The stock market thread

[ASacrificedSon]

Hey guys. So for my economy class, we are doing a stock market simulation. I was in 11th place, but now I'm in last place: 71st place.
I invested all my stock in Amazon and after realizing it is dropping, it dropped my overall net worth. I have 100,000 to start with, but I dropped to 88,000.
What is your tips? Should I invest all my money to one stock? Should I distribute it evenly among many stocks.
What stocks of you recommend investing in?

[jasc15]

I did this project in my high school economics class.  For the timeframe of a school year or semester I don't think this exercise has much value.  On this timeframe it's just gambling, and the "winner" doesn't necessarily have any better knowledge or strategy than the losers.

As for tips, do not invest in one stock.  However, as I mentioned, you will prob not beat the guy who happened to go all in with one successful stock.  That guy will also probably learn the wrong lesson: that you can be successful picking stocks.

I invest in the whole stock market, with either an S&P500 index, extended market index (those stocks not on the S&P500) or international index, etc.

We also have an investing thread here (though a bit old):

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=4349.0

Also I recommend you play with this game for a while to get the idea.  You watch random segments of the S&P500 index go buy, and you click when you think its best to buy or sell.  Do it enough times, and you will see you can't do it consistently (nor can the "pro's").

https://qz.com/487013/this-game-will-show-you-just-how-foolish-it-is-to-sell-stocks-right-now/

[ASacrificedSon]

Greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

[Chino]

I won this stock game twice in college. I'd buy into some gold mining companies. I've made upwards of 30% on ABX so far this year.

[Chino]

So I'm not quite sure what to do with some of my shares.

I have two gold mining companies that I've invested in. I'm up 62% on ABX and 185% on HMY since I purchased them back in January. I expect that the price of gold will continue to increase along with the value of my shares. I was originally going to let these guys run long, but I have an opportunity to save 40% on a boat package if I buy it before the end of March. I'm debating unloading my shares of these two companies early in order to buy the boat.

Your thoughts?

[jasc15]

Looks you have a high probability of earning 40% on the boat.  Is the probability of earning 40% on these shares as high?  I would guess not.

[Chino]

Looks you have a high probability of earning 40% on the boat.  Is the probability of earning 40% on these shares as high?  I would guess not.

It's hard to say. HMY is up 275% in the last 3 months.

[axeman90210]

I vote for the boat, but then again I'm the boring guy who's invested entirely in low cost index funds.

[Chino]

Looks you have a high probability of earning 40% on the boat.  Is the probability of earning 40% on these shares as high?  I would guess not.

Also, I'm not a math wiz, but wouldn't the percentages not really matter in this case? 40% more on the stocks is not the same as the 40% off the cost of the boat. 40% off the cost of the boat is roughly $750, whereas, I'd need to make another 100% or so on the stocks to equal that dollar amount. Selling off my current shares will just make the cost of the boat easier to swallow.

[jasc15]

With 40% off the purchase of the boat, your dollar effectively has a 40% increase in purchasing power; effectively the same as an increase of 40% in the stock value.  However, if the shares you are selling for the boat are a small portion of your stock position*, then this doesn't make as large a difference.

*Edit: just re-read your post and saw that this is just the inverse of what you were saying.

[cramx3]

Don't forget to consider the tax on that money you earned from the stocks

I don't play the market besides having my 401k and I also own stock for the private company I work for, but I am interested in investing at some point.  I have an e-trade account and just a few weeks ago set it to start funneling small amounts of money on a monthly basis (so I don't spend or effectively notice it) and then when I am ready to figure out how/what to invest then I have the money ready.

[Chino]

I'm glad I decided to hold it, at least for now. The Fed's announcement to not raise interest rates just gave all my gold a nice bump.

[Chino]

I've made an absolutely stupid amount of money on PTX over the last three days with significantly larger gains expected now through November. Got in at $0.49

[gmillerdrake]

speaking with my broker this morning he told me to invest heavily into Canned Goods and Ammo.....

[TempusVox]

speaking with my broker this morning he told me to invest heavily into Canned Goods and Ammo.....

So basically, with all apologies to Warren Zevon, "Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money...the shit has hit the fan!"

[eric42434224]

speaking with my broker this morning he told me to invest heavily into Canned Goods and Ammo.....

Said no stock broker EVER.