Hi all,\nI am pretty much a newcomer in stock investing. If I am not mistaken, right now U.S are still under the bear market. So should I start investing on current market or should I find other countries's stocks which have bull market? I personally have no idea what're the advantages and disadvantages of bull or bear market so please enlighten my curiosity thanks.
120461
Good question. First off, depending on who you talk with, US stocks have had a fairly strong bull run from late 2002. There are several schools of thought as to the current market trend. My view is that leading US stocks that drove this rally (GOOG, EBAY, YHOO, APPL, etc.) are being distributed, if this continues, the general market is probably going lower. Could change at any time.\n\nThe US and western Europe have the best developed, most liquid equity markets. Other markets have excellent potential, however there is more risk as well. For the most part, financial statements released by US companies are reliable. Other countires may not be as rigorous. There may be other risks in less developed markets as well.\n\nThere are so many different ways to invest in stocks, it's very hard to determine if you should start now.\n\nYou need to learn about the market and develop the skills to decide what is best for you.\n\nWarren Buffett and William O'Neil are examples of people very successful investing in stocks. They share some similar views, but are very different investors. Search them on Yahoo! O'Neil's book "How to Make Money in Stocks," is excellent.\n\nTaking a position in a stock or market takes research, planning and courage. Mutual funds, ETFs and hedge funds are excellent alternatives.
611303
Well if you are going long term (5-15 yrs) why not go to something like Spiders (SPDR).  Every share is 1/10 of the S&P index.  No individual sector is going to be able to hold up over the long term.
442912
Hey stud,\n\nTough to rank top 10 stocks right now without knowing what kind of stocks you're looking for.  Some people like slow steady.  Some like volatile stocks.  Others love dividend stocks.  Still yet, there's timeframe to consider.  The top stock today may be tomorrow's worst one.  So, that's why it's difficult to answer your question.\n\nIn general, education is your best asset.  Going to thestreet.com and investopedia.com will help.\n\nLearn some of the basics and ask a more specific question so we can better help you.\n\nAs for the rest of your question, rightnow the Japan market is somewhat sideways.  I would have some international diversification in it, but it's not necessary.\n\nAs for real estate, currently real estate sector kind of sucks.  It's going sideways at the moment, and that is better than declining, but it's still got a ways to go before I'd call it booming!  \n\nBest of luck!
462369
I have had lot's of success in penny stocks, but it is dangerous. The penny stock market I know is the Canadian Venture exchange where many new miners, and drillers go to get capital. There are also nice ones on the Australian Exchange. However, doing real research is difficult so be careful. These stocks trade on the US bulletin boards as OTC symbols. Some I like, are MEO.V, CHX.V, FMM.V, But be very careful. They can double easily, but just as easily get cut in half.
182958
You got a lot of responses that the stock market is not a game.  Maybe they are correct and maybe not.  It has been a game with me for the last 50 years.  It is more fun than going to Los Vegas. The risks are less and the rewards can be astronomical. You are pitting your expertise against the expertise of every one else investing in stocks. It is a zero sum game. When you buy a stock that means someone elso is selling it. For every person that believes that a stock is a good buy someone else thinks it is a good sell. Keep that in mind. \n\nMany on line brokers, if not all--I am really not sure--have research resources such as Standards & Poors stock reports, Argus, Reuters, and Market Edge. Those are the ones my on line broker provides. besides that your public library is likely to have Barrons, Wall Street Journal, Value Line, Standard & Poors, and Investors Daily and books on the stock market and investing.
129959
Indonesia Fund (IF) has had major intraday gyrations recently but liquidity is bad, at least on odd lots.  I had to wait several minutes for a market order to fill a few days ago.  I have had better luck buying and selling with limit orders.\n\nBallard Power (BLDP) volatility has spiked to an extreme this month.  FCEL, AMSC, and EMKR can generally be counted on to move somewhere every day--I just wish I could figure out which way.  These aren't penny stocks.  The spreads are decent.  I don't trade them enough to comment on liquidity but market orders have always filled right away.
343270
I've done that with what I call 'loose change'.  Sometimes I've got a few dollars sitting around, obviously not going to make a lot of interest and not large enough for something substantial.  If some risky thing has been going down but I still feel it worth holding onto (its kinda fun when you sweat over a $90 stock moving a couple of bucks while a stock selling for less than a dime now goes for a buck or two, and yes, I've had that happen), then making an extra small trade can average down the value of your position.  When the stock starts to tick up for whatever reasons, you now have a lower break-even or profit point.  Again, it is only if you've got a few bucks left not doing anything and at Scottrade for $7 plus a half-point, it doesn't hurt much.  Of course, I also got a couple that are cluttering up my list because it will cost more to sell than they are worth today but that is part of the risk, right?
179504
I was checking this out the other day, but bought PTEN instead.  This stock is fundamentally unsound, the only positive is the 31% quarterly revenue growth, undoubtedly due to the increase in gold prices.  Technically, it's another story; all indicators are Very Bullish in the Short, Mid and Long terms and the stock seems to be forming a solid base finding support at 5.94.  Personally, I'd buy this stock if I weren't currently in another issue, though I rarely get involved with an issue that is fundamentally weak because it makes very little sense.  \n\nHaving said that, if I get stopped out of PTEN and KRY is still in it's base, my play will be to get in as close to 5.75 as possible with a fixed stop loss at $4.90 because volatility could push it to it's previous resistance at 4.91.  If it closes below 5.25 I'll be keeping a close eye on it, and will consider cutting my losses, depending on indicators.  If it stops me out before I can react I'll just take my loss and move on, but it will be a much larger loss than I normally take, because I usually set an 8-10% stop loss, so I would consider this a risky play.  However, if the stock breaks it's resistance at 6.14 and closes higher than it's previous high of 6.25 I'll change my stop loss to a trailing stop of 10% and just hold on, because I can see this stock easily moving to 9-12 before it's next pull back.\n\nWhatever you do, protect your downside.
58646
i think the best place to go for investing is "jim cramers real money". I read this book and it is very helpful. It's definitely a great place to start.
91309
well you should start investing small amounts of money.. probably at most US$5000, and trade through online brokers such as Trade King, Ameritrade, Scottstrade, etc. Organize your portfolio in such a way that at least 50% of your stocks are in stable, blue-chip companies. Invest about 35% in mid-risk stocks and check these more frequently. Lastly, invest around 15% in high-risk stocks (usually penny stocks work very well, especially in the biomedical or biotechnological areas) and be sure to check these VERY frequently. Remember, high risk means high potential gain, but it also means high potential loss.
35656
check this webisite for more understanding\nhttp://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/04/031704.asp
139564
I'm not here to encourage or dissuade you from Motley Fool,I'll just give you my opinion.\n\n Motley Fool is 1 of the most "forward" investment advisor forums on the net.Mind you,this isn't good or bad.That depends upon your investment/trading style.For the day-trader, the Fool is useless;except for the "buzz" it generates.For Investing; you'd do better by following the advice of an FA, and work on what they recommend.\n GOOD LUCK
285647
First, how you buying and selling stocks? Where are they being traded? And may I ask what type of stocks are they. First thing I tell anyone who wants to do this, is three things. Research, research, research. If you really want to do the best without a broker (and good luck to you) you will need to do a lot of research in the stock you want to buy. It can be very complex and require more than a five minute conversation. Know of any stockbroker wannabe's?
142859
You probably shouldn't take advise on stocks and mutual funds from people on yahoo.answers. If you want help on what stocks to look at just look at the financial reports from companies you are interested in. And if you are young, which I have a feeling you are, you are better off in higher risk stocks since you don't have a lot of cash. The chance to get money is larger, and so is the chance to lose it. Check out Sharebuilder.com.
521663
I think the energy market is tired right now, but long-term I can't think of any better place to put your money.  Look at the facts:  already we have to go to the harshest environments to get our oil (like the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, and Sakhalin Island).  I don't see any way that we can escape our dependence on oil (although I like all of the boifuels companies).  And finally, some of the world's most important oil fields are very old and their production is declining.\n\nHere is a link on the state of Ghawar, the world's biggest and most import oil field, in Saudi Arabia:\n\nhttp://www.top10traders.com/ViewPost.aspx?postID=78\n\nI would strongly recommend any of the oil service companies, like Nabors (NBR) or Grey Wolf (GW) as good long term investments.\n\nHere is a link to a portfolio from a user called "oil_investor":\n\nhttp://www.top10traders.com/ViewPortfolio.aspx?userID=8\n\nThis portfolio is from http://www.top10traders.com - this is a free site that lets you create a portfolio of stocks with $100,000 in "play" money.  Each day the site ranks the best performing portfolios, so you can see how your picks perform compared to other investors.  You can also read posts on investing from the best traders, as well as share your own investing ideas.\n\nHere are this month's best traders:\n\nhttp://www.top10traders.com/Top10Standings.aspx\n\nGood luck!
305535
Not that I'm convinced that any tools help an investor trade, but I don't see much at this site that I like. But then I'm not a trader, I'm an investor. I won't invest in a single stock anymore as I learned my lesson the hard way, only once and it wasn't a big deal but that's all it took. Then I went to Morningstar, enrolled in their education workshop, I think they call it Personal Learning or something like that. Took every course they had to offer and I still read almost daily newlestters from them. In addition when it comes to mutual funds I simply like low cost, no-load, long tenure management, top notch Total Returns, and because of that I like reading msn moneycentral and look for Jim Jubak and others. But even here be cautious as even the best of the best have bad year returns once in awhile, link #1:\n\nThen watch MOFQX, I'm not saying to buy it but it is the most interesting mutual fund I've ever heard of. It's a relatively new fund and it is quirky but what an idea. And it is still climbing. Who knows. Read, read, read and then sleep on it. If you want the really easy way out, go with TRowe Price or Vanguard's Life Strategy style funds. They match your risk with your age and they are the cheapest arounf. Other than that if you will promise yourself to keep up with the markets, ETF's are great but only if you drop all you are going to at once as trades dimish your returns because of trading fees. Good luck.
326703
EAG is trading this morning. $1.54 last trade, has traded over 65000 shares this morning. Whatever broker you are using is a moron. The pennies you are saving from using a moron is costing you lots of aggravation and lost trading opportunity. There are lots of discounters out there...i would find another if i were you!