New to Investing: Seeking Advice

[Wake]

I'm 25, and I've started investing using Scottrade. There are so many articles an opinions out there that tell you to do this, not that, etc. It's kind of intimidating, so one of the only few ways of knowing what to do is tapping into the experience of others (who aren't stock brokers or advisors wanting your $$$).

I bought these stocks:

x4 DBLEP (Double Eagle Petroleum Co.)

x10 ADK.PRA (AdCare Health Systems)

It cost $7 per pop for each order, which is going to take a few years for each to pay back just that commission. It's probably better to buy up a bunch of the same stock at once so you don't get beaten down by commission costs.

...so, guys, do you think I screwed up? For the first time I experienced the distinct worry/anxiety of investors/traders, and it was over the line on the graph bouncing up and down over the course of one day, lol.

My investment strategy is to bust my hump saving up money to thrown into perpetual/cumulative preferred stocks, while diversifying as much as possible. Currently my tentacles eek are tapped into oil/petroleum and the medical/nursing facility. Are emerging markets a good option, maybe? I want to save up to buy 50-100 shares in fracking, or whatever Eric Bolling and others think is favorable (I dunno).

Hopefully this investing will be worth the living in sufferable conditions.

Please help this newbie out!

 

[sjay]

It's a mistake to buy individual stocks unless you can start with a minimum of 12 stocks,100 shares each.The number one rule in investing is diversification.Go to vanguard and buy shares of their s&p 500 etf VOO(automatic diversification)it's also free of commision costs.The other 3 rules of investing are dollar cost averaging,rebalancing and asset allocation.Asset allocation won't come into play until you can buy the other principal etf's which would be VGK,VPL,VXF and VWO to complete your portfolio.

 

[freedombecki]

Oh, to see the future! *sigh*

 

[Sunshine]

I'm 25, and I've started investing using Scottrade. There are so many articles an opinions out there that tell you to do this, not that, etc. It's kind of intimidating, so one of the only few ways of knowing what to do is tapping into the experience of others (who aren't stock brokers or advisors wanting your $$$).

I bought these stocks:

x4 DBLEP (Double Eagle Petroleum Co.)

x10 ADK.PRA (AdCare Health Systems)

It cost $7 per pop for each order, which is going to take a few years for each to pay back just that commission. It's probably better to buy up a bunch of the same stock at once so you don't get beaten down by commission costs.

...so, guys, do you think I screwed up? For the first time I experienced the distinct worry/anxiety of investors/traders, and it was over the line on the graph bouncing up and down over the course of one day, lol.

My investment strategy is to bust my hump saving up money to thrown into perpetual/cumulative preferred stocks, while diversifying as much as possible. Currently my tentacles eek are tapped into oil/petroleum and the medical/nursing facility. Are emerging markets a good option, maybe? I want to save up to buy 50-100 shares in fracking, or whatever Eric Bolling and others think is favorable (I dunno).

Hopefully this investing will be worth the living in sufferable conditions.

Please help this newbie out!

Oil is pretty high risk. I don't know about health care facilities, either. Obamacare makes that a craps shoot.

The population is aging and soon will be top heavy with elderly. Your good bets are going to e products for the elderly. Pharmaceutical companies that make the dementia meds should be a decent investment too. And don't forget Viagra.

Look around and see what people are buying. What are they spending their money on? Dr. Joyce Brothers made a fortune in the stock market in the 50s & 60s investing in products that advertised on children's TV shows. She didn't think finance at all. She thought human nature. Population demographics should lead anyone who is investing. No one is getting any younger.

 

[william the wie]

It's a mistake to buy individual stocks unless you can start with a minimum of 12 stocks,100 shares each.The number one rule in investing is diversification.Go to vanguard and buy shares of their s&p 500 etf VOO(automatic diversification)it's also free of commision costs.The other 3 rules of investing are dollar cost averaging,rebalancing and asset allocation.Asset allocation won't come into play until you can buy the other principal etf's which would be VGK,VPL,VXF and VWO to complete your portfolio.

The Lazy man portfolio thread covers similar ground. But why not use covered puts to make sure that you are working within your budget?

 

[expat_panama]

...start with a minimum of 12 stocks,100 shares each.The number one rule in investing is diversification...

My number 1 is making money.

12 stocks is nice but they've got to be bot one at a time anyway, so I find I've doing ok when I'm say, at 4 or 5 and up. That 100 share rule doesnt seem to make any sense. My Master Card stock sells for ten times the price of my Starbucks stock, so I buy an even amount of each in dollar value.

 

[Mr Natural]

You're 25 and can afford to take some risk.

I'd look into exchange traded funds (ETF). They're like mutual funds that trade like stocks but don't carry the management fees that mutual funds do.

Start with ETFs in equal amounts for each of the three major indices: The Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ and diversify slowly from there.

Good luck.

 

[Moonglow]

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

 

[Moonglow]

Invest in some long term and short term investments.

 

[OnePercenter]

Oh, to see the future! *sigh*

You don't need to see the future, look at the stock the rich guys are investing.

 

[tyroneweaver]

I inherited these stocks from my parents, wasnt stupid but kept my inheritance
they are:
qep, str, ida, ibdry

and on a tip bought this at 30 cents bpth

 

[Chuckt]

I'm 25, and I've started investing using Scottrade. There are so many articles an opinions out there that tell you to do this, not that, etc. It's kind of intimidating, so one of the only few ways of knowing what to do is tapping into the experience of others (who aren't stock brokers or advisors wanting your $$$).

I bought these stocks:

x4 DBLEP (Double Eagle Petroleum Co.)

x10 ADK.PRA (AdCare Health Systems)

It cost $7 per pop for each order, which is going to take a few years for each to pay back just that commission. It's probably better to buy up a bunch of the same stock at once so you don't get beaten down by commission costs.

...so, guys, do you think I screwed up? For the first time I experienced the distinct worry/anxiety of investors/traders, and it was over the line on the graph bouncing up and down over the course of one day, lol.

My investment strategy is to bust my hump saving up money to thrown into perpetual/cumulative preferred stocks, while diversifying as much as possible. Currently my tentacles eek are tapped into oil/petroleum and the medical/nursing facility. Are emerging markets a good option, maybe? I want to save up to buy 50-100 shares in fracking, or whatever Eric Bolling and others think is favorable (I dunno).

Hopefully this investing will be worth the living in sufferable conditions.

Please help this newbie out!

Why don't you try:

https://www.zecco.com/

The other companies are going to get you with fees.

 

[ryaan]

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Stocks can be volatile.

This is a key point. Volatility is when an investment rises and falls by a broad percentage in a short period of time. Stocks are generally more volatile than, say, bonds. They also tend to appreciate more over long periods.

Finally, you should be wary of concentration risk. Most companies do not fail. But when they do their investors lose everything. Owning a large number of individual stocks is one way to reduce the risk of loss from bankruptcy or a corporate collapse.

Hope it helped.

 

[Wake]

Apologies for the late response—I'm grateful for your help.

I've been taking a safer approach by only dealing in perpetual/cumulative preferred stocks, and keeping the collection diversified. The more stocks are spread out, the less devastating it is when one or two of them fail.

Being a newb, I'm sticking to safer preferreds for income investing, but having gotten my feet wet in the stock experience I might want to dabble in some value investing, too. There's one, Dehair Medical, that has my attention a bit. Been watching it for a month now.

 

[william the wie]

Apologies for the late response—I'm grateful for your help.

I've been taking a safer approach by only dealing in perpetual/cumulative preferred stocks, and keeping the collection diversified. The more stocks are spread out, the less devastating it is when one or two of them fail.

Being a newb, I'm sticking to safer preferreds for income investing, but having gotten my feet wet in the stock experience I might want to dabble in some value investing, too. There's one, Dehair Medical, that has my attention a bit. Been watching it for a month now.

If you can afford to dabble then just subscribe to Value Line's cheaper services for small investors, It's beaten the market for literal decades.

 

[ashleyjames389]

Try a diverse portfolio with stocks from different sectors like

Verizon (VZ) Telecom
Google (GOOG)- Tech
Estee Lauder (EL)- consumer staples
3M- MMM- industrial conglomerate

If you have different sector stock then you will negate a lot of the risk because you wont be vulnerable to one sector specific risk

 

[william the wie]

Try a diverse portfolio with stocks from different sectors like

Verizon (VZ) Telecom
Google (GOOG)- Tech
Estee Lauder (EL)- consumer staples
3M- MMM- industrial conglomerate

If you have different sector stock then you will negate a lot of the risk because you wont be vulnerable to one sector specific risk

Lacks commodity, real estate and bond exposure.

 

[ashleyjames389]

Try a diverse portfolio with stocks from different sectors like

Verizon (VZ) Telecom
Google (GOOG)- Tech
Estee Lauder (EL)- consumer staples
3M- MMM- industrial conglomerate

If you have different sector stock then you will negate a lot of the risk because you wont be vulnerable to one sector specific risk

Lacks commodity, real estate and bond exposure.

True the more diverse the portfolio, the less risk, i only quoted stocks which i think will give a good return next year

 

[Wake]

I've heard that one good strategy when it comes to income investing is to search out preferred stocks from established companies that have a yield of around 5-6%. Not only that, but you need to find out whether the dividends have been steadily paid over the course of, say, 5+ years. One of the things to watch out for with Preferred stocks and income investing in general is (I think) lowered interest rates over time. Say you spend $1000 in February and you're looking to get around $60 (6%lol?) during that year in dividends. The risk is that you buy that stock, and then let's say the yield goes down to 3%, which is 3% less than what you were expecting to accrue.

I did something stupid, and bought about 35 shares in Green Hunter Resources, a preferred monthly stock, and it was around 12%-13% yield. I figured that'd be good, until, DUH, higher yield generally means more volatility, risk, and potential loss of principal. A better way is too seek out stabler investments, even if it means netting 6% per years instead of 13%.

 

[william the wie]

Just go with value line's cheap subscription or google direct stock purchases. You are proposing strategies that only make sense if you're investing in the 8-9 figures range.