Time to play in the stock market. I know nothing!

**MagicMan** · 02-21-2008, 07:19 AM

I think it's time to have my $ make $ for me. I'd like to get into the stock market etc, but I really don't know anything about it. I'd also like to diversify the $ in my IRA, but don't know the best places to put it.

**hamburger68** · 02-21-2008, 07:48 AM

two words: be careful.
ask your environment (friends/family) to recommend a trustworthy banker/broker. high gains mean high risk, and they always have a product to sell. if it's money you need, meaning no play money, i wouldnt invest in single values but rather in mutual funds.

**OnEbAdReDSS** · 02-21-2008, 07:51 AM

you can make a killing my grampa has a shit load in it... right now is a down time... he has sold a little so he doesn't get screwed... i know in one acount he invested a 1,000 in it and now has over 105,000 made..

**Tobynine9** · 02-21-2008, 08:31 AM

The best advice, IMO, is to just buy index funds. Don't try to pick individual stocks. Unless you know something nobody else does, and odds are you don't, you'll statistically never beat the market alone.

**86 IROC-Z** · 02-21-2008, 09:50 AM

Best way to make money is probably by insider trading,
but obviously not the best thing to do in general.

**0rion** · 02-21-2008, 09:54 AM

anyone use e-trade? I looked at investing some money for my son that's just play money for when he graduates high school. The fee's were sorta confusing but looked like there was a fee for everything and then a fee for having that fee. I just want to drop $500-$600 in an account for him and just let it sit for 12-13 years.

**hamburger68** · 02-21-2008, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by 0rion

anyone use e-trade? I looked at investing some money for my son that's just play money for when he graduates high school. The fee's were sorta confusing but looked like there was a fee for everything and then a fee for having that fee. I just want to drop $500-$600 in an account for him and just let it sit for 12-13 years.

read lots of reviews and then buy a good, well mixed fund.

**LS1Powerhouse** · 02-21-2008, 10:27 AM

Research and attack when the stock price is low.. We played a game in economics.. I kicked ass lol

**Nhra Firebird** · 02-21-2008, 01:21 PM

Put the money in mutual funds. If your younger i would go with a higher risk fund. The market isn't the best now, so that makes it a good time to be buying shares up. The market is always gonna go back up. Don't worry if your not making any money right now, because you will be buying more shares for your money. If your older i would stay more on the safe side, because you might not have enough time for the market to go back up. Then you would be stuck selling your shares for a cheaper price.

**MagicMan** · 02-21-2008, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by Nhra Firebird

Put the money in mutual funds. If your younger i would go with a higher risk fund. The market isn't the best now, so that makes it a good time to be buying shares up. The market is always gonna go back up. Don't worry if your not making any money right now, because you will be buying more shares for your money. If your older i would stay more on the safe side, because you might not have enough time for the market to go back up. Then you would be stuck selling your shares for a cheaper price.

Don't mutual funds have a pretty low reward?

**Tobynine9** · 02-21-2008, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by MagicMan

Don't mutual funds have a pretty low reward?

Not that they have a low reward (of course, some do), but they tend to have pretty high fees. And the financial companies are good at hiding them while still "technically" disclosing them.

That's why I suggest index funds. Management fees are next to nothing compared to an actively managed fund since they're not out researching and picking stocks, they're just buying a pre-specified bundle.

Say you've got a mutual fund makes 13% but requires 4% in management fees. And you've also got the same amount of money in an S&P 500 index fund that earns only 11% over the same period but only charges a .3% fee. In that case, the S&P fund actually earns 1.7% more.

**FuxOnTheFirstDate** · 02-21-2008, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by MagicMan

I think it's time to have my $ make $ for me. I'd like to get into the stock market etc, but I really don't know anything about it. I'd also like to diversify the $ in my IRA, but don't know the best places to put it.

Stock options. Straddles, strangles, implied volatility, strike price, expiration, etc.

I took my real account from $2,500 to over $8,000 last year and my virtual trading account from $500,000 to $1,373,589.

**MagicMan** · 02-21-2008, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by FuxOnTheFirstDate

Stock options. Straddles, strangles, implied volatility, strike price, expiration, etc.

I took my real account from $2,500 to over $8,000 last year and my virtual trading account from $500,000 to $1,373,589.

How about more info in English?