quick share question....

trumbo

Ok al_yrpal cheers... will have a look.

jonesMUFCforever

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...
Quoted from cheerfulcat

Well who remembers Pollypeck then which went from pennies to £30 and went bust leaving nothing for shareholders?
How many shareholders lost out when Stephen Byers re-nationalised Railtrack or whatever it was called?
With hindsight what is ''wisely invested''?? It 's just a gamble that you think you will get more back at some stage in the future than you have invested now.
There are no guarantees with stocks and shares.

cheerfulcat

ejones999 wrote:

Well who remembers Pollypeck then which went from pennies to £30 and went bust leaving nothing for shareholders?
How many shareholders lost out when Stephen Byers re-nationalised Railtrack or whatever it was called?
With hindsight what is ''wisely invested''?? It 's just a gamble that you think you will get more back at some stage in the future than you have invested now.
There are no guarantees with stocks and shares.

Most companies don't go bust, most companies are not ex-nationalised industries, and in the long run, shares return far more than cash. It really isn't a gamble and it's a shame that people continue to be so fearful, and that some propagate the notion of " gambling ", especially when no-one seems to be aware of the risk of keeping money in cash.

" Wisely invested " is having shares in a variety of companies across a range of sectors, either directly held or in a collective investment like a unit/investment trust.

Quarantz

I do absolutely agree with cheerfulcat. Yes, if you put ALL your money in russian national railroad you might have a problem. If you buy now and need your monet in 2 weeks you might loose money. But with a reasonable horizon, using money you can miss, in the way cheerfull described (spread) will give you better returns in time. It's no gambling if you use your common sense!!!

Debt_Free_Chick

cheerfulcat wrote:

especially when no-one seems to be aware of the risk of keeping money in cash.

Spot on! If you look at ANY form of investment - including cash - there is a risk. All too often, risk is a word that's only associated with equities .... and Cheerfulcat rightly points out that there is a risk with cash. As an example, a higher rate tax payer with money in a non-ISA account, paying 5% interest, is only earning 3% after tax. So that account is only just standing still - because they lose 2-2.5% each year due to inflation. To put it simply, with cash, the risk is that you fail to earn any return at all, once you factor in inflation.

Perhaps we need a new thread on "What is risk?" ... any takers?