Stock market wizards... help me?

[Visirale]

I've been playing the markets with fake money for a while now. I made a lot of money day trading financials, but it all went back to zero. The only company I made long term money on was Wachovia.

My cash for Etrade finally cleared, and I was wondering what I should look into investing in. I know tomorrows events will have a huge impact on the market, so there is a big potential to make or lose a lot. I think I want to invest today so I can reap any positive benefits tomorrow might hold... but I'm not sure what to invest in. The financials don't seem like very good long term investments to me. I put a lot of fake money into renewable energy but ended up losing a ton on all of it. What's a good long term pick?

Should I invest today, or a few days after the election?

Thanks guys...

[Georynn]

The potential is there to make a heap of cash, but the risk to lose it is greater than the potential payout in my mind. I tend to invest more long term, and have a lot of my present capital in cash right now, But I always leave about 10% in a higher risk category.
I research companies I buy stock in very heavily. I look at were I think they could go over a given period of time... But I'm not much of a risk taker...
I wouldn't give advice except fluctuation indicates instability, instability indicates risk... that's why I have most of my capital in cash right now, and about 5% in "energy" and 5% in "tech" (mainly because I have a vested interest, as I work in I.T.).

as always YMMV...

[hbarcat]

Don't play the stok market for short term gain unless you're playing with money that you can afford to lose.


Invest in a buy and hold long term strategy of diversified elements for your retirement and get a real job to pay your bills in the meantime.

[Brad Barker]

Originally Posted by Visirale

I've been playing the markets with fake money for a while now. I made a lot of money day trading financials, but it all went back to zero. The only company I made long term money on was Wachovia.

...selling short?

Originally Posted by hbarcat

Don't play the stok market for short term gain unless you're playing with money that you can afford to lose.


Invest in a buy and hold long term strategy of diversified elements for your retirement and get a real job to pay your bills in the meantime.

+1

also, mutual funds ftw. less fun, in a sense, but overall, much better, esp. with smaller (college student-level) amounts of money.

[Geddyfleaharris]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

Don't play the stok market for short term gain unless you're playing with money that you can afford to lose.


Invest in a buy and hold long term strategy of diversified elements for your retirement and get a real job to pay your bills in the meantime.

+2 Did that about 7 or 8 years ago. Really sucked to watch about $10,000 basically get flushed down the toilet when the dotcom bubble burst.

[Deacon_Blues]

Remember you can only lose 100%, but win several 1000% if you're lucky...

(An economy teacher I once had said that in a class)

[HaVIC5]

Gee, that's responsible.

[lowb1970]

Originally Posted by Visirale

I've been playing the markets with fake money for a while now. I made a lot of money day trading financials, but it all went back to zero. The only company I made long term money on was Wachovia.

My cash for Etrade finally cleared, and I was wondering what I should look into investing in. I know tomorrows events will have a huge impact on the market, so there is a big potential to make or lose a lot. I think I want to invest today so I can reap any positive benefits tomorrow might hold... but I'm not sure what to invest in. The financials don't seem like very good long term investments to me. I put a lot of fake money into renewable energy but ended up losing a ton on all of it. What's a good long term pick?

Should I invest today, or a few days after the election?

Thanks guys...

Depends on how much you have to invest as to whether or not you could properly diversify/allocate your portfolio. I would look in to high yield CD's and money market funds at this time. The markets are very volatile at this time and no one knows for sure what they will do short term. If I knew I would have my bags packed for some great vacation.

Seriously there are many factors to consider when you're looking to invest. You should talk to a professional to see what your options are. Things to consider:
1. Age/Time Horizon (when will you need the money)
2. Amount to invest
3. Risk Tollerance (what kind of loss are you able to take)
4. will you need this money for retirement or will this just be an experiment to see if you can double your retirement (dont laugh, people really do this).

Hope this helps you out.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by Brad Barker

also, mutual funds ftw. less fun, in a sense, but overall, much better, esp. with smaller (college student-level) amounts of money.

Mutual Funds? Really? You should see how those are doing right now. Most are down by at least 25% in the last few months. They are highly diversified so when the overall market is down, they are down. Although if you think that the market has bottomed out, it would be a good time to buy them.

lowsound

[-Kramer-]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

They are highly diversified so when the overall market is down, they are down.
lowsound

You make this sound like a bad thing.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by -Kramer-

You make this sound like a bad thing.

It isn't usually, right now it is. There are parts of the market that are doing well right now, this is not reflected in a mutual fund. I am not big on mutual funds, I would rather take a hands on approach to my investments, but I do see how they can be good.

If you want a good investment, look into corn, soy bean and wheat futures.

lowsound

[-Kramer-]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

It isn't usually, right now it is. There are parts of the market that are doing well right now, this is not reflected in a mutual fund. I am not big on mutual funds, I would rather take a hands on approach to my investments, but I do see how they can be good.

If you want a good investment, look into corn, soy bean and wheat futures.

lowsound

It is impressive that you can pick stocks. I know that if I had a psychic ability I would use it for good, not just making money for myself.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by -Kramer-

It is impressive that you can pick stocks. I know that if I had a psychic ability I would use it for good, not just making money for myself.

It isn't that hard to pick stocks, even in a time like this. Find out what is solid and people still need. Oil, potash, and the like are still good investments right now. If you do it wisely, you SHOULD make money in the end, I know some guys that have made a killing since all this started, just because they picked good stocks and they had money to play with.

lowsound

[-Kramer-]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

It isn't that hard to pick stocks, even in a time like this.
lowsound

I agree, but it is hard to pick a GOOD stock. Let me just put it this way, if you really could pick a good stock, you could make billions of dollars in a few years and never work again in your life. Ever heard of this happening? Some people can make some money sometimes by picking individual stocks. This is the exception, not the rule.

Another thing for the OP to think about, if there was a certain part of the market that was going to jump if Obama wins, enough people will have already bought up all the equities in that area and driven the price up. This means that there is probably not any money to be made by doing this. So unless you know something that no one else does, you are better off in a index fund.

[Deluge Of Sound]