what is the best way to invest?

Question

i have account with sharebuilde. every month, i invested about 150.00 buying stocks. right now, i have 20 different stocks in my account. is it better to buy one or two stocks at a time with 150.00? or should i buy all 20 stocks (portion of the stock) ?

Answer 1

I have a share builder account too, automatic monthly investments into 6 ETFs (you can do stocks and/or mutual funds) for $12.

Not getting into "what" to invest in but "how".

With share builder's fee schedule, with automatic investing, buying 20 stocks every month you are losing money to the fees.

So if you buy one stock a month and pay the $4 fee then it's only a 2.6% commission and change it every month. The next step is 6 different stocks for $12, I wouldn't do this, your commission rate is %8, too high for me.

Answer 2

20 stocks seems like a lot to me. I would focus on 5 to 7 stocks, each in a different industry. If you are on a regular save-and-invest schedule each month, then you are on the right track. I would recommend a couple of other things. Listen to the quarterly conference calls for all of your stocks. (this is why 5 might be enough). You might also want to read "The Little Book that Beats the Market" - this is great for learning the fundamentals. You might also want to see what other investors are buying and selling. You can see this information at http://www.top10traders.com - this is a free site that lets you create a portfolio of stocks with $100,000 in "play" money. Each day the site ranks the best performing portfolios, so you can see how your picks perform compared to other investors.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I would go for a mutual fund, maybe an index fund with very low administrative costs and fees. You get greater diversification that way. If you are buying stocks you are better off buying different stocks, but I suspect you are already in mutual funds, because shares are rarely sold in fractions. You may just continue to continue to spread it out over the 20 funds. If they are all the same type funds, you may want to diversify. Not all high tech for example some growth and income, some bonds, some mixed blend some small cap, some large cap. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Answer 4

Financial experts will tell you to diversify your investments and you should – Here are some ways to go about diversifying your investments:

First of all, when many people think of diversification they think of putting money in many, many different stocks. In reality, you don’t need more than eight to ten stocks in order to be diversified. Personally, I typically only hold eights stocks at any given time. This number allows you to reap the rewards of good stock picks while also protecting your portfolio against one-time disasters.

read more at http://ibooyah.com/blog/2006/11/the_rules_to_diversification_1.html

Answer 5

I agree with Mr. Burns. The long-term evidence says to invest it in stock and bond index funds - they are low cost, get you the most consistent returns for the lowest corresponding risk. By investing in stocks individually, you're are likely not going to diversify broadly enough (you might just invest in stocks or industries you know, and not get exposure to industries that aren't as popular). If your trading costs are low, another way to go is to buy a number of index-oriented ETFs (exchange traded funds) which are similar to mutual funds except trade like stocks and have slighly better tax features.

Answer 6

Buy as many different stocks as you can, so your portfolio will be diversified!

Answer 7

Diversify is for bird.
Return is unbearable.
Research is gold
Focus is wealth.

Answer 8

You should contact a good broker i.e. @ A G Edwards

Answer 9

go big or go home invest it all