Reply to: Has the stock crash started?

[RightLaugh]

Yep, that's good advice. They're cheap to buy into as well since there is much less effort involved in investing according to an index, rather than stock-picking.

Before I pulled out a couple of months ago I invested a good amount in the FTSE 250 ishare. As you can see it does alot better then the 100 and the Dow.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5...EFTMC&c=%5EDJI

250 has just gone below the 11,000 barrier. Only a few weeks ago it was above 12,000. Might be worth a punt now. If it goes down further then another punt to bring down the average.

[oraclesmith]

From what I understand 85% of funds under perform when compared to the FTSE 100. Might as well buy a FTSE 100 or 250 tracker EFT ishare.

Yep, that's good advice. They're cheap to buy into as well since there is much less effort involved in investing according to an index, rather than stock-picking.

[mrdonuts]

DIY or go the tracker route, pay some tosser to manage my money, i think not

[RightLaugh]

Investment funds are good, however you can gain an extra 2 or 3% long-term by cutting out their charges. An alternative is to subscribe to some Investment Research. Standard & Poor for example, and select your own stocks, from their recommendations. An advantage here is you can set your own risk level, and its more fun . After a crash you can nimbly rush into a market and you always make a killing 5 years later. Keep enough cash to be able to dive in when the markets crash, this happens at least once a decade, and there is usually a severe correction at least every 5 years (my experience).

I had about 10 stocks originally and that went well I now have 30 or 40 stocks, and never put more than 5% in any one stock. That means worst case a bankruptcy would cost me 5%, which normally would be compensated by about 10% from the rest of the portfolio. However bankruptcies, except in the case of fraud, are easy to avoid, as companies usually make losses over a few years before it finally happens.

From what I understand 85% of funds under perform when compared to the FTSE 100. Might as well buy a FTSE 100 or 250 tracker EFT ishare.

[Euro-commuter]

Anthony Bolton is still the fund manager of the original Special Sits fund but since they split the holding the other special sits fund run by Jorma Korhonen has done less well. Still good performers though and made me some money. In my opinion.

Wasn't he the Jefferson Airplane guitarist?

[oraclesmith]

Most of Fidelity top-performers were overseen by Anthony Bolton who was a star fund manager for many years. I think since his retirement a couple of years ago performance has dropped off.

Anthony Bolton is still the fund manager of the original Special Sits fund but since they split the holding the other special sits fund run by Jorma Korhonen has done less well. Still good performers though and made me some money. In my opinion.

[meridian]

Anyone spread betting?

Yep, had a couple of quid on Apple for the last three weeks, finally came right yesterday

[BlasterBates]

Investment funds are good, however you can gain an extra 2 or 3% long-term by cutting out their charges. An alternative is to subscribe to some Investment Research. Standard & Poor for example, and select your own stocks, from their recommendations. An advantage here is you can set your own risk level, and its more fun . After a crash you can nimbly rush into a market and you always make a killing 5 years later. Keep enough cash to be able to dive in when the markets crash, this happens at least once a decade, and there is usually a severe correction at least every 5 years (my experience).

I had about 10 stocks originally and that went well I now have 30 or 40 stocks, and never put more than 5% in any one stock. That means worst case a bankruptcy would cost me 5%, which normally would be compensated by about 10% from the rest of the portfolio. However bankruptcies, except in the case of fraud, are easy to avoid, as companies usually make losses over a few years before it finally happens.

[alreadypacked]

Thanks for the heads up on Fidelity, I am only doing this with spare cash. Putting my pension fund on the Lotto this week 16 million.

[LGDT]

What do you think about Fidelity, I had an account with them when I was in Germany, it seem to do ok.

Most of Fidelity top-performers were overseen by Anthony Bolton who was a star fund manager for many years. I think since his retirement a couple of years ago performance has dropped off.

FWIW – and remember I am not qualified to give advice, investments can go down as well as up, do your own research etc – my current 2 main plays are:

http://www.trustnet.co.uk/ut/funds/?fund=4840 (fund of funds for providing income which rolls up alongside capital growth)

http://www.trustnet.co.uk/it/funds/?fund=45082 – star performer for the last 6 years. Ireland’s economy does all the things we used to do before NL got into power and this gives great exposure.

[~Craig~]

just been onto the Hargreaves Lansdown website and they have some pdf guides you can download which even made sense to me!

[alreadypacked]

What do you think about Fidelity, I had an account with them when I was in Germany, it seem to do ok.

[LGDT]

whats pound/cost averaging?

wont transaction costs clobber you if you invest more regularly?

The problem with most amateur investors (and I'm one remember) is that they try to call the top and bottom of the market before making investment decisions.

The key with stock markets is time not timing. There's an algorithm somewhere that shows if you'd been out of the market for something like a one month a year for the last 50 years you would have missed out on 80% of the growth.

So logically, they key is to invest amounts regularly (into your ISA or pension if you have one) to spread your exposure and take advantage of the dips as well as benefiting from the spikes. This is what is known as pound/cost averaging.

WRT to transaction costs – it all depends on your strategy. For the most part I’ve avoided specific plays on single stocks and preferred to use collective investments like unit and investment trusts. For unit trusts I use Hargreaves Lansdown who discount the bulk of the bid/offer spread and annual management charges from the fund manager in return for a small annual commission. With investment trusts, which are quoted shares on the FTSE, I deal direct with the fund manager as they usually offer a savings plan that keeps the admin and purchase costs to a minimum.

But it’s cheap enough to deal monthly in specific shares using online brokers.

[alreadypacked]

LGDT, I think we need a bit of a master class on this ?

[brownie74]

invest regularly?

whats pound/cost averaging?

wont transaction costs clobber you if you invest more regularly?