OT: the Investment and Market thread

[LGR4GM]

No politics. Just saving and investing money and the market (stock). 

 

I have some in a guaranteed annuity and some in the stocks. It is very hard to understand where I should invest. There is a foreign markets options and I feel like I should look into that. Gotta call my people and set up an appointment. 

[North Buffalo]

No politics. Just saving and investing money and the market (stock). 

 

I have some in a guaranteed annuity and some in the stocks. It is very hard to understand where I should invest. There is a foreign markets options and I feel like I should look into that. Gotta call my people and set up an appointment.

 

I always hedge 10% in bonds and 10 in conservative annuities so that i cover equity down turns... don’t try and hit top of the market.. bk off early or hedge in counter cyclicals like oil and energy stocks. They tend to go up but some of that has changed due to alternative fuels so maybe large agri businesses like Cargill or ADM not sure. Stay out of mortar and bricks.

[LGR4GM]

Mortar and Bricks?

See this is where I feel Millennials are clueless, investing properly.

[darksabre]

Mortar and Bricks?

 

See this is where I feel Millennials are clueless, investing properly.

Gotta have some money to actually invest first.

[North Buffalo]

House and building material companies

If global dowturn short Catepillar type companies.

[MattPie]

House and building material companies

If global dowturn short Catepillar type companies.

 

Agreed. There's going to be a glut of houses on the market as boomers move out (either mortal coil or to condos/assisted).

[North Buffalo]

Assisted living companies may be a good investment anything for old people including healthcare cos as they consolidate and rape the boomers.

[bcsaberks]

Cryptocurrency!  

[North Buffalo]

Cryptocurrency!

 

Too late.

[Eleven]

Dammit Liger, we're never going to get the Wilson thread over nine pages this way.

[miles]

maybe try to invest in icebergs 

[bcsaberks]

Too late.

Yeah I hear ya.  Ethereum and LTC are still reasonable on a per coin basis.  

[nfreeman]

Don't eff around with individual stocks.  Put it in an S&P 500 index fund until you get close to needing it (e.g. if you are buying a house), then start moving it into cash as you approach D-day.

[Drunkard]

No politics. Just saving and investing money and the market (stock). 

 

I have some in a guaranteed annuity and some in the stocks. It is very hard to understand where I should invest. There is a foreign markets options and I feel like I should look into that. Gotta call my people and set up an appointment. 

 

You're young. You should have 100% of your investments in stocks and gradually move towards having some percentage in bonds in your late 30's, then increases as you approach your 40's and 50's. If you can find a low fee target fund (it will probably have some sort of date that's supposed to market your target retirement year like 2050) it will do this for you automatically.

 

The thing that most money managers usually don't admit is that none of them beat the market consistently, especially after you account for their high fees. Most managed funds don't beat the market (indexes) after you subtract out their fees. The best thing to do is spread your money across a handful of low fee indexes (S&P 500 or Wilshire 5000 for domestic) as well as an international index of two (probably one for the European market and one for the Asian market) in order to diversify and protect against a sharp downturn.

 

The most important thing is dollar cost averaging. It's difficult to time the market and there are tons of people who do it for a living that get it wrong, so it's better to invest at regular intervals (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) rather than trying to dump all your savings into the market at once.

[woods-racer]

Not sure how you plan on investing but I can tell you my game plan.

 

I have a high yield  savings account with Synchrony Bank that is set up to receive money transfers from my checking automatically. If there's a little more to put in at the end of a month, I do a manual transfer.

 

Save up till you have enough to buy into a Mutual Fund. They usually require $1000.00 to $1500.00 to buy in. The higher rated larger funds usually have a higher buy in around $2500.00 to $5,000.00. 

 

I use Fidelity, shop around there are many more like them you don't have to go with them. My Fidelity account  is set up to receive transfers from Synchrony. I set up a transfer, then once the funds clear Fidelity I purchase my Mutual Fund.

 

If you are saving for retirement and do not have a 401k option open a Roth account with Fidelity (or who ever). 

 

If you are doing this to try for more of a short term return and see no use putting it in a savings account or money market account and want low risk, look into a Mutual Fund that specializes in municipal bonds. Small local governments have been hard strapped and need cash, they're a good investment, but your return is never going to exceed 3-4 %. This is still much higher than any savings account.

 

If this is a long term goal your looking at, say 20-25 years from now for your return. Look at the big stock Funds, especially International funds. The international funds have been terrific for the last 8 years. The have been the major source of the bull market. You can still invest in American companies, but choose those that have heavily invested for the last several years outside of America.

 

Asset class diversification is crucial to success over the long term. Then in that asset class be sure to buy as many different funds as you can. 

 

If you want more specifics I would be glad to give them to you, just need a time frame that you want your money.

Edited December 6, 2017 by Woods-Racer

[North Buffalo]

Don't eff around with individual stocks.  Put it in an S&P 500 index fund until you get close to needing it (e.g. if you are buying a house), then start moving it into cash as you approach D-day.

agreed have an ira that i dump extra cash into... can borrow against if i need and its aggressively diversified.

[Taro T]

Don't eff around with individual stocks. Put it in an S&P 500 index fund until you get close to needing it (e.g. if you are buying a house), then start moving it into cash as you approach D-day.

Especially if you are UNsure about what you're doing, THIS.

 

Also, make certain you invest enough in your 401k to get all of your company's match. That is 100% free money for you.

 

And if you aren't maxing out your 401k, bump up your contribution every time you get a raise until you are there. When in my 30's, was certain SS would not be there for me. They've pushed off reform so long, it MIGHT still be there for the Gen X'ers. Which is good, because the oldest are now a month shy of 53; those that counted on it will be totally f###ed if it is gone. It will almost definitely NOT be there for you - sadly & wrongly, but realistically. Plan accordingly & if by some miracle it is still there for you, well then you are that much further ahead.

Edited December 6, 2017 by Taro T

[Iron Crotch]

Don't eff around with individual stocks.  Put it in an S&P 500 index fund until you get close to needing it (e.g. if you are buying a house), then start moving it into cash as you approach D-day.

 

This gets repeated ad nauseum (invest in the market) and it isn't correct for those who are seeking super-normal returns. Random walk and efficient market theories are just plain wrong. It is very possible to beat the market if you know what you're doing. This is borne out in the academic literature.

 

That said if you only have a small amount to invest and/or are counting on the yield for retirement, then of course play it safe (bonds, market index funds, etc.). But, if you have a higher risk tolerance and have some money to play around with, there are all sorts of strategies that can yield better-than-market returns.

 

Something that has been on my radar of late (and has influenced my investments over the past few months) is tax changes on overseas cash repatriation. The biggest cash horders are tech firms - Apple, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle. Do a bit of research on what might happen to these stocks if/when the GOP tax plan goes through. (I have my own strong opinion, but don't want to sway judgments on a message board)

[rakish]

Nah, I want you to sway judgments on a message board

[darksabre]

This gets repeated ad nauseum (invest in the market) and it isn't correct for those who are seeking super-normal returns. Random walk and efficient market theories are just plain wrong. It is very possible to beat the market if you know what you're doing. This is borne out in the academic literature.

 

That said if you only have a small amount to invest and/or are counting on the yield for retirement, then of course play it safe (bonds, market index funds, etc.). But, if you have a higher risk tolerance and have some money to play around with, there are all sorts of strategies that can yield better-than-market returns.

 

Something that has been on my radar of late (and has influenced my investments over the past few months) is tax changes on overseas cash repatriation. The biggest cash horders are tech firms - Apple, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle. Do a bit of research on what might happen to these stocks if/when the GOP tax plan goes through. (I have my own strong opinion, but don't want to sway judgments on a message board)

I am interested in your opinion. 

[Iron Crotch]

Nah, I want you to sway judgments on a message boa

 

Let me put it this way... Read this (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/business/taxes-offshore-repatriation.html?_r=0) and other articles that you can find (WSJ if you have access)... and think about how corporate executives are compensated. With a tax reduction from 35% to 5-10% on overseas cash repatriation, will firms respond as they did in 2004? or will they suddenly hire a bunch of American employees while waving American flags?

 

You can easily figure out which firms have the most cash stockpiled overseas (mostly tech firms) and then make a judgment about how such a tax change might affect their corporate strategy (harder to do if you're not in my line of work)...

[bob_sauve28]

Don't eff around with individual stocks.  Put it in an S&P 500 index fund until you get close to needing it (e.g. if you are buying a house), then start moving it into cash as you approach D-day.

BINGO 

 

Vanguard total stock market 

ishares total stock market or Russel 3000 

 

You can never tell what an individual stock will do. On top today, on the bottom tomorrow. Spreading your risk by diversifying is by far the best way to get the best from the market with the least risk. You can earn over 8% annually on average and even more. So that means you can basically double your money every 8 to ten years, and see fantastic returns if you keep adding more money in. Don't sell out when there is a crash, just keep adding more money. 

This gets repeated ad nauseum (invest in the market) and it isn't correct for those who are seeking super-normal returns. Random walk and efficient market theories are just plain wrong. It is very possible to beat the market if you know what you're doing. This is borne out in the academic literature.

 

That said if you only have a small amount to invest and/or are counting on the yield for retirement, then of course play it safe (bonds, market index funds, etc.). But, if you have a higher risk tolerance and have some money to play around with, there are all sorts of strategies that can yield better-than-market returns.

 

Something that has been on my radar of late (and has influenced my investments over the past few months) is tax changes on overseas cash repatriation. The biggest cash horders are tech firms - Apple, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle. Do a bit of research on what might happen to these stocks if/when the GOP tax plan goes through. (I have my own strong opinion, but don't want to sway judgments on a message board)

Ya, I'm a pus, I like the safe "Random Walk" strategy. I own a few of those stocks individually you mentioned and they are doing great, but my biggest holding in vanguard total stock market and its been great, especially lately. 

 

I have a question. I think that Jim Cramer is a fraud and just advises people to follow a strategy that benefits his sponsors like etrade and such. You agree? 

[rakish]

Thanks Potato

[Iron Crotch]

 

I have a question. I think that Jim Cramer is a fraud and just advises people to follow a strategy that benefits his sponsors like etrade and such. You agree? 

 

Good thought - there actually is a media mention effect, empirically shown, whereby stocks mentioned on Mad Money and Midday Call (and similar shows) receive an immediate boost after being mentioned.

 

Am not a fan of Cramer myself. But, his business is entertainment not necessarily being right.

[Frieda]

I just bet on the Sabres when I need cash!  :w00t: