I am currently interested in starting up my portfolio. Any good investment tips? I figured I should play it rather conservative at first. Anything else?
2007-09-03 09:28:23 · 5 answers · asked by Matt F 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
Index funds is a pretty safe way of going. You can look them up on your broker's page or on yahoo finance. An S&P 500 fund will probably be a good large cap fund to pick.
If you individual stocks here's some I'd recommend.
XOM - Exxon Mobil - Energy has been doing really well over the past few years and with demand constantly growing, should be fine over the next couple.
MO - Altria - This company's main revenue comes from Malboro cigarettes. They pay a large dividend (4%, I think) per quarter.
BAC - Bank of America. Very stable financial institution. Also pays a dividend.
For every person who loves a stock, someone else hates it. Jim Cramer on thestreet.com is quite sharp but he often buys and sells stocks frequently - something I'd recommend against doing all the time. His rules for investing are interesting and pretty good reading.
MotleyFool at www.fool.com is a pretty easy to use financial site. The articles are written in a more humorous way and is a good introduction to investing.
Good luck, be patient, and remember if you're investing for the long haul, don't panic over the day to day stuff.
2007-09-03 09:36:00 · answer #1 · answered by James 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My tip.. don't be to conservative, and don't get married too early....
Looking back, and looking at the lives of others that have built big portfolios, I think that they ALL were more agressive than I was...
I realize now that when you are young is a much better tme to be agressive. If you fail, you have more time to recover, it won't impact your lifestyle too heavily, and hopefully, you dont have many others depending on you to maintian their lifestyle..
Which brings up marriage... that usually becomes "with kids" at which point, you have NO room to be too agressive, and you must be conservative. Married life also taps into your money supply, and limits which ventures you can undertakke.
If you are young, stay single, and think big.
2007-09-03 09:36:30 · answer #2 · answered by minitrail70 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Diversification is probably the safest bet. Invest in different industries and different types of investments (stocks, mutual funds, bonds, etc). I also suggest investing is long-term. Don't day trade, it's stressful and rarely worth it. You're more likely to lose your shirt over it, too. Don't borrow to invest, that's another way to lose your shirt.
Also, use common sense when investing. If you see a company that seems to be doing well (like a department store or specialty shop), check them out, they may be a good investment.
2007-09-03 09:36:39 · answer #3 · answered by PRC SD 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answers already submitted cover this pretty well so the only advice I would submit is to buy or check out at your public library, Jim Cramer's Mad Money it is a great book for beginners, after you finish it you may even want to buy his RealMoney book which is for more advanced investors. Jim was a record Hedge Fund manager and now has a show on CNBC called MAD Money weeknights at 6 p.m. central. You should look him up on wikipedia for more info. He has made me 23.4% this year even after the recent fall out in the markets.
2007-09-03 15:16:31 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mutual funds with a large mutual fund company are a good way to start. Each fund will have stated objectives, so you can choose one based on its record and on how much risk you are willing to tolerate.
2007-09-03 09:48:31 · answer #5 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋