<p>I am playing a stock market game. I am pretty new at this and I was wondering if you guys knew of any good companies I should look at?</p>
<p>Commerce Bancorp (CBH)</p>
<p>LOL.</p>
<p>make a list of sectors (telecom, biotech, healthcare...etc) and pick the hot stocks in each sector. read news and analyze how each piece of news would affect the performance of each sector and each stock. (also take account of locations, marketcap and a lot of other variables).</p>
<p>Some basic sectors are oil, natural gas, financial, mining, apparel....etc.</p>
<p>Instead of looking for ideas, go ahead and start looking at the process. Test various theories that are abound and use those results to make your trades. There are plenty of literature floating around although never use any techniques without testing it. </p>
<p>Here is a nice little introductory link: <a href="http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/finance/bgraham/%5B/url%5D">http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/finance/bgraham/</a></p>
<p>Should be easy enough to follow. Remember value typically beats growth (although this can be debated).</p>
<p>I'm guessing you can't invest in mutual funds, so you may want to look into Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). They're a mix between mutual funds and stocks. If you think the overall market will be up in between now and when your stock market game ends, you should think about investing in ETFs that track the broader market such as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index Depository Receipts, ticker symbol: SPY. The first link explains how ETFs work and the second link lists some of the more popular ETFs. </p>
<p><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/etf/education/01%5B/url%5D">http://finance.yahoo.com/etf/education/01</a></p>
<p><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/etf/education/04%5B/url%5D">http://finance.yahoo.com/etf/education/04</a></p>
<p>Aren't ETFs just a renamed version of closed-end mutual funds?</p>
<p>They are exchange traded funds. They essentially trade like stocks but are actually comprised of a basket of securities.</p>
<p>Yeah so like closed-end mutual funds right? Or maybe I read something wrong.</p>
<p>Sort of. Closed end mutual funds are not traded on exchanges (unlike ETFs). ETFs are not like mutual funds in that you have minimum holding periods before which you will be charged to sell out and they are typically liquid (you can sell after a few seconds for example). ETFs can also be short. </p>
<p>Its simply a different class of securities.</p>
<p>BTW I doubt the OP is looking to track an index or time the index and generate alpha for that matter.</p>
<p>OK I see thanks for the clairifying.</p>
<p>no closed end funds do trade on exchanges. the only differnece between them and etfs is that etfs track an index thus are passive. closed end funds are active and usualy (but they can buy anything they want) buy muni bonds or use some sort of leverage (somthing that open ended funds cant really do)</p>
<p>i would reccomend "value investing today" by charlie brandes. a little more modern than the ben grahm stuff that marhas posted. (brandes was grahmns students) kinda long but i think its the best book on investing there is.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info corporatelaw. I was thinking of mutual funds closed for new investments rather than closed-ends. I need sleep (up for 19 hours straight now).</p>
<p>Also to the OP> Don't cloister yourself to just value based ideas. Thats a starting point but there are many other styles/techniques as well.</p>
<p>So typically since closed end funds are bought/sold on margins they would be more risky to buy rather than ishares Russel 2k for example?</p>
<p>Depends on the closed end funds and the instrument being traded. Even after leveraging a less risky asset it may end up having lower risk compared to a fund not using any leverage. You need to look at the overall composition of the fund. Of course by risk I am simply talking about volatility.</p>
<p>Back to the world cup.</p>
<p>its not that people typically use margin to buy closed end funds, its that the fund itself uses leverage to either short positions or buy on margin. But usually a fund that uses leverage is more risky than just tracking an index. or atlest it will be more volitle.</p>
<p>for example here is a lazard closed end that uses leverage.</p>
<p>how about Germany...2 goals in the first 11 mins, sweet.</p>
<p>Yes I know. I am specifically talking about the fund's leverage itself. Its not a generalized statement as it depends on the product etc. Most active funds, it should be noted, also underperforms the index but thats a whole different story (too many managers chasing a finite amount of alpha). </p>
<p>Yea that was a good game. Mex vs Argentina was good too.</p>
<p>What's the game called?</p>
<p>^Jonathan K., my preppy friend, are you a business major or intended on being one? Just curious.</p>
<p>when you short sell....is that considered a trade?</p>
<p>I have a online game type thing and I am limited to only 100 trades. </p>
<p>Is a trade buy and sell only?</p>