So do those of you who invest in the stock market have any advice on learning about it from scratch? Where a good place to start understanding may be? Did you have to learn about it as a newbie or did you have some knowledge in that area or business and just progressed?
Next year I'm gonna have some money that I'll be looking at doing something with, and will be happy to assign some risk to it. Not big amounts just a few thousand, but I have no financial nous and know nothing about investing. Never had any interest (or the money) before so have never really looked into it and probably lacking in confidence as well as a result.
So do those of you who invest in the stock market have any advice on learning about it from scratch? Where a good place to start understanding may be? Did you have to learn about it as a newbie or did you have some knowledge in that area or business and just progressed?
Next year I'm gonna have some money that I'll be looking at doing something with, and will be happy to assign some risk to it. Not big amounts just a few thousand, but I have no financial nous and know nothing about investing. Never had any interest (or the money) before so have never really looked into it and probably lacking in confidence as well as a result.
I've got some diamond mine shares I'm trying to offload.
Here is a recco for those of you who have investments in funds, and want to manage them online.
You need to know about these Scottish guys, and particularly download their Come and Have A Go report.
if you are one of the many who wish Martyn Lewis would get a life, or at least a sense of humour, these guys are for you.
And me, i wish i had come across them a couple of months ago, I'd probably be 5k better off if I had done.
Rather than fight through their garish website looking for that nugget, can you just post up their fund recommendations please?
They are not into recommending funds, but rather the various platforms people can use to manage and trade them on the net ("direct platform investing".) I never knew there were so many, ( I thought it was basically a choice between Fidelity and Hargreaves Lansdowne) and certainly had never heard of "robo advice". Honestly, well worth a read. Try it tonight, instead of Post Match Views. You'll thank me for it.
Without going into too much detail, if I'd read this in May my SIPP would be worth about 5k more this morning. The clowns I moved from (AJ Bell ) actually have the kind of platform I wanted, but never bothered to tell me about it, they just let me move to H-L, needing to liquidate all holdings in the process to avoid heavy charges.
So do those of you who invest in the stock market have any advice on learning about it from scratch? Where a good place to start understanding may be? Did you have to learn about it as a newbie or did you have some knowledge in that area or business and just progressed?
Next year I'm gonna have some money that I'll be looking at doing something with, and will be happy to assign some risk to it. Not big amounts just a few thousand, but I have no financial nous and know nothing about investing. Never had any interest (or the money) before so have never really looked into it and probably lacking in confidence as well as a result.
I'll post you some links later on, but I wonder whether you might usefully use an Independent Financial Adviser, at least to get you started?
What do other people think is a minimum amount to invest, where an IFA would be worthwhile?
So do those of you who invest in the stock market have any advice on learning about it from scratch? Where a good place to start understanding may be? Did you have to learn about it as a newbie or did you have some knowledge in that area or business and just progressed?
Next year I'm gonna have some money that I'll be looking at doing something with, and will be happy to assign some risk to it. Not big amounts just a few thousand, but I have no financial nous and know nothing about investing. Never had any interest (or the money) before so have never really looked into it and probably lacking in confidence as well as a result.
I'll post you some links later on, but I wonder whether you might usefully use an Independent Financial Adviser, at least to get you started?
What do other people think is a minimum amount to invest, where an IFA would be worthwhile?
If someone wants to invest a couple of grand directly into individual shares I'm not sure an IFA could be much help. They would not have the time or expertise to analyse individual stocks. Indeed, outside the popular holdings it can be quite difficult to get any research data at all.
So, take one of my favourite stocks as an example. Primary Health Properties (PHP). Have a look on the Hargreaves Lansdown site for the data. It says 12-month high 447.5p; 12-month low 100.25p; current price 112.5p. That looks like the shares have tanked big time. In fact there was a sub-division of the shares on a four for one basis. So the like-for-like high/low price comparison is really 447.5p vs 401p. But HL are silent on this. There is also no HL research. Only two brokers are listed as providing research. (One is neutral the other a strong buy.) So, you have to delve deeply to find the true picture. Since it was founded 19 years ago, there has been an unbroken record of dividend growth. In the last five years PHP has provided total shareholder return of 15% per annum. You are not going to get stratospheric growth but (as long as Corbyn doesn't get to be Prime Minister), it's difficult to see the downside. Read more here: hardmanandco.com/docs/default-source/company-docs/primary-health-properties-documents/primary-health-properties-forum-note
In a nutshell, if you don't mind the risk - and it is a gamble - buy what you like the look of. (As in the old "I liked it so much I bought the company" advert.) If you like the products/services, and think their competitors are rubbish chances are the company is on to a winner. Do your own research. Look for good cash flow and dividend yield. And hope for the best!
So do those of you who invest in the stock market have any advice on learning about it from scratch? Where a good place to start understanding may be? Did you have to learn about it as a newbie or did you have some knowledge in that area or business and just progressed?
Next year I'm gonna have some money that I'll be looking at doing something with, and will be happy to assign some risk to it. Not big amounts just a few thousand, but I have no financial nous and know nothing about investing. Never had any interest (or the money) before so have never really looked into it and probably lacking in confidence as well as a result.
Here's another idea. Browse some research sites, Hardman & Co do a few of the smaller companies, Edison Investment Research do much more. There are others, these are only examples. Register with a site like HL or perhaps morningstar.co.uk and build yourself a virtual portfolio (they are called watch lists on the HL site). You can then test out your acumen without risking a single penny.
Of course, you'll kick yourself if one of your virtual shares flies!
Cheers for the advice. Have started listening to a couple of podcasts and looking through different companies. I think for me a simple investment fund controlled by a company would be best for me to start with. Just putting a little bit in each month instead of putting that into a poor savings account may be best for me until i learn more.
Santander have just halved their interest rate to 1.5% on their popular account. That's gonna piss a lot of people off. Expecting a few other banks which I have high interest accounts with to cut their rates too soon. So will have to start looking at what is best to do with that money. It was so much easier when I didn't care and just spent everything I had.
Cheers for the advice. Have started listening to a couple of podcasts and looking through different companies. I think for me a simple investment fund controlled by a company would be best for me to start with. Just putting a little bit in each month instead of putting that into a poor savings account may be best for me until i learn more.
Santander have just halved their interest rate to 1.5% on their popular account. That's gonna piss a lot of people off.
Yes Santander's move has annoyed me, especially as I was going to open a third 123 account. However the fact that it took them this long to drop their rates is the real surprise.
From the FT for alternatives:
Lloyds’ Club Lloyds current account has been another go-to for the affluent, paying 4 per cent on balances of £4,000 to £5,000. Tesco Bank said it had “no plans” to cut the payout rate on a current account that offers 3 per cent interest on balances up to £3,000.
What do people think about the direction of the equity markets in the next few months?
More informed people than me have been taken by surprise by the post Brexit rally (which is not just a UK rally, but global - most indices are close to all time highs.)
My problem is deciding when to start re-investing SIPP cash after I was obliged to cash in when the FTSE 100 was around 6330.
@Rob7Lee reminded me that all the time I am not in the market, I am missing out on dividends. But if I go in now, I am buying back funds at a premium of 7% or so. I think I might regret that, even if I try feeding the money back in gently. I don't see good economic reasons for this optimism, and anyway it is summer holidays and trading is thin.
On Trustnet there is a poll asking if you believe there will be a major correction before year end. The % responses are 44 yes, 34 no, 22 no clue.
What do people think about the direction of the equity markets in the next few months?
More informed people than me have been taken by surprise by the post Brexit rally (which is not just a UK rally, but global - most indices are close to all time highs.)
My problem is deciding when to start re-investing SIPP cash after I was obliged to cash in when the FTSE 100 was around 6330.
@Rob7Lee reminded me that all the time I am not in the market, I am missing out on dividends. But if I go in now, I am buying back funds at a premium of 7% or so. I think I might regret that, even if I try feeding the money back in gently. I don't see good economic reasons for this optimism, and anyway it is summer holidays and trading is thin.
On Trustnet there is a poll asking if you believe there will be a major correction before year end. The % responses are 44 yes, 34 no, 22 no clue.
What do you good people think, and why?
Well I think the same as you. I'm very surprised that the markets are this high & I'm holding fire.
However, I'm very good at calling the bottom of a market after a crash, but not so good at estimating when it will start to fall. So in a nutshell who knows ?
The professional advice is always to stay invested, but I've rarely done that.
I'm waiting for the next fall, which could be next week or could be years away.
My relatively ill informed view would say that the FTSE 100 with its constituents mainly having operations overseas will benefit from the sterling exchange rate on earnings but against this pay divs in GBP.
Stocks generally will benefit from continued and increased quantities easing.
On that basis, cautious increase.
But, with worldwide growth looking shaky, we are one or two unanticipated events away from a big old crash, central banks are right at the limit of their support so it could break.
If I had a load of cash right now, I wouldn't be ploughing it into equity market indices.
That said, there isn't much choice out there in terms of asset classes.
Can you become a residential property magnate in Prague old town?
I still have to maintain my SIPP. I have the fund selection lined up, the question is when to start actually feeding money back in. Just wondering about a small amount in a gold fund, but last time I did that I lost 60%...
I have a Spanner mate out here who thought he might become a property magnate. Bought two apartments off plan, should have moved into one of them last month. Was desperately calling me to ask if I knew of any short-term lets as they had terminated their previous one and his new places were not ready. Serves him right for being a Spanner. Basically we have a very nice house, the likes of which I could only dream of in London, but it has probably barely kept pace with inflation in terms of value, and what with my Surbiton house which thankfully I kept, that's quite enough property in my portfolio, thank you very much.
My view, the FTSE will rise a little more but will then drop back, potentially by quite a bit (1,000+ points), there's a lot of brexit turmoil to come. I'm at the opposite point, do I cash out of my funds in my SIPP, some of which have risen considerably over the last 6 months.
Gold can be dangerous also and volatile,
Not a lot of help Richard, but if it were me, i'd drip feed back in over the next 3-4 months but with a good spread of funds, geography etc and not all equities. Cash is't going to be of much help currently.
I've just cashed in as the market tends to get edgy when it gets near to 7000 or so I'm told. A few large FTSE stocks have gained considerably over the last few weeks and I'm not so sure it's sustainable.
I think historically the worst market falls have been in the autumn, September and October, so it's probably worth waiting a couple of months, at least until after the likely election result in the U.S. is a lot clearer? As @Rob7Lee has said, it's often recommended to ladder in and ladder out of investments, and to maximize returns by reinvesting dividends and profits.
But my investing hasn't made me into a multimillionaire so what do I know?
The virtual portfolio idea from @cafcfan sounds a really good way to go and learn, I look after my own money now after (too) many years of paying commissions to Financial Advisors and Banks.
Chelsea to beat Burnley this Saturday. 25% gain on your investment
Potential for a 25% gain or a 100% loss.
I would never advise betting as a form of investment (I've worked in the game for 35 years!).
This.
I remember our first match after relegation from the PL was against Scunthorpe at home. I think they'd just been promoted from League 1 too. I was about 19 and had saved enough for a deposit on a small flat. We were 8/11 to win and I thought long and hard about sticking a significant percentage of my savings on us to win. Thank god I didn't.
I've just cashed in as the market tends to get edgy when it gets near to 7000 or so I'm told. A few large FTSE stocks have gained considerably over the last few weeks and I'm not so sure it's sustainable.
Big mistake :-(
Everything I sold has gone against me. Guess you just need to be patient and be happy with the profit taken.
Interesting to see JPM have back tracked on their view of the UKs prospects post Brexit.
For those who like to pick their own stocks or who are interested in how to judge company fundamentals you might want to read this article and invest in the Graham and Dodds book? Warren Buffet recommends it and he seems to know what he's doing
Question for all the diligent savers on this thread.
Have you all paid up your mortgages?
Mine is up this year and as things stand I could potentially fix with HSBC for 0.99% which is a ridiculous rate meaning I can probably take a few years off the mortgage.
Surely at the moment its better to overpay the mortgage as much as possible rather than save (other than kids accounts which generally pay a higher rate and its for the kids future)
That mortgage debt is very cheap. If you can service that debt why pay it off. If you are near retirement pay it as an AVC into your pension. You could save 20 or 40 percent on your money. Or if your company does salary sacrifice this could be as high as 32 or 42 percent with the NI saving.
For those who like to pick their own stocks or who are interested in how to judge company fundamentals you might want to read this article and invest in the Graham and Dodds book? Warren Buffet recommends it and he seems to know what he's doing
There's nothing new or revolutionary about "value" investing and many funds are based on this principle. The article gives the impression it's a one way bet. What is omitted is explaining that Buffett is a genius at identifying "value" that is not disclosed with conventional financial analysis.
The article is not trying to prove Buffett has cracked how to profit from investing, that's obvious, it's arguing that there is no other logical measure of what stock to buy than on price against say book value or a combination of fundamentals that show the market is over-discounting a company's future profits.
If that worked all the time everyone would do it. The fact is that unknowns will always emerge to spoil the best laid plans, so bets are spread to reduce risks, then decisions are harder to get right across a wider spread of bets. And in certain economic cycles the market will discount value stocks at a higher rate than other stocks, making the arguments look less convincing for those after a quick profit. My view is that markets are efficient at setting the price of stocks, it's just that the value can only be guaranteed to emerge over the long term. What ends up being argued, is that if value emerges in two years or forty it's inefficient pricing and anything in between is a matter of interpreting what is meant by "efficient". Angels and dancing on a pin head comes to mind.
To mirror Buffett all you have to do is target a few tens of stocks, out of thousands, and glean have enough information you could run the business yourself. You have identified and factored in the impact of all potential risks that are unknowns, and are convinced the BUSINESS is assured of long term success. You will likely buy the business. Neil Woodford shows the same characteristics of investment philosophy, a few intensively researched stocks held forever.
For mere mortals, betting on a few "value" rated companies is fine as a strategy, if it works it will give good results. But it's no less risky than any other one dimensional strategy and it will not make you the next Warren Buffett.
Question for all the diligent savers on this thread.
Have you all paid up your mortgages?
Mine is up this year and as things stand I could potentially fix with HSBC for 0.99% which is a ridiculous rate meaning I can probably take a few years off the mortgage.
Surely at the moment its better to overpay the mortgage as much as possible rather than save (other than kids accounts which generally pay a higher rate and its for the kids future)
That mortgage debt is very cheap. If you can service that debt why pay it off. If you are near retirement pay it as an AVC into your pension. You could save 20 or 40 percent on your money. Or if your company does salary sacrifice this could be as high as 32 or 42 percent with the NI saving.
I would love to add my thoughts onto this thread, but as a regulated individual & IFA anything I say may be misconstrued as advice...and also I will need to be paid !!
Question for all the diligent savers on this thread.
Have you all paid up your mortgages?
Mine is up this year and as things stand I could potentially fix with HSBC for 0.99% which is a ridiculous rate meaning I can probably take a few years off the mortgage.
Surely at the moment its better to overpay the mortgage as much as possible rather than save (other than kids accounts which generally pay a higher rate and its for the kids future)
That mortgage debt is very cheap. If you can service that debt why pay it off. If you are near retirement pay it as an AVC into your pension. You could save 20 or 40 percent on your money. Or if your company does salary sacrifice this could be as high as 32 or 42 percent with the NI saving.
or 62% ......
mThat's my calculation as well. Increasing by Gross AVC by as much as I can and reducing my current tax bill significantly.
By my calculations just need to increase sacrifice payments down to basic tax levels, as long as I have enough to survive on with that salary. Employer gives me half their NI savings as well.
Pension has gone through the roof since Brexit - and I have no idea why. Took a hit with the Chinese devaluation earlier this year, so current returns are very satisfactory.
Comments
You need to know about these Scottish guys, and particularly download their Come and Have A Go report.
if you are one of the many who wish Martyn Lewis would get a life, or at least a sense of humour, these guys are for you.
And me, i wish i had come across them a couple of months ago, I'd probably be 5k better off if I had done.
Next year I'm gonna have some money that I'll be looking at doing something with, and will be happy to assign some risk to it. Not big amounts just a few thousand, but I have no financial nous and know nothing about investing. Never had any interest (or the money) before so have never really looked into it and probably lacking in confidence as well as a result.
Without going into too much detail, if I'd read this in May my SIPP would be worth about 5k more this morning. The clowns I moved from (AJ Bell ) actually have the kind of platform I wanted, but never bothered to tell me about it, they just let me move to H-L, needing to liquidate all holdings in the process to avoid heavy charges.
What do other people think is a minimum amount to invest, where an IFA would be worthwhile?
So, take one of my favourite stocks as an example. Primary Health Properties (PHP). Have a look on the Hargreaves Lansdown site for the data. It says 12-month high 447.5p; 12-month low 100.25p; current price 112.5p.
That looks like the shares have tanked big time. In fact there was a sub-division of the shares on a four for one basis. So the like-for-like high/low price comparison is really 447.5p vs 401p. But HL are silent on this. There is also no HL research. Only two brokers are listed as providing research. (One is neutral the other a strong buy.)
So, you have to delve deeply to find the true picture. Since it was founded 19 years ago, there has been an unbroken record of dividend growth. In the last five years PHP has provided total shareholder return of 15% per annum. You are not going to get stratospheric growth but (as long as Corbyn doesn't get to be Prime Minister), it's difficult to see the downside. Read more here: hardmanandco.com/docs/default-source/company-docs/primary-health-properties-documents/primary-health-properties-forum-note
In a nutshell, if you don't mind the risk - and it is a gamble - buy what you like the look of. (As in the old "I liked it so much I bought the company" advert.) If you like the products/services, and think their competitors are rubbish chances are the company is on to a winner. Do your own research. Look for good cash flow and dividend yield. And hope for the best!
Of course, you'll kick yourself if one of your virtual shares flies!
Santander have just halved their interest rate to 1.5% on their popular account. That's gonna piss a lot of people off. Expecting a few other banks which I have high interest accounts with to cut their rates too soon. So will have to start looking at what is best to do with that money. It was so much easier when I didn't care and just spent everything I had.
From the FT for alternatives:
Lloyds’ Club Lloyds current account has been another go-to for the affluent, paying 4 per cent on balances of £4,000 to £5,000.
Tesco Bank said it had “no plans” to cut the payout rate on a current account that offers 3 per cent interest on balances up to £3,000.
More informed people than me have been taken by surprise by the post Brexit rally (which is not just a UK rally, but global - most indices are close to all time highs.)
My problem is deciding when to start re-investing SIPP cash after I was obliged to cash in when the FTSE 100 was around 6330.
@Rob7Lee reminded me that all the time I am not in the market, I am missing out on dividends. But if I go in now, I am buying back funds at a premium of 7% or so. I think I might regret that, even if I try feeding the money back in gently. I don't see good economic reasons for this optimism, and anyway it is summer holidays and trading is thin.
On Trustnet there is a poll asking if you believe there will be a major correction before year end. The % responses are 44 yes, 34 no, 22 no clue.
What do you good people think, and why?
However, I'm very good at calling the bottom of a market after a crash, but not so good at estimating when it will start to fall. So in a nutshell who knows ?
The professional advice is always to stay invested, but I've rarely done that.
I'm waiting for the next fall, which could be next week or could be years away.
My relatively ill informed view would say that the FTSE 100 with its constituents mainly having operations overseas will benefit from the sterling exchange rate on earnings but against this pay divs in GBP.
Stocks generally will benefit from continued and increased quantities easing.
On that basis, cautious increase.
But, with worldwide growth looking shaky, we are one or two unanticipated events away from a big old crash, central banks are right at the limit of their support so it could break.
If I had a load of cash right now, I wouldn't be ploughing it into equity market indices.
That said, there isn't much choice out there in terms of asset classes.
Can you become a residential property magnate in Prague old town?
I still have to maintain my SIPP. I have the fund selection lined up, the question is when to start actually feeding money back in. Just wondering about a small amount in a gold fund, but last time I did that I lost 60%...
I have a Spanner mate out here who thought he might become a property magnate. Bought two apartments off plan, should have moved into one of them last month. Was desperately calling me to ask if I knew of any short-term lets as they had terminated their previous one and his new places were not ready. Serves him right for being a Spanner. Basically we have a very nice house, the likes of which I could only dream of in London, but it has probably barely kept pace with inflation in terms of value, and what with my Surbiton house which thankfully I kept, that's quite enough property in my portfolio, thank you very much.
Gold can be dangerous also and volatile,
Not a lot of help Richard, but if it were me, i'd drip feed back in over the next 3-4 months but with a good spread of funds, geography etc and not all equities. Cash is't going to be of much help currently.
As @Rob7Lee has said, it's often recommended to ladder in and ladder out of investments, and to maximize returns by reinvesting dividends and profits.
But my investing hasn't made me into a multimillionaire so what do I know?
The virtual portfolio idea from @cafcfan sounds a really good way to go and learn, I look after my own money now after (too) many years of paying commissions to Financial Advisors and Banks.
I would never advise betting as a form of investment (I've worked in the game for 35 years!).
I remember our first match after relegation from the PL was against Scunthorpe at home. I think they'd just been promoted from League 1 too. I was about 19 and had saved enough for a deposit on a small flat. We were 8/11 to win and I thought long and hard about sticking a significant percentage of my savings on us to win. Thank god I didn't.
Everything I sold has gone against me. Guess you just need to be patient and be happy with the profit taken.
Interesting to see JPM have back tracked on their view of the UKs prospects post Brexit.
Warren Buffet recommends it and he seems to know what he's doing
http://business.financialpost.com/investing/global-investor/its-fundamental-why-warren-buffett-beats-the-stock-market-how-have-investors-missed-it-for-so-long?__lsa=6cc5-07f2
The article is not trying to prove Buffett has cracked how to profit from investing, that's obvious, it's arguing that there is no other logical measure of what stock to buy than on price against say book value or a combination of fundamentals that show the market is over-discounting a company's future profits.
If that worked all the time everyone would do it. The fact is that unknowns will always emerge to spoil the best laid plans, so bets are spread to reduce risks, then decisions are harder to get right across a wider spread of bets. And in certain economic cycles the market will discount value stocks at a higher rate than other stocks, making the arguments look less convincing for those after a quick profit. My view is that markets are efficient at setting the price of stocks, it's just that the value can only be guaranteed to emerge over the long term. What ends up being argued, is that if value emerges in two years or forty it's inefficient pricing and anything in between is a matter of interpreting what is meant by "efficient". Angels and dancing on a pin head comes to mind.
To mirror Buffett all you have to do is target a few tens of stocks, out of thousands, and glean have enough information you could run the business yourself. You have identified and factored in the impact of all potential risks that are unknowns, and are convinced the BUSINESS is assured of long term success. You will likely buy the business. Neil Woodford shows the same characteristics of investment philosophy, a few intensively researched stocks held forever.
For mere mortals, betting on a few "value" rated companies is fine as a strategy, if it works it will give good results. But it's no less risky than any other one dimensional strategy and it will not make you the next Warren Buffett.
By my calculations just need to increase sacrifice payments down to basic tax levels, as long as I have enough to survive on with that salary. Employer gives me half their NI savings as well.
Pension has gone through the roof since Brexit - and I have no idea why. Took a hit with the Chinese devaluation earlier this year, so current returns are very satisfactory.