Little Investment?

mother_hen_2

Is it possible to purchase - shares/bonds whatever they are called in your local high street shop? I.e Tescos, Asda, Marks etc..?

I'm thinking would be a good idea for a gift for OH..

How would I go about this?

Help would be welcome please..

dunstonh

Is it possible to purchase - shares/bonds whatever they are called in your local high street shop? I.e Tescos, Asda, Marks etc..?

You can buy shares in any company that is listed on the stockmarket. That includes Tescos, Marks etc.

How would I go about this?

The amounts involved have to be worthwhole otherwise the costs make it pointless. You have to be really talking about £500 minimum per company. Is that the sort of figure you had in mind?

bendix

dunstonh wrote: »

You can buy shares in any company that is listed on the stockmarket. That includes Tescos, Marks etc.




The amounts involved have to be worthwhole otherwise the costs make it pointless. You have to be really talking about £500 minimum per company. Is that the sort of figure you had in mind?

LOL. I think you've missed the point, dunstonh. I strongly suspect - although I could be wrong - that the OP is asking if you can go into any shop and pick up shares and bonds. She's not asking to buy bonds and shares OF those stores.

mother_hen_2

Thankyou both for your posts..
I am considering purchase some share/bonds and as I have always been a big Mark and Spencer fan (judging by how often I shop there) I thought specifically about having a little investment in them.

In terms of figures/costs.. I had't thought about the amount as I see it as a long term thing so not looking for instant investment back. (Currently, have shares within the company that we work for but don't claim the dividend (think its called), just re-invest it back. each year). perhaps one year may look to sell but in no rush. £500 isn't unreasonable.
Does that make sense?
Ok so what do I need to do to investigate further/anything I need to be reading..
Help?

Lokolo

you would need to buy the shares from a stockbroker, a popular one is iii

http://www.iii.co.uk/sharedealing/

You can open an account, and if you don't need the shares immediately, you can pay just £1.50 commission, using Portfolio Builder. Then if you want you can get a share certificate (rather than just electronic) for £10. However, unless you open it in his name it may have your name on the certificate.

And if you then want to sell them at a later date it may cost to put them back in electronic form, depending on who you go with.

----

You can buy into any FTSE company;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTSE_100_Index#Constituents
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTSE_250_Index#Constituents

bendix

mother_hen wrote: »

Thankyou both for your posts..
I am considering purchase some share/bonds and as I have always been a big Mark and Spencer fan (judging by how often I shop there) I thought specifically about having a little investment in them.

In terms of figures/costs.. I had't thought about the amount as I see it as a long term thing so not looking for instant investment back. (Currently, have shares within the company that we work for but don't claim the dividend (think its called), just re-invest it back. each year). perhaps one year may look to sell but in no rush. £500 isn't unreasonable.
Does that make sense?
Ok so what do I need to do to investigate further/anything I need to be reading..
Help?

My apologies. I didn't realise you were referring to a particular stock.

No offence, but make sure you know what you are doing. You don't sound too familiar with the idea of investing in stocks and you need to be. If you're looking at just investing £500 in a single stock (never a good idea, but I can see an argument in favour if it's just afor a bit of fun), then Lokolo's advice is good.

I'm sure dunstonh will advise you should probably spread your risk, which is good advice too.

If you're not too worried if that £500 is worth only £400 next year, then fill your boots and have some fun.

jamesd

mother_hen wrote: »

Currently, have shares within the company that we work for but don't claim the dividend (think its called), just re-invest it back. each year

Roughly what portion of your total savings and investments is in the form of shares in your own employer?

The reason I'm asking is that when a company fails, people can find that they lose their job and their savings at the same time. For this reason it's usually a good idea to keep shares in your employer's company to a fairly small part of your total savings and investments, so you'll survive even if the company doesn't.

dunstonh

The reason I'm asking is that when a company fails, people can find that they lose their job and their savings at the same time.

I know a lot of bank staff that were near shareholder millionaires because of share options and SAYE schemes before the global recession. Many lost hundreds of thousands of pounds. Those in NR and B&B lost the lot. The sensible ones diversified once they got out of the tie in period.

fathippy

mother_hen wrote: »

Thankyou both for your posts..
I am considering purchase some share/bonds and as I have always been a big Mark and Spencer fan (judging by how often I shop there) I thought specifically about having a little investment in them.

I think you first need to familiarise yourself with the general concept of investment and valuation. There is no point in asking for advice/reading up on a specific stock if the answers that you receive make no sense, or use terms that you are unfamiliar with. Twenty years ago there were a number of good books about "the stock market" in general which may still be relevant, and there also may be more recent ones.

In terms of indivdual shares, it is often a fallacy to think that a company is "a good bet" irrespective of price. What you need to decide is "is it worth more than the price I am paying for it". For example you may think M&S is so good it is a 80 out of 100 on your personal rating system, but if everyone in the market place already thinks it is a 90 out of 100 you are not getting any value. Likewise the market might think that Mothercare, for example, is only a 20 out of 100, and even though you dont like it much you think it "cannot be any worse than a 40/100, so it appears good value.

The trick is a) to understand what the market is telling you about the value, and this can be VERY difficult, and also to find your particular edge as to why you know something different. With big companies this is all the harder as you mainly need to rely on what they tell you. It may be that your local M&S is one of the really good branches - always packed and very profitable, however what you dont see is all the empty failures that are dragging the company down miles away from you.

The best companies to understand are ones with a relatively small operating area - consider a single store local to you eg Sparks&Mencers - where you can see the entirety of the business in front of you. Unfortunately these are not often listed and available to shareholders!! Nevertheless the theory would be the same. You can take a view on the trading strength, but then you would need to find out whether they own the building or rent it - whether the rent is too much etc - even a great busy shop may fail if its rent is enormous. All of this research is imperative if you are to suceed.

I have rambled on a bit there, but I hope you get the gist of the concepts. I am happy to ramble on some more if you ask nicely, but will leave it there for now.

lr1277

You don't necessarily have to open an internet account. I think what were the big 'four' banks have a sharedealing service from any high street branch. Chances are you can buy any UK share you want. I think you will also get the share certificate, possibly in your name. I don't know if you can nominate the buyer's name.
Downside is that you will pay more than if you go with a broker over the internet.

HTH

mother_hen_2

Woo gets more and more interesting some fantastic replies/guidance that will be taken on board before 'jumping in'...
Thankyou