KAMALAGRAD Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 This is just a pipe dream at the moment as I have way too many more immediate needs for my cash right now. However, I've been reading a lot about the stock market/nvesting lately and think if I ever do invest I would start with a $600 investment as that may eventually be practical for me to do. This would of course be spread out among various stocks (no less than 5 probably). So more as just a hypothetical than for any practical advice what kind of stocks would YOU start off with if you had $600 to invest? Would you buy any dividend stocks or is $600 divided five ways or so (not evenly) be even worth getting dividend stocks with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raneck Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 (edited) Unless you are very, very confident in your stock picking ability, a stock index fund or index ETF would be a much better choice. This is what I am currently doing with my investments. Perhaps you should check out bogleheads.org. Edited October 4, 2014 by raneck KAMALAGRAD and mandarin.orange 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAMALAGRAD Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Unless you are very, very confident in your stock picking ability, a stock index fund or index ETF would be a much better choice. This is what I am currently doing with my investments. Perhaps you should check out bogleheads.org. Thanks for the link! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usmivka Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 You also might be better off with a small, regular investment that you can sustain regularly rather than plunking down everything at once and then waiting until the next time you can make a large lump sum investment (say, add $100 a month indefinitely). That way short term market swings tend to even out and you don't have to worry that you bought at the wrong moment. You aren't going to get rich fast, but after a couple decades you should be making small, regular returns--say a several hundred dollars a year if the markets have a general upward trend that whole time. The thing about index funds, though, is that they follow what the stock market in general is doing. So they are not necessarily less risky than picking your own stocks. Had you invested this in an index fund just before the market crash in 2008, you would have lost ~40% of your investment, whereas had you invested in IBM or Pepsi, your investment would have increased in value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectastic Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 is index fund one of those funds that group together multiple stocks, or am I thinking of something different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raneck Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Yes, index funds are invested in many stocks, according to an index that tracks a sector of the market. They are a class of mutual funds. Mutual funds don't have to follow an index, they can be "active" funds that have managers who do stock picking. Active funds tend to have higher fees (due to more effort being required to run the fund), and the extra fees are not always matched with extra profit. Stock picking and index funds have different kinds of risks. In index funds, you are vulnerable to overall market swings, but not the individual fates of companies. Stock picking ties you very closely to the companies you pick (for a very recent example of this, look at GTAT, the company that was supposed to supply Apple with sapphire screens for the new iPhone. Lots of teeth gnashing on investment forums over this one). You can try picking a large number of "good" stocks (I.e. a blue chip strategy), but the more stocks you hold, the more your returns begin to emulate an index fund anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crucial BBQ Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 I would invest in BlackBerry (formally RIM). Their stock dropped from ~$160 down to ~$6 a share a couple of years ago, but they are slowly rebuilding and rebranding (with a renewed focus on Enterprise, QNX, security, and the Internet of Things). If you are an American you probably think they are dead, and most will advise not to invest in them. However they are far from dead and the stock will at the very least hold at ~$6, otherwise it has nowhere to go but up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectastic Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 didn't they declare bankruptcy and sold themselves to someone? my company switched out all its company phones with the i4 (or was it 5, i don't know I don't have one). if you look at the 5 year projection, it looks like they've been dead for quite a while.. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=blackberry%20stock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crucial BBQ Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 didn't they declare bankruptcy and sold themselves to someone? No. I suggest reading (cr)Blackberry centric sites. Fanbois, yes, but also the most critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Q84 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 As an owner of Blackberry stock, I'd advise lots and lots of caution. I've had my share of heart attacks with that stock. As per any stock investment, don't invest money you can't afford to lose. Better yet, consider it already lost and anything else is a happy upside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectastic Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/struggling-blackberry-agrees-be-sold-4-7-billion-f4B11234242 1Q84 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crucial BBQ Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/struggling-blackberry-agrees-be-sold-4-7-billion-f4B11234242 This is old news. A few offers were made, nobody bought. Then CEO Heines was canned and John Chen was brought in. They are doing way better now than they were a year ago (when the linked article was published), but still a long ways away from where they were in 2010. The OP asked for opinions, I gave mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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