I have a question for anyone who's a small or big time player in the stock market. I would like to invest in a

Question

company that I've been watching for the last 1yr and went from $80 a share to $140 a share. I would like to know if I was to invest $4000 in this company for the long haul would this be wise and I would like to know if you can buy that may shares of a company from an online trade company. I'm not really familiar with online trading but can you just buy shares in a company and leave it at that or does there have to be a certain amount of activity. thanks for the help

Answer 1

You are not telling us enough about the company. Sure you can spend $4000 online. But why would you want to buy and hold?

Jim Cramer is 100% right when he says the name of the game is not buy and hold, it's buy and homework.

Answer 2

I have several suggestions for you. I am a very experienced investor. I am an economist, I am among the best investors in the world, and I teach.

First, go visit Edward Jones. They are a good and respectable brokerage firm. They will keep you out of trouble and should do a good job at making you money. From the substance of your question, your skills are too low to make this choice without help and make a good choice. You wouldn't ask here if you had the skills already, you would either have bought the stock or rejected it. I have never worked for, nor been associated with Edward Jones. They have an excellent reputation. Internal ethics compliance is very important to them. Being trustworthy is the core of their business. They will not likely make you preposterously rich, but they will do a very good job.

Second, educate yourself. I recommend as a first book, "The Intelligent Investor," by Benjamin Graham. It is an excellent book. It was last published in 1972, but it is still in print and will be in print 100 years from now.

Warren Buffett, the world's second richest person until he gave it all away, started with only $10,000 in 1956. The investment company he manages was trading for about $10 per share at the time. It now trades at $120,000 per share. He read the book (actually Dr. Graham was his professor). Read it, do what it says, make money and stay out of trouble.

Third, you can buy as many shares as you like from an online firm. If you have the money, they will arrange the purchase. Hand them millions and millions and they will be glad to do anything you like, for a fee.

Some firms do require a certain level of activity to avoid service charges, but otherwise it does not require a level of activity. If you are concerned about activity fees, you can purchase the stock and it will cost you about $40 additional, but you can have the shares mailed to your home. Put it in a safe deposit box or a firesafe because they are the devil to replace if you lose them or they are destroyed.

Answer 3

Yes, you can buy at Scottrade and let it sit there. Some brokers will charge an annual fee. I do not think Scottrade does.

Sounds like AAPL. There is a great deal of risk investing in technology companies. You need to be aware of that. Indeed AAPL has performed very well, but in the blink of an eye someone could come out with a gadget that would make the AAPL offerings obsolete. On the other hand Steven Jobs knows his stuff. As long as he is with the company, I expect the future is sound. If he leaves, watch out. Also a company trading at such a high PE ratio is subject to a lot of volitility.

If you are up to it, go for it.

I would be remis if I did not suggest an alternative for you to consider. One with less risk but also with less potential reward. But if you are thinking of investing in one thing for the long term, it would be my opinion that less risk would be appropriate unless that $4000 is just pocket change. Consider T Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Fund. Just think about it.

But I will say this. AAPL does have a lot of potential .

Answer 4

Try doing this transaction where you have your other investments. If you don't have any other investments, limiting your market exposure to only one security probably isn't a good idea - especially if it might have just been over-valued.

Oh, and read some basic books on investing so you understand why buying only one security is a bad idea. Then you'll be more prepared to go it alone.

Answer 5

Sure appl had got plenty of Potetional, Stevie under SEC Investgation, Iphone hacked and now REDUCED in price (still overpriced and overhyped) the new Ipods didn't wow anyone and their saving grace is the Mac. Yup plenty of potetional there.

Answer 6

Look first at:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/research/wizards/srwtarget.asp?Symbol=aapl
and
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ae?s=AAPL
then you know a little bit of the expectations!
theo