believe it or not, I think (if I remember right) SpaceX and NASA (Marshall) have 3D printed rocket engine chambers.

they are very precise cross sections that normally take alot of welding/machining and many months to fabricate one, so 3D printing would be great here

Long term there will be huge winners here but its to early in the game to know who will come out on top. A year ago anything with the word 3D in it was just skyrocketing but they have all been on a steady decline since. I made a little money and sold when things started to fall back. Many have been really beat up over the last 6 months. I have re-purchased a little SSYS and I am currently a little down but I think long term it will pay out. DDD has really been killed but if it goes much lower I may buy a little again. Its a good company but HP announcing they are getting in the 3D game and them trying to incorporate all their companies they have bought is causing the stock to be really beat up. I have one more I own and am in the green on but it is a pure gamble so I won't even mention the name.

Ok sorry if it's been posted in here before but I'm a slow reader and have only made it to page 4 lol! But I'm 23, working 50+ hours in heavy equipment and not making $15.75 and I'm just not happy with my financial situation, I'm trying to start my own business and a family and just don't feel comfortable with money and the long weeks are taking their toll on me now so I gotta do something.

I don't make a lot so the thought of shelling money out without really knowing exactly whats gonna be returned or when scares me, but whats a good starting amount of money to put towards stocks for somebody in my position?

Thanks
Kody

It is a really difficult question to answer not knowing anything else about your financial situation. If you have any high interest rate credit card debt, I would pay that off before investing anything in the stock market. Also, not knowing if you have any savings set aside, I would advise you to have enough of an emergency fund for 9 to 12 months of living expenses. Home ownership is a goal many people have and if that is a desire of yours you may choose to make that a priority as well. Once those items are taken care of you can start to think about investing in the stock market and assuming you do not have a 401k at work, a Roth IRA may be your best option.

I learned to pay myself first when setting aside money for investing. I set up my budget to be able to save a minimum of 10% of my earnings for investment purposes. So if you make $787.50 a week (50 hours x 15.75), set aside $78.75 per week, once you save $1,000 or so, buy a stock that you like. Repeat the process until you have 10 to 20 stocks, then start adding more funds to your existing holdings. As you make more money, you will invest more by keeping the budget set to invest 10% of your earnings.

I have most all of my credit cards paid off and my auto loan I've managed to work down to 3.49% and I've also got a 401k going and have for a few years now.

What all do I need to start getting into stocks?


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Kody --- I'm on the road in my rig so will keep this short. Start reading this thread before you do anything. Sounds to me like you're very sensible. Reading this thread will help you understand "investing" at it's most basic form - THEN you'll know exactly how to get started.

Disregard, my phone sent the same post twice and I didn't realize it.

So I did a little number crunching this morning.

I tip toed back into the market for the first time since 2008 starting on Feb 07, 2014. I made a few more purchases of the same stocks in early March, and then again in early April. I sold one stock in August then bought the dip in the middle of October pretty hard across the board. Still only holding 11 equities total and still only about 25% of my total portfolio is invested in the market.

So far YTD, my total return is just over 15% on the invested portion. My biggest gainer on an individual purchase is up 40%, overall my purchases in that stock are up 27%. My smallest gainer is up 3.34%. I've also earned about 2.5% of my total current invested amount in actual dividend payments.

Mentally...I feel pretty good. While there is a little part of me that is hindsight wishing that I would have dove in head first back in February...the smart angel on the other shoulder is reminding me just how happy I've been all year long and how the dips have NOT bothered me at all. In fact, I look for them anxiously now as more opportunities to pick up my stocks on sale. One thing that I enjoy is how stable my group of stocks are...even on the wildest of days of the DOW going up and\or down...these stocks just rock on with little blips, not huge dips.

I want to thank the board for all the help along the way, I can honestly say I would have NEVER ventured back into the market had it not been for this thread. I have a whole new perspective on this now and am enjoying the ride so much more than I ever have in my investing history that goes back to 1997.

Here's to more of those dividends rolling in and the total return rising right along with them. :cheers:

Awesome news Lance!

That is awesome to hear and is not terribly far off from my stock journey.

Starting around June 2013 I came across this thread which has been nothing short of a huge wealth of information. It has really dumbed down the process and made me feel very comfortable investing.

I started off very small, just purchasing 5 shares. I waited several more months and added more to my original.

To date I have investments in 3 sectors. I invest a short amount each week into my brokerage account, then once I feel comfortable I will purchase more. My situation does not allow me to invest more frequently but this has given me the tools necessary to succeed.

To date I am up 1.14%. I have taken a big hit when stocks went down this October. But I have take advantage and purchased more stocks.

Rambling over, thanks again Greg and everyone else.