Call me crazy but I feel like investing some money in the stock market

Mind you, my investments will be like my gambling - not enough to get me seriously in trouble if I lose it all (I have never spent more than $20 at any given time in the casinos and I've probably gambled about 10 times in my life at a casino).

But at this point I'm thinking all this stock is dirt cheap and it's only going to get better. Hell, with Citibank less than $2 a share, how bad would it get if I was able to buy 20 shares of it and see what happens.

Mind you, I'm a finanicial idiot and someone will tell me that this is the wrong way to go about it. But I suspect people are going to see the markets as soon hitting rock bottom and will want to grab some penny stocks of big name companies to see what happens.

And don't forget my cut! :hide:

Disclaimer: I'm as clueless as you! :fistbump:

I figured I'd buy $50-$100 worth of stock and see what happens. I'll pick 2-3 big name companies like Citi or GM, where the stock is almost worthless and watch what happens. And if I make no money off it then well it wasn't much I tossed into the market to start.

And your cut is a beer next time I see you - ok :D

n/t

yesterdays rally was just that, an oversold correction sparked by citi and the up tick rule chatter. the market needed something, ANYTHING to rally and it did.. the citi rumor is HIGHLY suspect IMO! the numbers do not add up. Pandit said they may have the best quarter since the 3rd? quarter of 2007. well just so you understand, the best quarter since Q3 07 had them LOSING 60 cents a share!. we will not get actual numbers until 4/14?? thats a MONTH from now, how many times have we seen estimates change up to and even AFTER results were reported!. this could be a bear market rally and it could last into the first half of April or not!. either way IMO we tank into may for the mother of all bottoms!! I am looking for a hard bottom at around SPX 540, DOW 5200. hold on to your ass!!!!

since my investment horizon is still 20-25 years.

30 years ahead of me, and I buy in monthly to a number of mutual funds. But I don't put so much in that it would really hurt me if I lost everthing.

I started nibbling a couple of months ago but singular stocks (Bristol Myers), but overall I'm keeping most of my money in cash or CDs. (I've been putting $250 a month into various mutual funds. And I bought about 50 shares of BMY. I'm not exactly a financial robber baron.)

I have some stock already. It's my gambling money, too. I haven't looked at it for an age. I'm definitely thinking I could put a few more $$$ into the stock market just for fun. Let me know if you find something good.

Solar panel companies, wind farm companies etc. would all be good picks right now.

I'm thinking it's time to ease back into the stocks again, too.

thinking of doing the same thing.

It has been a form of amusement watching it go up and down a penny at a time. We decided to invest in a company that we do business with. We used our friend, who is a stock broker, for the transaction so he was thrilled to get to add a new customer and get a check. Spreading the love here in Ohio.

with some Ford stock that I picked up 26 shares of when it was $1.61. I should have sold it when Chimpy decided to buck the Senate Repukes and gave the first bailout to Detroit. I was figuring that wouldn't happen until we got President Obama.

At nearly every point since then, the very best I would do with it is break even after Sharebuilder charges me ten bucks to unload it. Although I must say, it's been slightly more entertaining than the twenty bucks I put in a Super Bowl office pool in late January. And, I did pick the stronger of the pair of Ford and GM, I'm not likely to be completely wiped out.

so far they have not taken any government money and they are working with the unions. their debt load is a fraction of GM`s ( wich will kill them in the end! IMO. ) eventually they will need some form of aid but i doubt they will bargain away their company to get it..

I saw a commercial for Rhinebeck Ford in the Hudson Valley, NY
Buy any NEW FORD and we will give you 50 shares of FORD stock.
Ford is trading around $1.99 share = 99.50 woooooo whoooooo!

where they say, show us you were a Ford stock owner before the beginning of this year, and you'll get a really sweet deal on a Ranger truck!

I figure when the economy does perk up again, I will do OK, because if there is any US nameplate auto company that is going to survive the recession/depression, it will be Ford.

In any case, I still have beer money, so I'm not sweating it!

I'd love to learn from you. :hi:

cause I don't have a fricking clue

We'll learn

:hi:

It's not quite time for bargain hunting yet unless you can bear (no pun intended) the frustration of a long soft trough.

The avg. bear market lasts 2 years and we're only 16 months into what should be a very long & extended one. While a full-bore panic has been averted, the lack of good financial underpinnings are going to eat away at equities for a while yet ... Detroit, G.E., etc.

If you haven't already, reduce your gamble: Learn to do real analysis of stocks before you go in.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2004/06/30/7-steps-to-finding-gems.aspx

I follow most of these methods, using Excel spreadsheets & web-scraping the company income, cashflow & balance sheets off various financial websites (fool, msn, yahoo ...).

There are some good authors on Fool, but there's also a lot of hype. Learn to recognize the hype and fact-check them against Investopedia, other investment how-to sites.

I immediately screen against ROIC (available on TMF, MSN, etc.) make sure the ROIC is above basement (7 and up), calculate it 3 ways, average those numbers. I also calculate their weighted avg cost of capital (WACC) & maker sure the WACC-ROIC spread is positive (ROIC higher than WACC).

If some writer trumpets bargains b/c free cash flow or debt/equity ratios look groovy, buyer beware, they're not enough. Take a certain large coffee house company ... they appear to me to have thrown good money in after bad & now their ROIC vs. their WACC doesn't add up in my books.

There are really good value stocks out there with good WACC, ROIC, good FCF, good comparative P/B, P/etc. that are now to be had at a bargain (price below 1.5 * 2 year low), but they are rare.

I also get the enterprise value first to get a value per share that's in the ballpark (careful capital intensive businesses, however, like cargo ships, not to discount their heavy capital & debt loads...).

And one other thing: Be sure to look at the short ratios (days) & index futures before going in. It's not just bargains, it's timing as well.

There'll be lots of opportunities down the road to get in & do well, but start by getting your feet wet by tracking your picks first, then modify your strategy as you go. The trough will be long enough to take the time to refine your method. Don't let other people's exuberance (feigned, imagined or real) take you in too early for your own good.

Believe me. I speak from experience.

i have no money invested in the stock market. I'm talking less than $100 of money that I could survive if I went belly up. I'm in it for fun not to become super rich.

I moved 95% of 401K into Ready assets, w 5 in treasury bonds last fall. Yesterday I researched early withdrawals (10% penalty besides regular income tax with some plans allowing hardships). Since our $ is not insured in these funds, couldn't it entirely evaporate? I'd like to have our mortgage, property taxes for a few years (over 12,000 per yr), & living expenses set aside in case my husband's job disappears. Am I totally irrational?

... and if you have any mad money left over, you have time to do research & learn how to screen

I'm tossing $50-$100 into the stock market and seeing what happens.

I won't be buying any because I have no money to play around with currently but I think they will be a leader in wind and solar at some point and yes, I know they own the dreaded MSNBC.

:-)

or KOOL, any Stem cell stock should do fairly well for a while now..:shrug:

...that you will make a killing when this whole thing turns around.

QCOM

Don't forget the 62 trillion dollar credit default swap market hanging over the global financial firms like the sword of damocles.

Wait until regulations are in place that require real transparency before you touch financial stocks.
edited for spelling

I have been waiting for over three weeks for the rollover from my previous employer's retirement account to arrive in a new Roth IRA so I can play with it! I won't wager the whole amount, but I have my eye on a few companies I like, and I want to get in before the general trend is up again. Also, my new employer's retirement account is starting from scratch, so I have very little to lose there at this time (seriously... less than $200, and slowly accumulating contributions from each pay period), so I have the "guided choices" set to the highest risk factor (all in stocks). Once I start to accumulate a balance, I can reassess at any time and shift it to a safer profile.

Personally, I'd prefer to see capitalism suffer its long-deserved and overdue demise, but that's just me.