Investing 102

[CRCRFT78]

Yeah the mutual funds were the real downer of the bunch. Harley sat idle so of course as soon as I sold it the little f***er on Wall St. yells, "RAISE THE PRICE". The one mutual fund I've held onto seems to be performing pretty good but I'm wondering, can I sell the initial investment of $10,000 to use elsewhere and keep the profits invested in the fund. Something I'll have to look into. Maybe keep the $10,000 in the fund and take the profit and reinvest that. Decisions decisions.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by CRCRFT78

Yeah the mutual funds were the real downer of the bunch. Harley sat idle so of course as soon as I sold it the little f***er on Wall St. yells, "RAISE THE PRICE". The one mutual fund I've held onto seems to be performing pretty good but I'm wondering, can I sell the initial investment of $10,000 to use elsewhere and keep the profits invested in the fund. Something I'll have to look into. Maybe keep the $10,000 in the fund and take the profit and reinvest that. Decisions decisions.

Isn't it amazing that when you buy, the stock goes down, and when you sell it goes up -- the whole time you owned it for the last few months it does "nothing".

Reminds me of our sports teams here in Seattle - we get somebody - they suck - we trade them finally - and they become super stars... Deion Branch comes to mind...

I would put Harley squarely in the "consumer discretionary" camp.... but I would also put them in the "fad" camp... If the consumer is feeling good - Harley will do better -- but at what point do we run out of people that grew up wanting a Harley? So when I look around at investing options -- and remember that we always have options for where we invest -- Harley would scare me because I'd always be wondering if it was "this quarter" when they report a big drop in sales etc. I prefer to invest in stuff that people NEED... and if they're discretionary - then I want them to be able to export (GROW) to China... (Apple - Coke - McDonalds etc).

[bdahlg68]

Originally Posted by WSSix

Well nothing is going to happen today for me. I can't figure out how to move things around from the website. Oh well, I'll call this week sometime and speak with a human. Why do they have to make it so difficult? Is this some sort fo ploy to make sure they make as much money off you as possible without you being able to control everything easily, lol?

Oh and I don't have a Star Fund I have their VTIVX fund. Still not great though. It gets good ratings from Morning Star et al though.

Call up Fidelity to get Brokerage Link setup and set that up as the Investment Election for your Fidelity 401k. Within the Brokerage Link account, you should be able to buy and sell all the common stocks being discussed in this thread. Also make sure you elect to reinvest those divi's!

[WSSix]

Thanks Brian. My goal for the week is to make the calls to both vanguard and fidelity so I can find out how to do it all.

[bdahlg68]

Originally Posted by WSSix

Thanks Brian. My goal for the week is to make the calls to both vanguard and fidelity so I can find out how to do it all.

For Fidelity, they are likely going to send you a form to fill out in order to get Brokerage Link setup. I set mine up about 10 years ago, so I forget the exact details. Fidelity commissions aren't the cheapest, but as long as you are following most of the ideas here at 102, commissions are not important.

For those looking to open an account, I also like Zecco. Low commissions ($4.95 or something) and good basic features. If for some reason someone is looking to open a Zecco account with $10k or more, let me know and I'll send you a referral and we both get $100... quick 1% if you ask me!

[CRCRFT78]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...ng_Investing_2

Just thought I'd share this.

[GregWeld]

Good article Jose....

It's saying pretty much what I've been preaching here -- with one exception -- that we're talking about NEWBS and pretty low dollar amounts here -- or at least that's my perception.... so to follow the advice of bonds and stocks and all the other mixes discussed here is pretty hard to follow even if you had 100K. In a portfolio like I have -- I have all those mixes - munis - stocks - corporates - growth - risk - safety - international etc... but for the normal account - it's just not possible. And you also need to consider "TIME" i.e., your AGE now... younger can take more risk... old farts like me play it a bit safer.

What I did like to see here is that he was also preaching some "risk"/"growth" along with the safety and that's the other thing I've been trying to hammer down on.... all growth isn't' a good thing and it's that greed that comes home to roost in a downturn. In an up market people start thinking they're investing icons! but if you temper your account with some balance - then you don't get killed.

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

that we're talking about NEWBS and pretty low dollar amounts here -- or at least that's my perception....

Speaking for myself only, you're not going very far out on a limb with that statement.......maybe 6" from the trunk on a 12" limb.

[GregWeld]

Well -- I didn't mean that people don't have anything or that they have zero etc --- it's all relative really -- a 20 year old with 10 grand is a hero in my book -- cause that guy can really hit a home run before retirement... but it's not enough to get all the diversity that was talked about in that article -- thus my comments. Sometimes you read this stuff and you look in the mirror and start to think you're doing something wrong because you don't have it all going on! WRONG... but it is educational and well worth the read.

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Well -- I didn't mean that people don't have anything or that they have zero etc --- it's all relative really -- a 20 year old with 10 grand is a hero in my book -- cause that guy can really hit a home run before retirement... but it's not enough to get all the diversity that was talked about in that article -- thus my comments. Sometimes you read this stuff and you look in the mirror and start to think you're doing something wrong because you don't have it all going on! WRONG... but it is educational and well worth the read.

Please don't think I meant it in a negative way at all. You've shown, at the risk of personal exposure, those following this thread the real potential of strategic personal investing. Personally don't know many people as generous, especially in this day and age. Hopefully there are a good number of 20 and30 year olds reading and taking this thread to heart as the impact it may have on their quality of life is a wonderful thing.