Stock Market

[Destroyer]

anyone ever use something like etrade?
I was thinking of getting into investing a little.
anyone here have experience with stocks?

[Nessus]

Buy low sell lower.

That's where the market seems to be going anyway. I have a Fidelity account, my uncle trades with his all day but although I've been tempted at times I've never taken the plunge.

What type of stocks where you thinking of? I'd be very careful right now, I think the stock market could crash sometime soon, America is in way worse shape then the analysts are letting on.

[thefly]

I'd be very careful right now, I think the stock market could crash sometime soon, America is in way worse shape then the analysts are letting on.


Listen to Nessus, he is the expertly trained economist here. :p You know, the one on a computer game company forum. The place you should always look to for real advice. :doh:

[Nessus]

Remember, the expertly trained economists are the guys telling us day and day out there is barely any inflation. I may be wrong but at least I wont lie to your face.

[Destroyer]

oh ofcourse i will be careful when investing my money.
Im just looking to get into investing. not really getting into it to make a lot of money right now. I just want to get into it a little. I just wanted to know if any of you guys had xp with etrade or something and what you thought of it.

[thefly]

Well, etrade itself is tanking as a business. link (http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/11/13/etrade_stock_falls_58_after_forecast/)

[Nessus]

This company seems to be reputable.

http://www.scottrade.com/

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/jdpower_scottrade.html

[Mr.Fibbles]

In my opinion, sticking with it for a long time has it benefits because eventually, the stock will balance out or go up higher. That is if you chose a stock that has potential (like a computer industry)
A few weeks ago Google was peaking and then they fell back down. But they are going back up again and soon may be back to its peak again. Every time a new something is released the stock of that company may go up. You need to do your homework and pay enough attention that you know when you need to sell but not so much that get obsessed with it.
That is the opinion of a simple lower middle class college man.

[Destroyer]

the reason i wasn to get into investing is that putting money in the bank is pointless. the iterest rate is lower then the inflation rate, so by putting money in the bank you actually lose money(atleast right now).
hey that scottrade one looks good Nessus.

[HazMat]

hey foxy, since you know everything could you tell us what stock is worth it?

[Nessus]

Yeah we're getting killed on inflation, The dollar is losing value fast, I think it's going to get worse. This is why Ron Paul has such traction at the grassroots level, he is the only guy in all of American politics that speaks out against a privately owned central bank that can steal your money through inflation.

Have you thought of buying gold or silver? Those have always been safe bets against inflating money, just look what they've done in the last 5 fears.

[Mr.Fibbles]

Gold prices are high right now apparently. My brothers traded in some gold but they are in that stage in their life where buying a car or house is right around the corner; not so much for me.

[Destroyer]

Have you thought of buying gold or silver? Those have always been safe bets against inflating money, just look what they've done in the last 5 fears.
ya but i actually want to get use to investing in the stock market so i figure i would start small just to play around.

hey foxy, since you know everything could you tell us what stock is worth it?
whos foxy?

[0marTheZealot]

The American dollar is tanking so hard, it's not even funny :(

FFS, the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the American dollar. It used to trade at 60 American cents for a Canadian dollar. Now it's like 1.01 or 1.02 for a Canadian dollar.

[Scotty]

the reason i wasn to get into investing is that putting money in the bank is pointless. the iterest rate is lower then the inflation rate, so by putting money in the bank you actually lose money(atleast right now).
hey that scottrade one looks good Nessus.

Unfortunately, pathetic interest rates have been the story since 1992.

Welcome to the new America: Punish saving and reward borrowing.

[wayskobfssae]

Listen to Nessus, he is the expertly trained economist here. :p You know, the one on a computer game company forum. The place you should always look to for real advice. :doh:

It IS pretty likely. Seriously, probably the only thing keeping the U.S. from producing "Great Depression: The Sequel" is the fact that Americans are now accustomed to spending money they don't actually have. Horray for credit card companies convincing every citizen to begin a lifestyle based entirely on debt.

[HazMat]

thats why i dont own a credit card, nobody owns me man. if you dont want a boss then dont buy one.

[Scotty]

It IS pretty likely. Seriously, probably the only thing keeping the U.S. from producing "Great Depression: The Sequel" is the fact that Americans are now accustomed to spending money they don't actually have. Horray for credit card companies convincing every citizen to begin a lifestyle based entirely on debt.

The credit card companies weren't the major guilty party for this one: As mortgage interest was lower than credit card interest (and tax deductible), ppl were using runaway housing prices as an excuse to use their house as an ATM (house gets appraised $50K higher, take out a HELOC for $50K :doh: , then claim it as a tax deduction).

Now that that bubble is bursting, we may finally be in store for a major-league recession.

Although there are lots of ppl with $10K-$50K of credit card debt, this debt carries a 15-30% interest rate. With interest rates in the 5-10% range, HELOCs and serial mortgage refis were the disease of this era.

And of course there's the national debt: (Dubya's current debt based on debt as of late 10/2007, it's sure to go higher in the next year :doh: )

President Took office Left office Dollar increase % increase
Carter $620,433,000,000.00 $907,701,000,000.00 $287,268,000,000.00 46.30%
Reagan $907,701,000,000.00 $2,602,337,712,041.16 $1,694,636,712,041.16 186.70%
Bush $2,602,337,712,041.16 $4,064,620,655,521.66 $1,462,282,943,480.50 56.19%
Clinton $4,064,620,655,521.66 $5,674,178,209,886.86 $1,609,557,554,365.20 39.60%
Dubya $5,674,178,209,886.86 $9,053,975,146,155.95 $3,379,796,936,269.09 59.56%Is a Constitutional Amendment the only thing that will stop this crap? This is obscene! :mad:

Even with tax increases and spending cuts, it will probably take us 50-100 years to pay this down to a reasonable level. Of course we'll never get there, because as soon as we make progress (we would've had the first surplus since the Eisenhower era if we had elected Gore), someone else will pander to the lowest common denominator, promising tax rebates and tax cuts. :mad:

I'm really starting to wonder if the USA needs to go bankrupt for this crap to end. :mad: :(

[Scotty]

thats why i dont own a credit card, nobody owns me man. if you dont want a boss then dont buy one.

If you get hit with an expense that exceeds the balance of your checking account (car fails inspection and needs a complete brake/exhaust/suspension overhaul :eek: ) a credit card can be your best friend.

Unfortunately, lots of ppl don't have the discipline to charge a $1000 unexpected expense, and then pay it off in 3-4 months.

Also, in the event of a disputed charge, it's the bank's money if you use a credit card, but it's your money if you use a debit card. :eek:

In my experience, not having a credit card can be just as foolish as abusing credit cards.

[thefly]

Of course we'll never get there, because as soon as we make progress (we would've had the first surplus since the Eisenhower era if we had elected Gore),

Let's not confuse the US national debt and theoretical yearly budget surpluses.

But yeah, the US Federal government has grown so bloated and inefficient throughout the decades that it really can't be sustained indefinitely.

someone else will pander to the lowest common denominator, promising tax rebates and tax cuts.

Reducing taxes isn't a terrible thing by itself, but it needs to coupled with decreased spending, which never happens. Spending by the Feds increasing percentage wise every year with no end in sight.

Increasing taxes also isn't a terrible thing by itself, but it too needs to be joined at the hip with less spending. You will hear no one running for any office say "we need to increase taxes X% and decrease spending x%." Instead, they say "we need to increase taxes x% so we can increase spending/programs by x%."

[redneck]

id buy some Apple. its going nowhere but up right now

[Nessus]

We'll never get ahead of the game, never. We may have temporary periods of low debt or surplus but the whole nature of our system is that it has to grow forever to produce more money to pay more debt. As soon as a dollar is created we owe debt on it to people like Rockefeller. Since 1913 we have been screwed, unless the Federal Reserve is abolished the economy will eventually totally collapse exactly like it did for the Germans after WW1.

The dollar is going to plummet into worthlessness one day, the only question now is when. And people who were saying it could never happen just a decade ago are now seeing the writing on the wall.

[Destroyer]

I think our economy collapsing would have a huge negativ effect on the economy of just about every country. We are the biggest consumers of good. if we cant but things, everyone is in trouble.

[Scotty]

One of the newsletters I got yesterday had a similar opinion: The rest of the world may want to be independent of the USA in the future, but in the present we're everyone's market, they know it, and if we go down the toilet, they'll be right behind us in the sewer pipe.

[Nessus]

I saw on TV that video game stocks are having a record year. Activision made like a billion dollars, they are selling games like crazy. I think the videogaming sector is still a good investment. They are done gaining prominence yet. Video games are the new movie industry, interactive entertainment is the future.

[Destroyer]

One of the newsletters I got yesterday had a similar opinion: The rest of the world may want to be independent of the USA in the future, but in the present we're everyone's market, they know it, and if we go down the toilet, they'll be right behind us in the sewer pipe.
exactly. people always talk about China taking over as the economic powerhouse and the US crumbling. but if americans cant buy junk where will china ship their junk to. people can hate us as much as they like(USA) but in the end we are the economic center of the world and if we go down so will the rest of you.:p

[clayasaurus]

exactly. people always talk about China taking over as the economic powerhouse and the US crumbling. but if americans cant buy junk where will china ship their junk to. people can hate us as much as they like(USA) but in the end we are the economic center of the world and if we go down so will the rest of you.:p

This is exactly why the globalist banking cartel have decided to focus so much energy on taking down the US... because when that happens... taking over the rest of the world will be easier. :doh:

[Usurper]

Can anyone recommend a good site for explaining the basic theory and functions of the stock market in layman's terms? I don't have the patience to wade through a ton of commercial sites that want to sell me a guide or newsletter or a broker.

[Jiminator]

some beginning to mostly advanced info.... www.fool.com

it all depends on what you want to do and how much you want to invest.
you can either buy stock in an individual company or invest in a fund, that will own many stocks based on the type of funds that it is. The main part of investing is that you keep putting money in it on a regular basis. Additionally you keep an eye on the money, just to be aware of what is happening. for a regular stock, like google, you will probably want to hold on to it through ups and downs. for funds, they need to be watched more closely. certain types of economic downturns can kill certain types of funds. you don't want to be there when that happens. lots of people lost tons of money when magellen went down a few years back. index funds are based on all of the stocks of a particular sector. if the average goes up, your value goes up. Since they don't have a manager there are less management fees. the younger you are, the greater the risk you can take. risk = greater potential return, also greater potential to lose your money. the more conservative the fund, the less the potential return.