Investing 102

[GregWeld]

You guys do the math on my EMC holdings?? Paid for the Bubbletop today.

EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA


Better lucky than smart has always been my motto!

[96z28ss]

well aint that a bitch!

[James OLC]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

You guys do the math on my EMC holdings?? Paid for the Bubbletop today.

EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA


Better lucky than smart has always been my motto!

yeah... and apple paid for the next one - not a bad tuesday. (I know - they're only up 10% overnight but with that cash on hand and that cash flow it wouldn't surprise me to see a div and a special div in the next 6 months). And you still have the upside that a div would give if and when they do announce it. I hate to buy at a peak but I might have to tomorrow. We had a nice bump today on a positive PR in an otherwise down market but it's a lot of hard work to get the message out.

[96z28ss]

not sure apple will ever pay a div. Ever since Steve took the company over they haven't made any donations to any charity. A company of that size and with that much wealth no Philanthropy.

[James OLC]

I guess I don't understand how a dividend relates to charity...

[96z28ss]

Originally Posted by James OLC

I guess I don't understand how a dividend relates to charity...

They aren't sharing the money. So what makes you think they are going to share profits with stock holder now? They have been cash wealthy for years.
I could be wrong but I wouldn't buy into it now in the hopes they are going to pay a div someday.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by 96z28ss

not sure apple will ever pay a div. Ever since Steve took the company over they haven't made any donations to any charity. A company of that size and with that much wealth no Philanthropy.

I agree with you Bob --- WTF they only have almost 100 BILLION dollars in cash... That money belongs to the shareholders... and even a billion given away wouldn't hurt anything.

However... I've been very very happy with the money they've made me AND their products. So I guess I shouldn't complain.

[pw2006]

Something to consider while you are researching investments, is to listen to the company's earnings call. These qtrly conference calls can give you an idea into how the management of a company thinks, may give you a read on what the company expects in the coming qtr (sometimes year), and then there is typically a Q&A session with major shareholders and analyst. They are usually about an hour long and worth it when considering an investment. Most companies have an investor section on their website where you can listen to a playback of the earnings call, review the company's press releases and also take a look at the SEC filings.

Since you guys brought up Apple, here is the link:
www.apple.com/investor

Click on the audio webcast to listen to today's conference call.

[GregWeld]

This got me to laughing -- and not at you -- but just when I thought about it with regards to myself.... I've been doing investing since the mid 70's - I've been retired for 21 years (which means I have a LOT of time) and I've NEVER listened to an earnings call yet.

Here's the reason for that.... And again - this is only as it relates to Investing 102. By the time you've heard the earnings call - the cat is already out of the bag - good or bad. When you are really INVESTED or you're about to INVEST - you have plenty of time to gather information and even better - you can get a quick synposis of what they did, and what they're saying going forward, on about 10 gazillion financial websites.

I was using "earnings season" more as a "okay NEWBS -- pay attention this week and next and see how this can affect the market in general"... rather than a drill down on every nuance of a particular companies performance. I was using this "heads up" more like a building block... To build on the other things - good chart and dividend and blah blah blah... So it's like - now lets add some terms you hear and what they mean to the market.

A bunch of negative earnings reports and the market can turn south (general trend) until we start to hear "better" news --- a bunch of the biggies reporting good news and the market can be upbeat. But for our purposes I don't think we need to be trying to find reasons to buy or sell because if you start doing that - you'll lose money. You'll never get it right. You might once or twice - but in general you won't. Leave that to the "traders".

I have two friends that are real life traders - live in NYC and work for a couple of the big houses. They trade zillions of shares minute by minute. That's their job - and they're looking for PENNIES per share. They watch the market minute by minute and only trade in 4 or 5 names. They're looking for the trend in the stock by the HOUR. They don't care how the market is moving they only care that the market IS moving and they place their bets accordingly. They'll trade 20,000 shares 10 times in an hour on one company if they can make a nickel per share. They eat Prilosec for lunch.

[Bucketlist2012]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

This got me to laughing -- and not at you -- but just when I thought about it with regards to myself.... I've been doing investing since the mid 70's - I've been retired for 21 years (which means I have a LOT of time) and I've NEVER listened to an earnings call yet.

Here's the reason for that.... And again - this is only as it relates to Investing 102. By the time you've heard the earnings call - the cat is already out of the bag - good or bad. When you are really INVESTED or you're about to INVEST - you have plenty of time to gather information and even better - you can get a quick synposis of what they did, and what they're saying going forward, on about 10 gazillion financial websites.

I was using "earnings season" more as a "okay NEWBS -- pay attention this week and next and see how this can affect the market in general"... rather than a drill down on every nuance of a particular companies performance. I was using this "heads up" more like a building block... To build on the other things - good chart and dividend and blah blah blah... So it's like - now lets add some terms you hear and what they mean to the market.

A bunch of negative earnings reports and the market can turn south (general trend) until we start to hear "better" news --- a bunch of the biggies reporting good news and the market can be upbeat. But for our purposes I don't think we need to be trying to find reasons to buy or sell because if you start doing that - you'll lose money. You'll never get it right. You might once or twice - but in general you won't. Leave that to the "traders".

I have two friends that are real life traders - live in NYC and work for a couple of the big houses. They trade zillions of shares minute by minute. That's their job - and they're looking for PENNIES per share. They watch the market minute by minute and only trade in 4 or 5 names. They're looking for the trend in the stock by the HOUR. They don't care how the market is moving they only care that the market IS moving and they place their bets accordingly. They'll trade 20,000 shares 10 times in an hour on one company if they can make a nickel per share. They eat Prilosec for lunch.

Great Points.. That is why I come to this thread to Learn.

So, I only started to pay attention to my money in early 2001, mainly because I did not have any...Why ?? Well I answered that question , and Started Saving what I earned.

As usual, Greg is on the money because I tried the Timing thing as far as getting in, and getting out, and that did not work out so well.

They are so far ahead of you, it is HFT, how do you beat that ?

Greg, your motto is you would rather be Lucky than smart ? Dude, you are first, Smart, and second, Luck is the meeting of preparation, and opportunity...Your Luck is your Smarts...

I am learning to be smart.. Lucky ??? Oh man, in 2006 I saw the writing on the wall, and in 2008, i could not believe that this opportunity that I was told, if it happens, Buy, Buy, Buy..

So we sold an expensive Home at the Top, Invested near the bottom, and bought a less expensive McMansion ( REO), at the bottom..

I was quoting I think Rothchild? back then saying "when there is blood in the streets, it is time to buy".. But I was and am a Rookie..

My Wife thought I was out of my mind....I said strap in..And we have never looked back.

To my Wife's Credit, she was all in...Love my girl...She got her home remodeled for that...

But Investing102 is the nuts and bolts... A lot of info is available out there.

I told my Wife that I am getting access to info, that in the past, only bankers and Big Investors had access to..

What project did Apple fund for you Today ???