Taking advantage of the downturn

alexchegwin

Hello there.. what is the most secure way of taking advantage of the current downturn in the markets ?

I am an investing novice by the way.

:j

Hildog

I am also interested in this, so think of this as a covert bump. I'm young and I was thinking of Russia and Eastern european investment funds. However after seeing how Russia has acted I am against investing in eastern europe. I then though about Russia, then I thought abou the B.P./Russia investment which is backfiring. Is it safe to invest here? Where would be a better -place which offers better posible success but is not as risky. I was thinking China, though I thought it was last years success story. My knowledge comes from the telegraphs business section so I am probably flailing and wrong, please point this out.

alexchegwin

Wherever I plan to invest I am thinking of holding off till the markets make some sort of a pickup.. Then buy shares in a solid company that has taken a heavy hit during the downturn.

slopemaster

Surely if you are a novice (note I am one too) you shouldnt buy shares in just ONE company as that is a super-high risk thing to do? Unless you really like gambling, some kind of spread of risk would be better?

alexchegwin

That makes good sense... would be a good idea to spread over multiple comanies rather than plonk all my eggs in one basket

thanks!

Linton

I would not recommend a novice to invest more than a token amount at the moment. There are savings accounts which return 7% available which should provide a safe haven until we know what is going to happen to the global financial system.

IMHO if you do go into shares drip feed your purchases over time and start off with a range of safe FTSE100 companies. Some of these are paying good dividends. These are worth having as they are effectively tax-free for standard rate tax payers.

In this list I wouldnt rule out the banks - they are very cheap and I guess (hope!) most will survive and do very well once current difficulties are over. Not for someone of a nervous disposition though.

In the longer term I too like the new EC members in E Europe and some other emerging markets. These more risky investments should only be a small part of your total portfolio.

ad44downey

alexchegwin wrote: »

Hello there.. what is the most secure way of taking advantage of the current downturn in the markets ?

I am an investing novice by the way.

:j

Buy as shares in HBOS as you can get your hands on. Only joking, don't do that

alexchegwin

I invested all my savings before I read the end of your sentence!

oops

alexchegwin

thanks for the help guys

MadSage

I'm unintentionally taking advantage of the downturn. I work for a company in the US who pay me in dollars, so thanks to the sudden change in the GBP<->USD exchange rate, I'm currently earning an extra 2.70GBP an hour

Maybe currency trading is a way to take advantage? I know nothing about that though, so don't ask me. Maybe it would have been a nice time to bring my cash back if I had thousands of dollars in a US account.