Shares to Invest in

skywalker83

Hi,
I have been wanting to invest a bit in shares. I am only just getting into it and would love some advise. I have purchased some RBS shares and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about which ones might be a good bet to invest in!
Any opinions on Llyods/ M&S?
Thank you so much

theGrinch

1. never listen unconditionally to tips
2. read around the subject, everyone has their own system for value, growth, HY, recovery plays, sectors, cyclicals, company size
3. for every winner there are 10 suckers
4. you should spend as much time picking a share as you would buying a washing machine
5. look to assemble a portfolio of 12 to 20 shares
6. look for a low cost execution only service
7. review your portfolio regularly
8. consider phasing money into shares
9. what are your objectives? what do you want out of this?
10. do you understand what a company does before you buy it? can you explain the activities of the company to your friend? dont buy into companies you dont understand.

the advantage you have is you can learn from the mistakes of others and assemble a thoughtful portfolio.

I am sure others will add their views, but I will limit mine to 10.

I hope this helps.

Rollinghome

As already said, be very wary of share tips - wherever they come from. If you look at tips from brokers you'll find that for the same share some will be recommending you sell and some that you buy. Even worse is to rely on tips from people on the internet you don't know and will often know less than you do.

Also consider why some are tipping shares. Scams like the one at the Daily Mirror when Piers Morgan was editor there are probably common even if they rarely get uncovered. If you remember they were buying shares, then tipping them in the paper so that the price went up because readers bought them, then selling them to make a profit. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/the-piers-morgan-version-i-shouldnt-have-been-buying-shares-at-all-as-editor-of-the-paper-519884.html

mrposhman

theGrinch wrote: »

1. never listen unconditionally to tips
2. read around the subject, everyone has their own system for value, growth, HY, recovery plays, sectors, cyclicals, company size
3. for every winner there are 10 suckers
4. you should spend as much time picking a share as you would buying a washing machine
5. look to assemble a portfolio of 12 to 20 shares
6. look for a low cost execution only service
7. review your portfolio regularly
8. consider phasing money into shares
9. what are your objectives? what do you want out of this?
10. do you understand what a company does before you buy it? can you explain the activities of the company to your friend? dont buy into companies you dont understand.

the advantage you have is you can learn from the mistakes of others and assemble a thoughtful portfolio.

I am sure others will add their views, but I will limit mine to 10.

I hope this helps.

Some good advice there, though why do you state 12 to 20 shares?

Surely it all depends on how much you are investing and how much time you can devote to trading?

I have shares in 8 companies but looking to add 1 or 2 more to my portfolio but would never get anywhere near 20 else I would have far too many to keep up to date with to be honest.

I would definately recommend staying in shares where you understand the business. I don't invest in certain sectors as I don't understand what they do, so I tend to steer clear of most technologicals because I don't understand them. The same goes for those with scientific backgrounds as I'm not really a sciency person.

I tend to stick to financials, construction, mining and oil companies, though at the moment my portfolio is probably more sided towards a higher risk strategy than others as I have several small companies and some that have declined massively over the last 9 months.

theGrinch

mrposhman wrote: »

Some good advice there, though why do you state 12 to 20 shares?

Thats my own view and my own holding - it varies as I buy and sell over time.

I have heard people quote 5 shares as their holding. I guess it depends whatever other investments you hold.

After about the 15th share in a portfolio most of the diversification is done. The diversification value of the 16th, 17th, nth share etc is marginal; however there is some diversification value from the 8th to the 9th.

There are no hard and fast rules but stick with what you are comfortable with. Some people are happy with 1 or 2 shares (not good) and others over 30 years have built up 100 or more shares (not ideal).

Different views make a market

A nice little starter book is Peter Lynch's One up on wall street - takes about 30 mins to read.

a7man

The only thing I can say is do all the research yourself, shares are not easy money and jumping in with little knowledge is pretty much as good as going to the casino. As you are new to shares I would put your money into a fund (group of shares run by a fund manager) to give yourself a taster, build up your knowledge and then start to invest in shares.

Regarding the amount of shares, there is no max or min it depends on the risk you wish to take and how much money you have spare..howevee it is unwise to put all your money into 1 share.

sabretoothtigger

Common mistake I think is to buy shares because you recognise the brand name.
Buying as a consumer when the share actually means you are now the owner could prove to be unprofitable

I think a company out in kazakstan (but still in the ftse 100) deserves more attention, avoid the popular shares just because you will be biased.
Lloyds have nice music on their adverts but its a snake charm!

Start off thinking you know nothing and you will be much closer to the truth


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiuL9kAoBo4

tradetime

theGrinch wrote: »

1. never listen unconditionally to tips
2. read around the subject, everyone has their own system for value, growth, HY, recovery plays, sectors, cyclicals, company size
3. for every winner there are 10 suckers
4. you should spend as much time picking a share as you would buying a washing machine
5. look to assemble a portfolio of 12 to 20 shares
6. look for a low cost execution only service
7. review your portfolio regularly
8. consider phasing money into shares
9. what are your objectives? what do you want out of this?
10. do you understand what a company does before you buy it? can you explain the activities of the company to your friend? dont buy into companies you dont understand.

the advantage you have is you can learn from the mistakes of others and assemble a thoughtful portfolio.

I am sure others will add their views, but I will limit mine to 10.

I hope this helps.

Not sure about the washing machine analogy but I know what you mean.

Another thing to avoid is this whole "it's money I can afford to lose." mindset. It's a horrible frame of mind to bring to the market. I know most people just say it to head off the lecture from subsequent posters, but it should be more of a "thing to know" rather than keep repeating, an "unspoken understanding". I have a couple of accounts, and while if I lost them all it would not be good, I'd have to get a proper job for a start but I would not starve, or be on the streets. Yet I do not regard them as money "I can afford to lose." That saying, the more you say it, alters your perception of risk imperceptibly, makes people blase, after all it's just money you can afford to lose anyway and actually increases the likelihood you will lose it.

In essence, you should save money over time to trade with, ideally make a few sacrifices to amass it, and then regard it as money you would be very uncomfortable losing, even though you can.

fergual2

LLOY looking good - check price on 4th June as the price will probably dip that day (could be in 50's).

My other tip is TW. (Taylor Wimpey) - they have massively written down their land assets. These land values will rise over next two years and will catapult them back. Buying opportunity today sub 30p and 1st June as open offer shares flood marketplace.

DYOR too. (Do your own research - as it is your money you are risking!!) and Good luck.
Al

theGrinch

I strongly recommend you create some "dummy portfolios" and track progress. It will be interesting to see if you can outperform the market. If you cant choose funds or etfs.

Remember shares should be a long game...years not weeks so spending some of 2009 researching and modelling is no bad thing.

Some serious investors buy one or two "shares" a year.

sabretoothtigger

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/questor/5395611/Questor-Northern-Foods-dividend-remains-very-appetising.html