General inquiry on stock trading/share holding

Candice said:

or had any advice on actually breaking into the market, forex trading vs stocks, general advice and direction, etc.

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I am stunned that no gentleman has step forward yet. Here is my free advice and I take no responsiblity nor assume any liabilities (real or imagined) if someone acts on this free advice.

Stick with stocks, especially Canadian banks and utilities. They pay a good dividend and will grow over time. Give RBC Direct Investing a call. I think they have a free "practice portfolio" that you can play with to gain experience without risking real money. (No, I am not available for chats. Sorry.)

I suggest you not to rush into the market
Take your time , learn as much as you can first (ie watch BNN).

Become an investor and not a trader. When you understand the difference, then perhaps you may be ready to start investing
Stay away from speculation in general and especially the FX market.

If you like a companies product (eg Apples iphone) or the shopping experience (eg Shoppers Drug Mart) then perhaps they have something going for them and it may be worth your time to investigate further.

Finally, many very sucessful investors focus on what they do not lose , rather than what they make.
I hope that helps

JohnLarue said:

Finally, many very sucessful investors focus on what they do not lose , rather than what they make.

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Old Scottish proverb: "Protect the downside and the upside will take care of itself."

You are young enough to make a few SMALL mistakes early and still recover and LEARN. Plus, the lessons you learn now will last you a lifetime, maybe another 80 years or more.

I agree with Rockslinger. Stick with large Canadian companies that pay dividends and offer dividend reinvestment plans. Buy on dips and invest over the long term. Boring advice I know but it works. We can chat Friday if you like…after our session;-)

I've been thinking about getting into the game also. I'm thinking of getting a TFSA trading account instead. I'm not sure how it works with TFSA.

Also, what platform/brokerage would you recommend for someone thinking of throwing $10k in there.

Random thoughts:

- Since you are still young you can probably afford to be "risk on" almost all the time.
- Manage assets based on risk, not returns
- If you feel sick after making a trade, then you probably made the right one LOL
- At all times you should be able to answer: "Why did I buy stock xyz and how will it perform under economic conditions a,b,c,d?"
- Obtaining consistent excess returns over a long period of time can be exceptionally difficult, even for most professional money managers

My favorite books on the subject:

The Intelligent Investor
http://www.amazon.ca/Intelligent-In...5661/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312844625&sr=8-1

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
http://www.amazon.ca/Reminiscences-...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312844682&sr=1-2

You Can Be a Stock Market Genius
http://www.amazon.ca/You-Can-Stock-...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312844776&sr=1-1

The Art of Short Selling
http://www.amazon.ca/Art-Short-Sell...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312844820&sr=1-1

Candice hold off on buying anything right now unless it precious metals (silver is relatively undervalued to gold....and cheaper per oz). The markets are going to be in turmoil for the next few months as govts begin to cope with rising debt levels. I've parked much of my portfolio in cash or bonds for the time being (got out just before the mini crash).

Now is the time to be buying or it will soon be time. If you would have bought in while the last crash took place (fall of 2008 into 2009). You could have gotten any of the cdn banks at half to third of what they are trading now. The time to buy is on down markets. Markets may be in turmoil but they will turn around by the end of the year and you'll wish you would have gotten in now or the near future.

Read the following: William J O'neil’s - How To Make Money In Stocks

bendova said:

Now is the time to be buying or it will soon be time. If you would have bought in while the last crash took place (fall of 2008 into 2009). You could have gotten any of the cdn banks at half to third of what they are trading now. The time to buy is on down markets. Markets may be in turmoil but they will turn around by the end of the year and you'll wish you would have gotten in now or the near future.

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Do not be in a big hurry to pour a lot of $ into the markets right now
This is a debt driven problem and it will take a long time (years - perhaps a decade) to correct it
A measured steady pace of investing is prudent at this time.
Do not be in a big rush

"Investing" in stocks is a risky business. You can lose your bra and panties, maybe even your shirt.

Don't quit your day job.

All I was saying was buy in a down market and sell in a up market. This is where people always go wrong, they panic and sell in a down market and then get greedy and buy in an up market.

Or they get greedy and pump a lot of money into the market when it is in freefall, can't stomach months or years of a down market where their stocks are trading at below where they got in and they eventually get out. I agree with JohnLarue, don't try to time the market.

bendova said:

All I was saying was buy in a down market and sell in a up market. This is where people always go wrong, they panic and sell in a down market and then get greedy and buy in an up market.

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You can guarantee that the markets will turn around by the end of the year?

bendova said:

Now is the time to be buying or it will soon be time. If you would have bought in while the last crash took place (fall of 2008 into 2009). You could have gotten any of the cdn banks at half to third of what they are trading now. The time to buy is on down markets. Markets may be in turmoil but they will turn around by the end of the year and you'll wish you would have gotten in now or the near future.

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Has anyone used the Wizetrade software. Does it work or is it a scam?

I'm not saying that. I said by on a down market, which is what it has been and still may go down further but you are looking into the future. The markets will be be higher in 6 months then they are right now. There are still a lot of comapnies out there that are cheap to buy, that continue to make millions of dollars.

Just imagine what your porfolio would look like if you would have been being in the fall/winter of 2008 into 2009 not selling like everyone was doing? You could've had Royal shares for $20-25. People react too late

Yes you are saying that.

bendova said:

I'm not saying that.

The markets will be be higher in 6 months then they are right now.

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REITs are good too. Secured by properties, and pay a regular dividend.
As many other have said...time to buy is now or soon. I would stick with Canadian stocks.

Why do I think that Candice left the room a long long time ago?