The earlybird gets the worm (on Craigslist anyway)

This helped me out a lot.  I did this with E-Bodies about 7 years ago when the market was hot.  This helped fund my projects.

Funny thing is, the wife didn't even know about them.   Rented a garage and just flipped.  Very little work also.

[Chryco Psycho]

invest in other currencies than the US $ the way things are going the US $ could devalue hard after the election .
Gold is an option as well , doing what you know always works , fixing cars bought undervalued & reselling is a greta way to get a decent return .

[derailed]

I would be very hesitant to invest in any long term stocks right now. I personally think the market is going to go down like the Hindenburg one of these days. Short term flips and short selling are a good way to make a quick profit but it takes a lot of capital and knowledge of technical charts along with nerves of steel to do so, not to mention the higher tax rate. There are some some good virtual trading platforms out there that you can practice on like options express that require no money to open an account and have some pretty good educational tools. I would play around with one for a year, better to learn with play money than your hard earned. Like the others said, for your needs right now I would recommend a side gig you are comfortable with.

[charger_fan_4ever]

I personally think the market is going to go down like the Hindenburg one of these days.

Agreed 

[Indygenerallee]

Sounds like we have some smart guys on here!  I looked into the stock market a few times and it looked far too risky from my standpoint, This country is in the shitter and the toilet is clogged the politicians have the plunger and they are trying their damndest to get the bastard unplugged so they can finish it off.

[Vainglory, Esq.]

           
Read the book "Fooled by Randomness" before thinking of getting into the markets.  

It's written by a statistician.  He's talking about how so much of what passes for wisdom in economics is actually pure chance.  

Humans have a strong tendency to look for patterns because of our brain programming.  In economics we tend to see patterns when they aren't really there.  

Another vote for Fooled by Randomness. It's a very important book, and Nassim Taleb is a very important public intellectual. He's saying things that people on some level know, but then ignore when faced with the issues themselves.

[nh_mopar_fan]

Free investment advice is worth every penny. 

If you're serious, ask friends.  If they're happy, that's a good place to start.

Generally, you want a financial advisor who gets paid a % based on how much money he's managing for you rather than a fee based guy. The more he makes for you, the more he makes for himself.

3 years ago when everyone was running out of the market, we were buying bonds that were paying 12% at 40% off what they were a couple months earlier.

Good luck.

[Arthu®]

I am very reluctant to give any concrete advise here (I would also be very reluctant towards any advise given). If you really want to start investing --- and do it yourself --- I would start reading into investing, because it is not something to just jump into (especially during these times). During one of my classes a professor once gave a few basic principles that he thought everybody should follow when they start to invest in stocks (these are the ones I remember, so they are probably what I thought was most important ).

- Diversify (don't put all your eggs in basket)
- Only invest in what you understand (exotic money making schemes have attractive prospects but they rarely make people rich)
- Invest consistently (start putting some money in early and just invest a certain amount every month)
- Do not invest in fast growing stock (if you are in it for the long-run do not go for the fashion of today, it is a poor indicator for the future)
- Pay attention (what's good today might be bad tomorrow)
- And probably the most important one: be realistic.

Now I all honesty, I think it takes some real balls to start investing (in anything) at the moment if you are a layman. I personally would opt for spreading your risk (don't know what kind of amounts we are talking here) over various banks (too minimizes losses in cases of bankruptcy) and just go on with your daily business.

Arthur

[myk]

Making money off of investments isn't like going to Vegas or a casino and striking it rich in two seconds; money earned from investments takes a lot of planning, research, and most of all time spent just "waiting" for any sort of return to happen.  The worst part is that in some cases you may not even get any returns.  If you're looking to get your project going I'd be thinking about other ways to get money coming in...

[Mike DC]

 
I agree with everything Arthur said, but with one asterisk - IMHO diversifying got a bit overrated in the last couple decades because the market was bulling for so long.  Some diversification is still good, but too much has gotten more dangerous than it used to be.  

When the majority of all stocks were going up, then just picking 100 stocks totally at random would probably have made you some amount of money.  That plan won't work when the market is going down.  In the latter case you still have to be invested into stuff that is doing better than average to avoid losing money.  

[69rtse4spd]

Well I will put my  , in, for what it is worth. Invest in what people need, the basics.
1. Food
2. Transportation, various forms.
3. Utility's, people have to keep warm.
I am by no means an expert, but these would be for the long haul.

[Vainglory, Esq.]

Generally, you want a financial advisor who gets paid a % based on how much money he's managing for you rather than a fee based guy. The more he makes for you, the more he makes for himself.

Both asset-based and fee-based are the same type of "financial advisor." "Financial advisor" is a generic term that could include either "broker-dealers," which are commission-based securities salesmen regulated by FINRA, or "investment advisers," which are paid for their advice, not based on a commission, and regulated by the SEC, although some people cover both bases. The asset-based/fee-based guys are investment advisers.

In my opinion, investment advisers are probably better in theory, but the good ones tend not to want much to do with people who have less than, say, $250k or $500k to invest. Brokers are fine if you know what you're doing, but if you already know what you're doing, there's not much purpose in getting a full-service broker when an online-only discount broker will do.

[Arthu®]

I agree with everything Arthur said, but with one asterisk - IMHO diversifying got a bit overrated in the last couple decades because the market was bulling for so long.  Some diversification is still good, but too much has gotten more dangerous than it used to be.  

When the majority of all stocks were going up, then just picking 100 stocks totally at random would probably have made you some amount of money.  That plan won't work when the market is going down.  In the latter case you still have to be invested into stuff that is doing better than average to avoid losing money.  

I beg to differ. Diversification is, IMHO, more important during a 'bear' market than during a 'bull' market. Simply, because there is a much higher chance that your stock makes a profit in a 'bull' market than during a 'bear' market.  Diversifying across industries and even continents mitigates the exposure to shocks in economies. Picking a bottom for a individual stock or even industry is difficult --- or most likely impossible --- therefore it seems logical to diversify across these securities and groups to minimize the effect of a bear market. Diversifying increases the workload of holding your portfolio dramatically. I believe the consensus is that you can speak of a diversified portfolio when you hold 20 to 30 individual stocks (of course this is kind of a crude measure). An option to increase your diversification, without increasing the number of securities dramatically, is to use a mutual fund.

Diversification was never intended to be used to be able to randomly pick investments. It is just a tool to smooth your earnings and therefore be able to withstand shocks better.

Arthur

[Mike DC]

  
I'm not saying people should abandon the practice of diversification.  Not even close.  I'm simply voicing an opinion that extreme diversification is probably not quite as safe as it was a few years ago.  I still don't think it is anywhere near a BAD risk.  But IMHO the gains are probably not as big as they used to be from it.  

The more directions the money is spread out, the more closely the earnings will track the overall market.  That idea works a little bit better in a bull market than a bear one.  In the last few decades a perception grew that "extremely diversified portfolio = long term gains" as if the formula was literally that straightforward.  IMHO that is not necessarily the case today if we are talking about real values adjusted for inflation.  


I guess this subject goes to question of what you are really in the market for - holding your money, or taking some risks to attempt to grow it?  Everyone has their own risk threshold.  Diversification will greatly decrease the possibility of big losses.  That is a very good thing if you are a typical investor who just wants to put a pile of cash somewhere and stay ahead of inflation, rather than do a lot of gambling with it.  

[Patronus]

As has been said, both about the risk, and timing. I believe she will tank again. When that happens I'd buy into building and infastructure. Concrete, maybe Catipillar. It's really reading who's taking the biggest loss and can rebound...or get bailed out.