<p>Gee, thanks for calling my parents mentally unfit. Calm down, now.</p>
<p>Well, I got out of most of my positions at the end of 2006, after I finished high school. I was actually lucky enough to begin investing late 2002, when the stock market hit it's low point. However, that was probably pure luck, so right now I am doing extensive research to actually develop an organized method to my investing approach. It is too long for me to explain on a board. However, the only position that I have held onto is lifecell. It was the first stock I ever bought, and I have been rewarded handsomely. Right now I am eyeing the luxury sector, more specifically movado. One of the reasons that I got out at the end of high school is because of a rookie mistake. After originally making a good profit, I childlishly thought i knew it all. As a result, I made a few rookie mistakes. After realizing that I probably lucked out on my original investments, I withdrew my money until i had further time to devote to reading financial statements. That is what I am working on right now.</p>
<p>HAHAHA jinobi..</p>
<p>there's no right or wrong way. there's different ways to make money and invest. i know people who have never touched a stock and they're doing far better than the regular stock players... why? stock is risky. there are securer, less lucrative investments out there. of course, you need a lot of money to do those investments (i.e. commercial real estate)</p>
<p>Short term stock investing is really a crapshoot (efficient markets hypothesis). Best way to go is long term with a diversified portfolio (index funds, bonds, reits, etf's,..etc)</p>
<p>yay indexes</p>
<p>although if you know what you're doing, by all means... different people are good at different things. but just because you secure a nice return a few years in a row doesn't mean you own the game...</p>
<p>i think people invest on their own because it's fun! who likes dumping their money in the s&p500 and waiting 30 years? boreee inggg</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well, I got out of most of my positions at the end of 2006, after I finished high school. I was actually lucky enough to begin investing late 2002, when the stock market hit it's low point. However, that was probably pure luck, so right now I am doing extensive research to actually develop an organized method to my investing approach. It is too long for me to explain on a board. However, the only position that I have held onto is lifecell. It was the first stock I ever bought, and I have been rewarded handsomely. Right now I am eyeing the luxury sector, more specifically movado. One of the reasons that I got out at the end of high school is because of a rookie mistake. After originally making a good profit, I childlishly thought i knew it all. As a result, I made a few rookie mistakes. After realizing that I probably lucked out on my original investments, I withdrew my money until i had further time to devote to reading financial statements. That is what I am working on right now.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You realize that nobody can "beat the market" in the long term right? Even people who spend their entire lives managing mutual funds often underperform the market in the short run and almost always in the long run. Hence you shouldn't be "eyeing" certain stocks suck as movado...instead you should be investing in a diverse portfolio of index funds, REIT's, emerging markets, small/growth caps, and bonds ensuring that you will always have steady growth of the long term. Getting out of your positions at the end of 2006 wasn't the best choice either. Put your money in and keep putting it in no matter how bad the situation looks...in the long run you ALWAYS make money. Unless of course you decide to "get out of your positions" and take losses. </p>
<p>On another note, JPM aquires Bear Stearns for $2/share. Last year BS was trading at $140 a share :rolleyes:</p>
<p>
[quote]
i think people invest on their own because it's fun! who likes dumping their money in the s&p500 and waiting 30 years?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Exactly. It's fun to pick your own stocks but doing it expecting to make money is almost as dumb as picking USC over Kstate in round 1 ;)</p>
<p>Good article of an example of a good, long term, sit and leave it portfolio with data to back it up: A</a> new 'lazy portfolio' from a Yale guru - MarketWatch</p>
<p>Yeah another reason why mutual funds suck is because of all the transaction costs since they are so actively managed.</p>
<p>"Are you serious? You're supposed to buy stock in a downturn because it's undervalued. This is like stock market 101...jesus."</p>
<p>I agree, but what do I know?</p>
<p>B.T.W. didn't read any of the posts after that one so this might be a bit out of place.</p>
<p>Might be kind of misplaced: but what do y'all think of treasury bonds...</p>
<p>Seems like it would be a good idea to buy some since feds are cutting interest rates, and probably would continue to do so in the future to boost economy.....therefore trading price of bonds would go up in the future...right? Just my speculative thinking...</p>
<p>Laxattack, you seem to be making a rookie mistake. When you say that nobody can beat the market, that statement is false. I made the same mistake as you years ago.When you read somewhere that very few mutual fund managers beat the market, that is referring to their multi-billion dollar public fund, NOT THEIR PERSONAL RECORD OF INVESTMENT. It becomes exponentially harder to beat the market as the size of the fund increases, which is why many of the great funds have closed their doors to new investments. Before giving advice please do your OWN research. Furthermore, berkshire hathaway has average 21.8% for the past 30 years. read their annual report to shareholders. I know many people that have beaten the market for many, many years. However, managing a multi-billion dollar fund is a totally different ball game, due to logistical factors that I do not want to get into. Anyways, good luck.</p>