Black gold

[MarillionFan]

My stock purchases of BP appear to have been a little early this week. Oh well, see what the market does next week.

[jamesbrown]

My stock purchases of BP appear to have been a little early this week. Oh well, see what the market does next week.

Medium-term, they're a good bet. There's obviously a lot of negativity surrounding oil and, for BP in particular, Deepwater, but these will both fade over time and BP are relatively insulated from oil prices (economies of scale here, as the upstream earnings loss is partially offset by the improved downstream margins), so they can improve their market position relative to the small producers in such an environment. It's a solid company with good earnings growth and a high dividend (currently 7%), which is a priority for management, and well-covered by profit, at least through 2016. BP and Shell both present a good opportunity medium-term IMHO, even if oil prices slide further in the short-term (difficult to call a bottom).

[BlasterBates]

My stock purchases of BP appear to have been a little early this week. Oh well, see what the market does next week.

It was a good call, the markets are "misbehaving" a completely over the top reaction to the fact that China's growth is now only 6%. Even so could be choppy for a while. I piled into Shell this week. I've been following this stock since last November.

They're both paying 7% dividends with a PE ratio under 10 (i.e. profits galore), and that with the oil price at $40. I have never seen such a good buying opportunity. What are these stocks going to do when oil goes back to $80, the mind boggles.

As James says these companies are diversified and can take advantage of downstream activities as well. So when the oil price goes down they just open more petrol stations and when it goes up they just drill more oil. But investors see Oil down ooh Shell BP bad...., but Shell and BP are excellently managed companies.

It's just a fantastic buy with very little downside (medium term) and a very significant upside.

[PurpleGorilla]

Black gold

America barks and we jump, a major state side correction is on the cards.











This is no blip.

[jamesbrown]

Hmmmm, starting to look like a full on capitulation, although it's early days. Beware the dead-cat bounce some time this week. That said, if you have a medium-term outlook, there will be some seriously good buying opportunities.

[MarillionFan]

Hmmmm, starting to look like a full on capitulation, although it's early days. Beware the dead-cat bounce some time this week. That said, if you have a medium-term outlook, there will be some seriously good buying opportunities.

Asian markets down 4%+ so far today, saw a drop of 8.4% in China earlier but must have been an intraday low. That means an extended sell today.

Experience tells me these are the best times to start looking to build a position in the markets, but entry is key, nerves of steel and then not touching the money for a few years as it comes back up.

Only put in 7k so far in the last week, so down about a grand so far. Reckon today will be a dead loss and a lot of automatic triggers kicking in first thing, but solid dividend stocks also get caught in these slides, so plenty of opportunities appearing,

Interesting, no real movement in Gold, few points up recently, and now again more expense than platinum,but as the basis of the slide is low growth in China it's hard to see where to put money. On a side note though, Euro holiday properties are now a real bargain as the fuel is so week

[BlasterBates]

Just now wait until the tubulence has subsided, and if they're down then buy some more, i.e. hedge your risk by investing over time. In my view this is not a crash, it's a correction, the European and US economies are still recovering.

However if it is a crash, even better, a gr8 opportunity to pick up cheap stocks. Make sure you have cash available. If you invest 10 grand now and it halves in value, you invest 5 grand at the bottom thereby doubling your holding and make a killing over the next few months.

If you have 50% of your portfolio in cash and 50% in stocks, during a crash, the cash part of your portfolio is "going up", i.e. you're hedged.

[MarillionFan]

Just now wait until the tubulence has subsided, and if they're down then buy some more, i.e. hedge your risk by investing over time. In my view this is not a crash, it's a correction, the European and US economies are still recovering.

However if it is a crash, even better, a gr8 opportunity to pick up cheap stocks. Make sure you have cash available. If you invest 10 grand now and it halves in value, you invest 5 grand at the bottom thereby doubling your holding and make a killing over the next few months.

If you have 50% of your portfolio in cash and 50% in stocks, during a crash, the cash part of your portfolio is "going up", i.e. you're hedged.

Agreed.

Down at 6012 on open. I see a sea of red on my screen with the exception of Aquarius platinum.

BP was up first thing, before capitulating and dropping to349. Standard life in my list biggest hit with a 5% drop

[MarillionFan]

Breached 6000 into the 5900s. Excellent.

[DimPrawn]

I will go all in at zero.