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Help with shares.

After saving some pennies, considering buying some shares.
With the pitiful rate of interest you get with a bank, thinking of a gamble.
For those in the know, any tips/advice?
Thinking to go down this route, rather than my weeekend acca letting me down each weekend.
I am of the impression that shares in pubs (Wetherspoons, etc) may be worth a punt this time of year?

Comments

  • Mugs game...
  • Buy safe shares, such as Tescos. Buy low. Buy them as scrip shares, which means you don't take the dividend in cash...you receive shares or parts of shares instead. Then every year you will have more and more shares. It is called compound interest and is supposed to be the secret of making money in the long run. Think ten or twenty years and you will make a tidy sum...probably, unless there is an almighty crash. It is always gambling but this is the safest way to invest. Good luck (Wish someone had given me this advice thirty years ago.)
  • Look at how much you have to invest and 'buy' some shares that you think will do well and wait for a few months and see how much they are worth. Don't foget to add and subtract commision etc...

    Look at the profit made (if any) and then see if you could have done better with 'safe' savings schemes...

    You find just how much a gamble it all really is...
  • edited May 2010
    I take it that BP may be one to steer clear of for some time
  • [cite]Posted By: Robbo on the wing[/cite]I take it that BP may be one to steer clear of for some time
    They're having a tough time at the minute but if you track their shares and watch for when the current problem blows over they'll be a good buy...

    You'll be buying low and should be able to make a profit...

    Lot's of companies that have sudden catastrphes and strikes etc always see their shares fall only for them to pick up at some point...

    The trouble is, to make a tidy profit you have to buy in thousands of pounds at a time...
  • [cite]Posted By: RedZed333[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Robbo on the wing[/cite]I take it that BP may be one to steer clear of for some time
    They're having a tough time at the minute but if you track their shares and watch for when the current problem blows over they'll be a good buy...

    You'll be buying low and should be able to make a profit...

    Lot's of companies that have sudden catastrphes and strikes etc always see their shares fall only for them to pick up at some point...

    The trouble is, to make a tidy profit you have to buy in thousands of pounds at a time...

    especially with stamp duty/commission
  • A good buy would be GVC holdings it pays a special dividend of 50 euro cents at the end of June. It may also benefit from the World Cup as it is a gaming company.
  • Gold is where it is at or will be...
  • Regard it as gambling and stick with what you know something about. That's basically what I've learnt the hard way. Insider knowledge will always be ahead of you and there are a lot of analysts who will 'pump and dump' pocketing the profits that you have provided. My only area of 'expertise' was shopping, I could notice shopping trends ahead of the publication of company figures. As I did the household shopping, I watched carefully and noticed that Tesco's was suddenly always busy. I broke the rules and put most of my gambling money into the Tesco pot. I've more than doubled my money, which luckily has amply covered my BT and RBS losses! It's fun, a bit of a hobby, but the pitfalls are many.
  • [cite]Posted By: LenGlover[/cite]Gold is where it is at or will be...
    Should have told Gordon Brown...
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  • edited May 2010
    Len's absolutely right about gold but it's liable to be a bumpy ride.
    Individual shares are risky if you are aren't a pro or really on top of it and if it's more than a few bob you want to invest or you have regular amounts, think about spreading the risk with a fund investment. Contrary to popular belief, there are some good fund managers out there.
    Artemis Strategic Assets and CF Ruffer Total Return are excellent "absolute return" funds (i.e. they seek to protect capital [no guarantees of course but they've got a good record of doing so; Ruffer over a long period and including in 2008]) and both have the flexibility to invest anywhere that the manager thinks will be profitable, including gold (i.e. they don't stick to following any particular index). Both have reasonable management fees.
    You can buy funds via a broker (as you would shares) or an IFA (if you have one) but check the up-front charges (a broker and some IFAs should be able to get you in without any up-front charge, other than the broker's usual brokerage commission).
    Whatever you buy (shares, fund, gold [you can buy the ETF Physical Gold via a broker]), again if it ain't tiny, you ought to think about doing it through a Stocks & Shares ISA - capital gains tax rate is virtually certain to go up and the Lib Dems want the annual capital gains (tax-free) allowance to be reduced from £10,100 to £2,000.
  • Marks & Sparks (MKS) good value at the moment; I reckon that they will be back to 400p before too long, new CEO is a star.

    However, don't put any money in shares that you can't afford to lose; I agree it is just another form of gambling, but more interesting and occasionally fun.
  • spend it on wine beer and women

    and the occasional footie match


    or alternitively give it to me i will back a good horse and try to win you some dosh its about as reliable as the stock market
  • I'd look at what the papers recommend rather than what people on here suggest. Generally though don't treat it like a bank account. It costs to buy and sell so lots of transactions eat at your profits or make your losses worse. Don't buy shares that with money that you can't afford to lose. There's been numerous blue chips that everyone thought were rock solid steady performers where people lost most or all of their money - Railtrack, LTSB, RBS - Lastminute (though it was always a risky move) - and so on. If you want a more steady investment buy into a fund (basically lots of people put their money in and shares are bought with it - so you get protection against the dips in the market). You get managed funds where real people do the gambling and trackers where it's by computer. Managed cost more to run but are supposed to react better to changes in the market.

    Buy low sell high.
  • [cite]Posted By: PeanutsMolloy[/cite] Contrary to popular belief, there are some good fund managers out there.

    Really? : - )

    I think I'd listen to Peanuts on this or maybe just wait for his national tips next April.
  • [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: PeanutsMolloy[/cite]Contrary to popular belief, there are some good fund managers out there.

    Really? : - )

    I think I'd listen to Peanuts on this or maybe just wait for his national tips next April.

    Boy, have I got a share tip for you Big H................it's a doozy.
    Give me a bell sometime.
  • edited May 2010
    [cite]Posted By: PeanutsMolloy[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: PeanutsMolloy[/cite]Contrary to popular belief, there are some good fund managers out there.

    Really? : - )

    I think I'd listen to Peanuts on this or maybe just wait for his national tips next April.

    Boy, have I got a share tip for you Big H................it's a doozy.
    Give me a bell sometime.

    OK, will do.

    Sorry, been up't North and was on the motorway when you rang yesterday.
  • Just lump on RBS.
    Hester is on a big wedge of money if the shareprice hits 85p or so in 2012 (or maybe end 2011)
    Can be snapped up around 45p now.
  • If your in it for the long term BP will come back and now or very soon will be a good time to buy. You will have to judge if you feel they have reached there lowest dip yet!!

    Also Telford homes are worth a look
  • Well I have bought some in Wetherspoons. I will now look at some of the soapy F***ers down Woolwich in a more welcoming manner.
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  • Robbo, you're chosing the worst possible period to dabble into something you can know so little about.
    Even those in the know have a hard time coming up with a successful forecast.
    Protection against the financial and economic turmoil remains GOLD. Its price has soared but can only
    continue to rise, simply because it will take a hell of a long time to stabilize the situation and restore
    confidence.
    I'm a numismat - a coin collector. If you don't follow my advice, fair enough, I know my analysis is biased.
    But i'll come back to you later.
    To acknowledge the plaudits.
  • Buying shares is not gambling unless you are a trader. Having said there is some risk as the value goes up and down. Unless you want to gamble you should be looking to put away for a five year period. Unless you know hat your doing I'm a great fan of tracker funds. They have very cheap commissions and track the market. You may much more for fund magers who may or may not know what they are doing - in fact less than half beat the market.
    legal and general run a UK index fund which would fit the bill.
    probably not as much fun as picking individual shares but much safer
  • Bought some shares in the oil exploration company Rockhopper a couple of weeks ago as they reckon they have found oil near the Falkland Islands. Bought at 190p, currently trading at 250p and some chap at my wife's work reckons they could be worth £25 in the medium term. Believe it when I see it myself but to be fair have made 30% in just two weeks. Very volatile shares though I think.
  • yes low ears they could be worth £25 in a several years - otherwise they are likely to be worth nothing - these type of shares really are a gamble! Don't put money in these you can't afford to lose
  • In my business I act as a trustee and have to make sensible decisions in choosing funds and managers. Fact - you will only make money picking individual stocks and shares by pure chance. Fact - Manager skill or stock picking is the least reliable attribute and no one can predict the unknowns which will affect markets. A tracker fund is the cheapest and least risky way of buying into a particular "type" of investment. The "type" of investment or "asset class" will determine over 90% of the outcome, manager skill will contribute about 6% and 4% from random effects. For 2009 global equity market returned 15.7% the UK equity market returned 30.1% a good manager might have added 1% to these, but not too many. So difference in asset class about 15%, difference in manager performance around 1% or less, but next year the asset class returns could be reversed so you have to be in all of them to spread risk.
    Fact - Risk and reward cannot be separated. The bigger the profit you make the bigger was the risk of losing it along the way. The "sensible" approach is seeking a particular return (which fixes the risk profile)and employing strategies which reduce the risk without reducing target returns. Lowering risk mostly means spreading your eggs across many baskets That is what modern diversified funds or absolute return funds try and do. The fund we favour for long term investment uses more than 12 different managers and strategies with an aim to beat cash returns by about 3.5%. It has large cash holdings and uses hedge funds to reduce risk. Problem for the investor is that manager skill, the least reliable attribute, is the most important factor in a successful diversified fund. We have to employ experts to check out the experts.
    Yes it's a gamble or it must be a calculated risk, but few have the ability to make an informed judgement on the risks, I couldn't.

    If you can afford to lose the money and enjoy the buzz of playing the market its fun but don't let anyone tell you there is a magic secret to making easy money apart from investing huge sums at low risk e.g you are a bank (who doesn't get it wrong!)
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