Yes!! So like most things -- the key is to get in BEFORE it takes off and get the heck out before it drops faster than you can say SELL...


Ever watch the movie "Trading places"?



I'd made up my mind last night that I was going to take a nice gain -- regardless if I missed another 10 points higher -- I was happy with what I had and that's it. So I was up an hour and a half before the market ever opened and sold on the open. If you're UP 45 points -- do you really care if it's down to only 41 points... You shouldn't ----- that's where people get crossed up! It's called GREED. We're not trying to be greedy -- we're just trying to make money. Big difference. It's an attitude - and ya gotta have your head in the right place.

Greg, that is so funny you say that about Trading Places, i got my family to watch it last nite for the first time. I worked at the theatre's when it came out and its always been one of my favorites.....

But, can you put it to me in laymans terms what went on at the end, I get the "fixes" the Dukes where trying to do (get a peak at the orange crop, which i;m sure was altered by Valentine and Winthorp)

So Dukes instructed their buyer to "gobble" it all up in the a.m., buy low, hold for a minute or longer(much)...sell high...

But "HOW" did V and Winthorp make out? I saw at the end they were either buying or selling rather calmly and slowly...if they "shorted" the stock, how'd they do it....i'm missing something

I just never got twitter. I just never felt they had a good way for advertising revenue. I think the stock will go down like Facebook did and once they show they can make money off of advertising it will go up.
I got some Facebook at $33 and at $26. Hopefully it keeps going up.

So with "FUTURES" --- you're buying the ABILITY to purchase "X" at "X" price... some time in the "future".... The Dukes had paid to see a sneak peek at the report... Winthrop and Valentine got the "peek" that should have been delivered to the Dukes --- and altered it and mislead the Duke boys. So they thought there was going to be a SHORTAGE of Oranges.... and were buying "ahead" of the actual news (illegal to say the least)... THEY ran the price to the moon trying to "corner" the market.... Winthrop and Valentine were SELLING at the PEAK of the market.... and then bought when the market crashed and went low ----- Very much like a short.... they sold delivery of the commodity at high prices (but they really didn't own the commodity) -- and in order to deliver at those high prices (the buyer at the high price MUST take the goods or resell or whatever) Valentine and Winthrop BOUGHT the futures at low prices -- therefore making the "spread" between the low and the high.

The Dukes BOUGHT all the way up ---- then they were unable to sell since the market was closed and therefore had to come up with the cash for their purchases.



So ---- In the STOCK MARKET --- if you SELL a naked short (meaning you borrowed the stock from the brokerage house and sold it) you get the cash in your account ------ say you shorted 100 shares of Apple for $550 a share. The brokerage would deposit $55,000 cash into your account --- but they'd also show a MINUS 100 shares of AAPLE in your account.... and at some point you must buy that 100 shares to clear up your short. Obviously you'd be trying to SELL HIGH and BUY LOW.... so you're hoping (betting/gambling) that APPLE was going to go LOWER than where you sold it short. And if successful - you'd pocket the difference.


COMMODITIES are like this ---- so let's say you're a huge user of PORK BELLIES.... you use 100,000 pounds per month... you might have a professional 'trader' buy pork belly futures for you so you could control - or try to control - your cost -- out 6 months or a year. Airlines buy FUEL this way etc. They "TRY" to hedge their costs by betting which way prices are going to go. Sometimes this is great - sometimes it's just like any other bet - it goes against you and you loose.

The key to much of this is that you don't ever actually have to take the commodity you're betting on. Much like they don't mail you a stock certificate... so you could "bet" fuel prices were going higher by this summer --- and buy fuel futures now at X price for June "delivery" --- but maybe they go even higher as June approaches -- and you resell your "contract" to someone else that actually wants that fuel --- or maybe it goes to another speculator....

Commodities are best left to the pros.... as this is a very specific "knowledge" base.

SHORTING is nothing but gambling --- and I never do it -- even though I THINK about "I should" do this because I "just know" (a gut feeling) that X company is going to suck. Well --- about the time you THINK you know this -- and short the hell out of X company -- some other company comes in and makes a huge order that bails them out - and the stock goes sky high ---- or some other company folds up and your company gets all the business ---- or some competitor offers to buy the whole thing for X (which is $10 a share higher than where you shorted it!!). It takes a huge amount of research to be a successful short seller. It's too much work -- and why bet that someone is going to suck --- I'd rather bet that "X" is going to do well -- and for me -- it's an easier "guess" than who is going sour.

There is also "shorting against the box" -- which is selling a stock short against stock you already own... at least that way if the bet goes against you - you know what you're cost is because you already bought the shares you shorted - so you can replace the shorted shares with the ones you have. I've done this a couple of times -- then I thought --- why bother --- I've added stress to my life and for what? If I think the company is going to suck - and I own the shares and need cash -- why don't I just sell now and move on. DONE.

So let's say you shorted TWITTER yesterday -- you sold 100 shares SHORT.. pick up 66,000 in your account --- and you replaced them today when you bought them at the end of the trading day for $56 -- you'd have made 10 a share for your effort. But what if you got greedy and didn't "cover" -- or you got busy and forgot to "cover" -- and monday they start back up and keep going up 3 and 4 bucks a day? When do you cover now? DO you wait for that magic misstep or do you just watch the shares shoot to 100... In other words "how much pain are you willing to accept"? UGH! Not for me -- no sir.

BETTER LUCKY THAN SMART is my favorite saying!!!

Thanx for the explanation Greg, i knew most of it and i'm still a little foggy on the "spread". But, yeah, i can see where a "specialist" has to do this in futures, just way too many variables for us in the "not know"....which is also why i dont really invest in tech, too much too know and the game changes to fast for me (and i grew up "programming" computers, could'nt grasp the logic)...

I need the "KISS" philosophy....and thats all there is to it.

Saw Peter Lynch on Bloomberg two weeks back, man i like that guy and the way he thinks....

My first investments were based on the Peter Lynch "theory" --- I still use his version to this day and it's never let me down.

I have posted here before that "money" chases "return" -- and it's my belief (and history bares this out) that there is no unused pile of money just sitting around waiting to be put to work. Rather --- for one asset class to rise --- another must fall ---- because that is where the money is coming from to make the other rise.

Found this paragraph in another article discussing the recent rise in the 10 year treasury bill.



The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.48% this week from 4.47% last week and 3.35% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.

Investors have sold Treasury bonds en masse this year to seek higher returns in stocks and riskier fixed-income assets. Through November, U.S. bond funds targeting Treasury debt suffered a net outflow of $40.2 billion in 2013, according to data provider Morningstar Inc.

In contrast, funds that invest in low-rated "junk bonds" issued by U.S. companies have attracted $2.6 billion from investors. (because they pay a higher rate of return!) <I added this>

Treasury bonds are on track to suffer their biggest annual loss since 2009, according to Barclays PLC.

So.... here's the funny part about the statement above.


The author states that people have SOLD bonds en masse.... so that they could invest in riskier assets. REALLY!!!


What happens when people SELL EN MASSE?? Doesn't make any difference if they're selling BONDS or STOCKS or HOUSES.... PRICES FALL...... When there's more sellers than buyers.

So now try to convince me why the author (and anyone else you talk to that supposedly knows all about money) thinks that BONDS are less risky to own.

That my friends is complete nonsense! If you own something and it is SUBJECT to going down -- that is taking a risk isn't it? So my whole deal against bonds is that they pay LESS THAN market rates (for the type we're discussing here - government issued super "safe" Treasury and Muni bonds) ----- and they go down and continue to go down in a rising rate market. That isn't safe -- and the only way to get your money back IN FULL --- is to hold the bond until maturity. That could be 10 or 30 years!! So for the entire time you've held that super safe bond --- and collected the below market rate of return... for what -- ZERO potential of capital growth (so inflation is kicking your butt as well!). The only way you can make money owning bonds is if the rate on your bond is ABOVE market rates. Given the timeframe of the maturity of the bond -- you MUST KNOW that interest rates are going to go up and or down during that period.... so aren't you just gambling that by buying a bond that pays X rate for X years -- that at some point the market rate is going to be LESS that what your bond pays and you will have a capital gain? UGH --- safe? I don't think so. You have two forces working against you -- time -- which is inflation... and the interest rate market.

SPREAD = difference of what you paid and what you sell for. It could be minus or positive.

So you bought for $1 and sold for $2 -- the spread was $1. Normally this would be called gain... but when you're buying futures -- etc - the term changes to "the spread" because it is moving and variable and it isn't a "gain" (or loss) until the contract closes for you.

.........and that somewhat summarizes why when looking to reduce the cash portion of my portfolio (I've been holding too much cash for too long - my security blanket I guess) I re-positioned 33% of my "Soldiers" to KMP's battlefield on Thursday where they will certainly see more action than the barracks they were cowering in.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1917...nergy-partners

Thanx Greg, makes easy perfect sense!!!

Not pitching this or any other stock name... Everyone needs to do their own work and decide what THEY are comfortable owning! Please -- don't think for one moment that what I - or anyone else does - is what you should do!


Sieg,

That's why I own 10,000 shares of it! The dividend is "solid" (nothing is guaranteed of course)... and I have down side protection - because as the price decreases the percentage the dividend pay INCREASES - so becomes more attractive to new buyers/investors (given the return % based on their cost).

I currently have a "loss" in this name (my average cost per share is $84.27) - actually a pretty good sized one on a percentage basis (almost 5%) --- but that doesn't bother me one bit! A small percentage move up in price will have me even - and in the meantime I'm getting a very nice cash flow from it (I'll save you all doing the math and research -- I pick up $4,500 PER MONTH in dividend off this holding).

Key words!

When you see this type of information and it looks compelling, then it's time to do your own research and analyze your positions to see if it enhances the objectives of your portfolio.

In my case it strengthened the portfolio's earning potential compared to the cash sitting idle. The stock was at a reasonable price point vs the last 2 year period and opinions indicated it should be relatively stable in 2014.

Since we have just discussed "FUTURES" ------ and this is also an automotive website... I found an article about GAS/E85/Futures all wrapped into one piece!


Now this is what I was talking about when I said trading futures is best left to the professional... because you need to REALLY be on top of your game and following every little nuance -- lest you get your arse handed to you by some completely out of left field "event". Just a RUMOR will send futures up or down...





++++++++++++++++++++++




Ethanol requirements for U.S. gasoline appear to be losing friends and influencing the wrong people, with calls growing to reform or scrap the government mandates altogether.
The Environmental Protection Agency in November proposed reducing the amount of renewable fuels, including corn-based ethanol, that oil refiners must blend with gasoline. The rule is a centerpiece of government efforts to curb carbon emissions, while jump-starting alternative forms of energy.

The draft rule would impact the 2014 requirement for renewables to fall between 15 billion and 15.52 billion gallons from 18.15 billion gallons. But the proposal to reduce ethanol requirements for 2014 has done little to quell the groundswell of complaints about the practical effects of using corn-based fuel in America's gasoline supply.

Earlier this month, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein joined forces with Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn to introduce a Senate bill to strip ethanol completely from the Renewable Fuel Standard, also known as RFS. Although Feinstein continues to champion renewable fuel, she has expressed concerns that excess corn-based fuel production—mainly due to the RFS requirements—is "really not wise," and that the standards may hurt the Golden State's livestock producers.

The bipartisan nature of that bill, combined with the EPA's proposal, sent corn futures reeling on the Chicago Board of Trade in early December.

I'm not sure who was selling "GOLD" as an "inflation hedge".... but I sure do remember EVERYONE on the TV saying that "you should have it in your portfolio as an inflation hedge". REALLY???


So it's gone from 1800 down to under 1200..... That sounds like DEFLATION to me. OUCH.

See -- the problem with that kind of investing is that the only way it goes UP -- is if someone is willing to pay more than you did. That's a grand idea that usually winds up not working out real well. We were all supposed to have a chunk of gold in our safe somewhere in case the world went to hell.... Hey! Good luck with that kind of thinking. When the world goes to hell... (it won't)... you'll have far larger problems to deal with. I just don't want to live my life worrying about something that isn't going to happen. Oh yeah - It makes good talk. But it isn't going to happen.

Personally -- I'd rather have $1800 of something that's going to be $2000 over time even if no one else wants to pay me 1801. The dividend will still buy me stuff.

I think all the "gold bugs" moved on to BitCoin. We'll see how that turns out. I'd rather put a down payment on a house or a duplex -- which might not seem as interesting - but I'm guessing in the long run will serve my purpose better.

I had to cut and paste this from an article this morning -- this was the opening paragraph.


Really? RISKIER ASSETS? I love that kind of line. So GOLD wasn't risky at all -- the fact that it's DOWN over 30% in one year. Sounds pretty risky to me!!



Gold held steady in thin year-end trade on Tuesday, on course for its biggest annual decline in 32 years as prospects for global economic recovery prompted investors to switch to riskier assets.


AMAZING......

In order to figure out if you did "okay" (and not saying or implying that you didn't!) you'd have to factor in the holding period - and the inflation over the holding period.

Luckily we went into a deflationary period for awhile -- when gold was going up and everything else was going down (houses etc).

Here's the deal --- and this IS INVESTING 102 --- so it's why I pull this stuff out and try to get people to open up their view of all things money....

Investments need to be looked at as competing for what COULD have been if the investment choice was "X" or "Y".... during the same period. Investing shouldn't be STAGNANT... money needs to be working and pulling the wagon ALL of the time. And only some minor analysis needs to be done to make sure a guy is seeing that thru. Buy and hold and forget is not a strategy that will win. Winning is critical. More critical than anything else you'll ever do... Money DOES buy happiness -- the guy that said it couldn't or wouldn't never had any. :lol:


So just for fun --- I looked at the 10 year chart of GLD (a gold ETF) from 2004 to present.

GLD is UP 160% for that period.


Apple (AAPL) is UP 2916% for the same period


Kinder Morgan Partners (KMP) was only UP 77% for that period


So I think you did okay with your GOLD --- but only if you'd have sold it well up near it's top. The problem is on the way down. But even if you'd have held til now -- you did pretty well.

What you'll read about on here is that MOST people buy as something becomes the "hot" investment... unlike you -- were you bought for whatever reason at the time and held on. Your buy was near the "bottom" before gold took on the speculative aura. That's what I'm trying to get people to understand on here. Like flipping houses -- like the dot com era -- gold became "the hot ticket"... and that usually ends poorly because most don't get in until the gig is just about up.

I see what you are saying, my rule of thumb is if the people at work are talking about it (bitcoins) its too late to catch that train

EXACTLY!!!



Lucky you (anyone) that can get on the train when it leaves the station... but that's really hard to do when you don't know where that train is going! Easy to see in hindsight.. and the problem with the ghost train is you don't know where it's going and you don't know when it's going to stop. It might be a fun ride with great scenery along the way - but who the hell knows that. Thus my "gambling" statements.

When it's RETIREMENT money - or money you're saving for college - or a house etc - gambling might get you there real quick! But it might also wipe you out... and we don't want to be the wipeouts.

If it's money that's completely EXTRA - you're already set - or already well on your way to retiring --- THEN BY ALL MEANS play a little. It's made me a fortune a couple of times -- so I'm not against gambling at all. I just don't want people to confuse that with actual investing - and they are very very different.

But mostly why I pick on certain items -- is because I want people to be able to tell the difference because that might save them from a big loss. Money is too hard to come by, to loose it foolishly.

You're new here -- and there's about half a zillion pages in this thread -- but the recurring theme is INVESTING wisely - cash flow - building that nest egg you can count on - so we can all go build cars and race together or play golf or whatever else it is people see themselves doing down the road. So it's about time - compounding - averaging in over time - and real savings that are paying you and ADDING to your savings without you ever having to worry about that. So I'm mostly a fan of dividend investing. Not trendy investing. Not gambling. But whatever you choose to invest in == it should have some cash flow paying you to hold it. Rental property - dividend stocks - whatever... Not BitCoins. :warning: :lol:

Year to date performance

SP 500 +31.86%
Sieg :sieg: +33.60%

:woot: :woot:

Woohoo! Awesome!

Good to hear Mike! And thanks for the kudos... The whole thread - as you have read - is pretty basic stuff. We could get far deeper into it but I don't think that serves anyone very well. As you've no doubt heard me say repeatedly -- it's not all that complicated. But sadly, schools do a HORRIBLE job at preparing people for "beyond work"... actually - they do a pretty sad job at preparing for LIFE period -- but we digress.... LOL


The funniest part about the whole investing thing is -- the principals remain the same regardless of the amount invested! Oh yeah -- for certain - big money has more stuff available to them - particularly when you hit that 10 million dollar threshold... but it still all boils down to the same principal... make a return on your money, minimize the risks if possible, pay long term capital gains preferably if at all possible...
Pretty simple really.







Okay -- YOU need to start to take over -- 'cause I just barely beat the dogs of the dow (kidding).




Nice job by the way -- and to the rest of you.... don't think for one minute it's always this easy! It's been a real easy market to be in. It's more that you have to be in it to win it... and trying to "time" the market usually means you're sidelined during the big plays. So while it's more fun to be out when it sucks and only in when it's rolling high... it's just almost impossible to gauge. Ya just have to remember the good times and think longer term.

Both Con Ed (ED) and Duke Energy (DUK) have crushed Southern (SO) by a large margin the last 5 years.... not sure why -- but given a similar dividend -- the TOTAL RETURN is very important -- so yeah -- you need the capital growth component to be there as well.

What I like is I did this with stocks rated "C" or higher by Schwab.

The C rated stocks are AT&T, Coca Cola, Excelis, Nike, and Sprint. All but a few pay 3+ % dividends.

Thank you GW :thumbsup:

WTF!!! You made 33% on your money AND YOU DIDN'T GAMBLE?? Well that's just not right!!!


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So I've already sat down and decided how I'll divvy up my Roth installment for 2014. I just have to wait for the calender to say 2014 and the money to hit the account. Here's what I'll be doing.

I'm still in growth mode so I looked at my returns, especially dividend payments, to decide what to do. I put more weight in the dividend payment than the total return. I like the dividend payments, lol.

KMP is barely positive right now for me but they pay a great dividend and buying more will bring down my average share cost/price.

SO I'm actually losing a little money on but the share price is low enough that I can buy enough to get a good dividend payment. I'm putting a little more in but not as much as other stocks. The company is still considered solid and a good position to hold. This works with my long term desires just like KMP.

WFM has been fantastic for me but I'm only putting a small amount into it. The dividend is small and the gains have been mainly capital. That's great but I prefer the dividend payments. It's more real to me that way. If that makes any sense. I'm simply not focusing a lot on this one but certainly not forgetting about it. Maybe next year I'll put a bigger chunk in but not this year.

MCEP. This one is weird for me. If anyone remembers way back in the spring when I bought this one I said it was a gamble. It's still a gamble. Its share price has actually gone down slightly since I bought it. The dividend payment has gone up not only since I bought it but also since the company became public only a short while ago. The combination of a good dividend payment and a low share price means I can buy a good number of shares for not a whole lot of money. Its dividend is on tract to be close to a 10% return. I can't reinvest the dividend, unless that's changed recently, which sucks but it's no big deal. It's not a lot of money I'm playing with, and I figure I'll use the dividend payments at the beginning of the next year to buy more stocks. That's still free money to me. I should also note I'm huge on percentages. I don't care if 10% returns only equals 50 cents. I feel like I've won the damn lottery. :lol:

The rest of the money is going into my other companies which are simply solid investments, nothing risky or special. Examples are KO, MCD, JNJ, and CLX.

I'm not putting anything into OXY or COST. COST is too expensive right now for what little I would have been able to put into it. It's a long term solid choice. I'm trying to be more aggressive with my rather safe choices. That's my idea of risk. OXY simply hasn't performed well enough for me to put more into it at this point. I'm just going to hold it though as I've got a good bit of dividend payments reinvested that are doing ok compared to my initial investment. I'll look at this one again next year or through the year really.

2013 has been good for me. Hopefully, 2014 will be as well. This is the path I'm taking so we will find out. Hope the rest of you do well also.

Here's the whole deal in a nutshell Trey....


You have a plan --- and you're doing something. Nobody is EVER going to be able to invest and have every single company or investment work out 100% of the time. But you're thinking about what you're doing -- you're doing some work by looking at things and thinking about them in a RATIONAL LOGICAL way... and that my friend is a home run in the making.

BTW -- You're always correct looking at money in a PERCENTAGE basis... not just dollars. Percentages are what counts 10% is better than 2% --- even though one might be 10 cents and the other is 2 dollars.... 10% beats 2% every time.

You saw how much I gamble on the SEMA Trip. :D

Tighter than a frogs ass --- and that's water tight!

Thoughts on the buy?
 

Looking four your thoughts on something I have a decent strategy mixing 401k post tax cash in mutual funds indexes "lazy portfolios"
Then individual stocks all the ones we talk about here kmp jnj apple all Drips...

Now here is the problem I have a big chunk of cash sitting in the bankng doing almost no work for me.

I am gun shy on investing it because just about everything I own is up... Since you need to buy low I am stuck between a rock and a hard place

What to do?

First of all............HAPPY NEW YEAR guys!! (and gals?)

OK Mr. Inspiration. Now it's 2014, I have a recent windfall sitting in the bank that fell in my lap, completely unexpected. Time to INVEST!!!

WHERE do I go? ETrade? Scott Trade? etc, How do I take the first step? I don't recall too much talk of taking the first step in this MASSIVE thread.

I don't have "a guy" to go to either, not sure I'd even trust a recommendation.

HELP!!

I don't understand the thinking behind "it's all UP" so that must be a bad thing. Isn't that actually what is the most desirable??? We invest so our capital will appreciate. We WANT it to go up!

Some of you guys are still stuck in 50 cent land. Trying to buy "low"... and yet afraid if the stock you're looking at goes up from where you last looked at it. I don't know what your personal time horizon looks like until you retire -- but the longer you sit with money that's on vacation instead of hard at work.. you're on the wrong side of that 50 cents you're trying to save on the "buy".

When markets get a "BIG" pullback... the usual TV talking head is talking about a "bear market" pull back of 10%.... okay... 10% on a $60 stock is $6... Yet what we're looking for over 5 plus years is a Total Return of 50 to 100%.... in other words we're look at an investment that will double our money -- from $60 going to 100 or more. Makes the $6 "down 10%" look pretty small by comparison doesn't it?

This is why the nice safe confirmed way to invest is to "AVERAGE IN".... you put money in as you have an amount saved up that makes sense to invest... rather than saving up a big chunk and then trying to figure out what to do with it -- in the meantime losing out on the dividend (which clearly beat bank rates) and any growth. You're letting your fear of not buying "right" keep you from making any kind of return.

Let's take the TWITTER (TWTR) I just TRADED as a current example. I had decided to I wanted to buy 1000 shares of it. It's purely a growth stock - or maybe what they call a "momentum stock"... where it's just going up because of the pile on affect... whatever - I thought it was poised to go up.... so I bought 500 shares. The next week it had jumped up $4 a share! PERFECT!! That is EXACTLY what I wanted to see!! I quickly bought another 500 shares UP $4 a share. DUDE! I'm not afraid of that! That is what I want to see in a stock! That tells me more people want to own it than sell it. I then proceeded to buy ANOTHER 1000 shares (breaking my own set amount) when it jumped up another $10 a share. WTF!! It's acting way better than what I had hoped for.

Now -- the other side of that coin is --- IMHO it went too far too fast -- and I sold it for a nice $40,000 profit on my $100,000 purchase price. That's a pigs get fat hogs get slaughtered scenario... but that's a whole different post. My point is I was NOT afraid because the market was up... in fact - I'd bought even more!

Will the market be lower at some point if you bought today.... maybe. But we're not really worried about that because we're buying good stuff -- that pays a decent rate of return -- and we should have TIME on our side (this shouldn't be money you'll need next week or next year).

Waiting to "get in" is only a feel good temporary rush. But if you'd waited to get in the market last year -- you lost out on about a 30% gain. Again - making that 10% down move look pretty small in comparison.

If it makes you feel better -- then average in. Pick a date -- and get that money to work. Vacation is OVER.

The brokerage of choice really doesn't matter --- they all have low commission structures now. So as long as it's a discount broker -- the ones you named or Schwab... To me it's more a mater of convenience. The one you drive by on your way to work -- or to the store -- or is easiest to get to and has quick easy parking. Because you'll be making deposits once in awhile. But anymore - you can do that all with their "app" on your phone... deposit checks etc by just taking a picture of the front and back and hitting a couple buttons. I can't tell you the last time I actually went to my bank or broker.

So -- Happy New Year to you it sounds like!


Depending on what your investable amount looks like -- and that's a personal thing for you to know - not us.... will get you an appointment with an "advisor" that will help you get all set up in your account --- Discount brokerages DO NOT sell you anything - nor will they pick stocks for you or trade for you. That's a full service rip off house... er... I meant to say... that's for people that are afraid to think or take personal responsibility for their futures. LOL

The advisor is there to help you navigate their website - or do transfers etc. Remember - these are very low cost organizations -- so they don't have people sitting around trying to make a $500 commission off your buy or sell.

Then - once again - this depends on the amount your talking about --- I'd check with the advisor about what you qualify for as far as IRA's go. A ROTH IRA has certain limits on income level... and normal IRA's have rules too... and you NEED TO UNDERSTAND THEM before you open that type of an account. They're both RETIREMENT ONLY accounts... maybe you want that and maybe you don't. I personally have a whopping 25K in my retirement account... since I've never (for the last 25 years or so) needed one.

Once you understand the type of account --- or accounts ---- you want to open - then you need to decide what percentage of the dough you want to keep "liquid" for an emergency fund -- what you want to tie up until retirement - or maybe you just want a normal account where you can pull money from if you need it. PM me or preferably email me - if you have some personal questions and I'll be happy to answer them. What I WILL NOT do is to tell you to do this or do that -- and I won't tell you what to buy or when to sell. I'll help you to understand fishing --- I won't catch you a fish or hold your pole. (that didn't come out right did it!)


Then I'd tell you to go to page ONE of this thread -- and just digest it a little bit every day. In the end -- it will answer a lot of your questions and you'll get a lot of good information out of it that will serve you well over your lifetime. Not saying that because the thread is about half me posting --- but the questions you have are no different than most everyone else. They've been answered about 10 times each along the way.

The WORST thing you could do is to NOT get started --- so get started. It's fun as hell - rewarding - and it's like horsepower -- you'll always want more.

Investors who stayed with stocks from October 2007, before the market crash, to September 2013, would have had a cumulative return, including dividends, of 21%. Haverland estimates that the return on cash over the same period was 3.6%.




In other words --- even if you'd have rode the market to the BOTTOM in '08 and '09 ---- you'd have come out the other side in great shape!

Depends on the "amount" of cash, I have frittered away any chance at making money WITH my money for that same amount of time at .001% in a useless savings account (because I was a chickensh*t). Well, enough is enough, changes are coming to our household finances for 2014......and I'm not getting any younger either!!! :bang:

More info I average in bi monthly with purchases 24 times a year in my vanguard mutual fund accounts... The big chunk is a result of some stock based compensation via my employer I cached out roughly 50 percent of the vested and have more vesting over the next year so I cashed out to reduce risk of having that money in one stock. So now I have a lump of cash to invest if I find good candidates

Hey --- If you'd have just followed the Great Siegymeister in 2013 --- you'd be 33% richer!


OMG.... so simple.

I love stock options! It's free money!


Did I ever write about my 20 million dollar Grand Banks?? LOL ---- oh long story... or the 30 million dollar house I bought for 177 grand?


Goes back to my wife being a Director level at Microsoft beginning in 1984... and me being the safe one -- I wanted to pay cash for stuff... and the stock options were free money. Better to have a paid for house and boat than to have that stuff and watch the stock go in the tank... so I sold along the way. Well -- that made me miss out on the 10,000% gains those shares had. Mind you -- we had a couple million shares... so I didn't exactly go broke with that strategy either. LOL


Remember something about OPTIONS -- they're PURE INCOME -- and when you sell -- that amount is added to your income -- and you owe taxes on that - as well as the higher tax rate on all the other income in your household. So be certain to "account" for that hit. Best course of action there is to have them withhold max bracket rate --- and get a nice check back --- rather than owe huge and have to sell another batch to pay the taxes with - which adds to your income the following year and down that path you go. Trust me on this one.

yes, yes, yes.... well let me tell you Greg, if you smack a rock hard enough, over and over, eventually it will crack!! (that's a metaphor, for my skull) :twak: :headscratch: :knokwood: :lolhit: