Barclays Shares

slbs2009

Im looking at investing £1,500 into barclays shares. Ive been looking at the share price over the month, lowest was 262 currently at 280. Would you recommend buying at this price and where from? As you may know, im new to buying shares. Many thanks

Nanpy

Why Barclays? Why banks at all? I was in Lloyds, RBS and Barclays mid to late last year but gave up on them just before RBS and Lloyds tanked. Haven't looked at them since. There's still too much uncertainty and the picture is unclear how legislation is going to affect them in the future.

Are any of them back to paying dividends?

Just_landed

Nanpy wrote: »

Why Barclays? Why banks at all? I was in Lloyds, RBS and Barclays mid to late last year but gave up on them just before RBS and Lloyds tanked. Haven't looked at them since. There's still too much uncertainty and the picture is unclear how legislation is going to affect them in the future.

Are any of them back to paying dividends?

Re Dividends Barclays yes Link:-

http://www.digitallook.com/companyresearch/10012/Barclays/share_prices.html

And scroll down.

cashbackproblems

Yes, things are looking alot more positive for Barclays, they are going to increase the divi which for one will raise the price as big investors will have to hold them in their porfolio. They are better much shape than rbs or lloyds, and hsbc/santander do not have as much upside despite being good buys.

I bought into barc and hold at a much higher average (340p) and i am happy to hold and confident it'll be 350p+ by end of this year.

As your investing a relatively small amount im guessing it for the long term in which case theres no doubt the only way is up

slbs2009

Ok, thanks for your help. Im thinking of buying them from Halifax share dealing account. Would you recommend any different sites?

Thanks once again.

jimjames

Are they your only share? Is it money you are happy to lose?

Investing in a single share is inherently risky as you are entirely dependent on the fortunes of that company which as RBS, BP and others have shown can be a rollercoaster at times.

For small amounts of money you are probably better investing in a fund eg tracker which will smooth some volatility and remove some of the risk of a single share

ChrisEvanson

Personally I think you have missed the boat with Barclays. They were 50p for no real reason two years ago (basically because of the banking crisis, but Barclays didnt have the toxic debt problem on anything like a large scale and weren't needing to be bailed out). They have recovered quickly and may well go further but imho don't offer much scope for growth now any more than anything else.

I have actually bought Lloyds! Why? Because although they have a lot of sorting out to do they should return to dividend next year. It may be a long haul but I am confident I can double my money within 18 months. Barclays went 50p-£3 in two years, Lloyds do have more issues and of course we have a lot of shares to be sold by the government so its unlikely to be a quick recovery, but IMHO long term offers better growth than Barclays.

ses6jwg

ChrisEvanson wrote: »

ThPersonally I think you have missed the boat with Barclays. They were 50p for no real reason two years ago (basically because of the banking crisis, but Barclays didnt have the toxic debt problem on anything like a large scale and weren't needing to be bailed out). ey have recovered quickly and may well go further but imho don't offer much scope for growth now any more than anything else.

I have actually bought Lloyds! Why? Because although they have a lot of sorting out to do they should return to dividend next year. It may be a long haul but I am confident I can double my money within 18 months. Barclays went 50p-£3 in two years, Lloyds do have more issues and of course we have a lot of shares to be sold by the government so its unlikely to be a quick recovery, but IMHO long term offers better growth than Barclays.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1082006/Barclays-7billion-deal-Arab-investors-scandal-mammoth-proportions.html

lvader

Barclays wanted to retain control of their business, a good move for them and actually good for the country.

Barclays shares are pretty cheap at the moment the reason being is that they have a large courtcase hanging over them in the US over the Lehmans takeover. Even if things go resonably well it still could cost them billions in lost assets. Unless the worst happens (a complete unwinding of the Lehmans deal), I expect the shares to rise significantly over the year.

6022tivo

Unfortunately the government have a agenda with bankers bonuses and this will cause issues for banks, as the best traders and bankers will move offshore.... Best to avoid UK banks for investment at the moment.

Don't really understand how a government can tell a private company what it can and can't pay an employee, but anyway.

It is sad that most of the country are blaming a handful of bankers for the issues the last government left us in... All smoke and mirrors...

lvader

It's paying lip service to an outraged public, the US and European governments are doing the same. The bonuses are actually very good for the economy, if the banks kept all/most of the profits less taxes would be paid and there would be less money going into the economy.