quick share question....

trumbo

Prob... a stuipid question but... according to Yahoo finance....

LLoyds TSB, it now says that there 52week change is +17%.

So does that mean that if you had a few grand with them since 52 weeks ago you would have had 17% growth on your investment?

JackyF

Quick answer: Yes! Additionally, you would have received dividends during the period which would be something like another 7%! Pretty good for a staid old high-street bank, not seen as one of the high flyers in the banking sector.

I hold Lloyds TSB shares and hadn't noticed them creep up by that amount as it has been fairly slow and steady since about November.

J

trumbo

Ok... cheers.

With returns like that I am suprised that more people (general public) do not enter the stock market..... I know it is a risky buiseness but even your ?safe bets? go up higher than a standard Savings account.....

cheerfulcat

Hi, trumbo,

The past three years have been fantastic for investors; there is no guarantee that this will continue, though, and three years ago things looked very different ( it was scary...). The greater return ( over cash ) is reward for risk taken - most people are afraid to take that risk.

JackyF

trumbo wrote:

Ok... cheers.

With returns like that I am suprised that more people (general public) do not enter the stock market......

They do...generally just before the market crashes!

As cheerfulcat said, the last couple of years have been good. The ones just before that were quite the reverse. The volitility scares the public off and most prefer a lower but safer return.

Just for information, I've held Lloyds TSB for 10 years now. I bought at 321p, saw it go as high as £9-odd and it's now around 540p. The annual return over those 10 years is about 6.5%. So it's not quite as wonderful as the last 52 weeks might suggest. I've little reason to complain however; in addition to that 6.5% the current yield is 6.3% (or over 10% on my initial investment).

J

trumbo

That still sounds pretty good compared to what the high street offers......

Looking at putting some money myself into shares..... just got to decide which ones.

jonesMUFCforever

Just remember investing in shares is just like a bet.
A bad choice could mean losing all of your capital whilst a good one might not turn out to be a good one for many years.Anything short of five years then s&s is not for you.
If you do not know what shares (or sector) to invest in then try a Unit trust or Managed fund to lessen the risk.
As other posters have said shares can go DOWN as well as up and should only be used as part of a balanced portfolio which will include a cash reserve for emergency of at least 3 months take home salary.
Good luck with your choices.

equitydealer

I would recommend trying fantasy share trading before you commit real cash to the stock market. Unit trusts are all well and good for those who do not wish to learn about the stock market and individual shares, but sad though I am, I actually enjoy researching and picking out a winner myself! It's all about practice and learning for yourself

trumbo

The Cash reserve is not a problem as I have over 12k in a Cash ISA....

Its now my additional money I am looking to invest..... I'm going to start with a Halifax Sharebuiler and see what that is like, picking only companys I know something about and researching as I go.

Just hope I pick some good ones...... I'll be happy if I can beat the interest that banks would have paid for my savings.

al_yrpal

If you must invest in shares, have a look at HYP at http://www.fool.co.uk/specials/2006/specials060208.htm?ref=valuehome. This is an investment method that invests in High Yield shares like Lloyds TSB. Essentially an 'invest and forget' strategy.

cheerfulcat

ejones999 wrote:

Just remember investing in shares is just like a bet.
A bad choice could mean losing all of your capital whilst a good one might not turn out to be a good one for many years.Anything short of five years then s&s is not for you.
I

Investing in shares is absolutely not " like a bet " unless you choose your investments blindly. You are very unlikely to lose all of your capital if wisely invested and well diversified, and if you invest in shares which pay a dividend you have income while you wait for capital gains. Agree on the time horizon, though; five years has to be the minimum.

Edit: That looks a bit unfriendly on a re-reading. Wasn't meant that way, sorry. It's just that too many people do think that investing = gambling, and lose money over time by keeping it all in cash...


Cheerfulcat ( successful investor, generally unsuccessful punter )