shares buying simplest most effective way ?

pearls_of_wisdom

hi,novice when it comes to buying shares and just looking at investing between £1000 to £2000 total in approx 3 different bank shares and leaving for a year or two , so any advice on reputable dealers who keep things simple i.e cheapest/ no contracts/hidden charges etc,etc and finally i don't mind anybody speaking there mind about the merits of buying bank shares(LLOYDS,RBS,BARCLAYS) if you think it's a bad idea i'm more than happy to take comments into consideration i've posted on other mse forums but not this section and found 99% advice as very good many thanks:T

Reaper

The 2 most commonly mentioned on these boards are:
For basic no frills, realtime trades (so you know the exact price at the point of sale) www.x-o.co.uk (though they are some other good options)

If you don't need real time trades then www.iii.co.uk

You can set them up inside a S&S ISA if you want.

However I question the wisdom of putting 100% of your share purchases into one industry of one country.

Sceptic001

Reaper wrote: »

However I question the wisdom of putting 100% of your share purchases into one industry of one country.

I agree with that. Granted, bank shares have been "pre-disastered", but if you adopt this strategy, look upon it as a bet rather than an investment.

pearls_of_wisdom

Sceptic001 wrote: »

I agree with that. Granted, bank shares have been "pre-disastered", but if you adopt this strategy, look upon it as a bet rather than an investment.

cheers i agree it is a bit of a gamble but i'm prepared to leave money for a while years maybe i'd just like to buy now on thought process they might not be this cheap again

pearls_of_wisdom

Reaper wrote: »

The 2 most commonly mentioned on these boards are:
For basic no frills, realtime trades (so you know the exact price at the point of sale) www.x-o.co.uk (though they are some other good options)

If you don't need real time trades then www.iii.co.uk

You can set them up inside a S&S ISA if you want.

However I question the wisdom of putting 100% of your share purchases into one industry of one country.

thanks for response had a look at x-o only £5.95 a share deal sounds good i will enquire further next week many thanks again for your input:T

gadgetmind

You can do it for £1.50 a share if you don't need realtime trading.

See here, but there are other companies offering this.
http://www.iii.co.uk/sharedealing/?type=portfolio

BTW, note that Lloyds aren't currently paying a dividend, and won't be for some time. I know this for sure as they can't pay a dividend on LLOY.L for 12 months after missing a dividend on their preference shares, such as LLPC.L, which I filled my boots with several months ago. I bought them knowing the dividend was suspended, but if/when it kicks in again, I'm be on a double digit return and should also see some nice capital upside.

bigfreddiel

pearls_of_wisdom wrote: »

cheers i agree it is a bit of a gamble but i'm prepared to leave money for a while years maybe i'd just like to buy now on thought process they might not be this cheap again

if i were you i would go for a 5yr 5% FRISA

fj

gadgetmind

bigfreddiel wrote: »

if i were you i would go for a 5yr 5% FRISA

I'm big on equities, but not so big on exposure to a single risky sector in such tiny bites that dealing fees will chew a few percent, so you might be right.

Thrugelmir

Why bank shares? Particularly those you have listed. Even the new CEO of Lloyds said it could take 5 years to turn the bank around just a week ago.

gadgetmind

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Why bank shares? Particularly those you have listed. Even the new CEO of Lloyds said it could take 5 years to turn the bank around just a week ago.

Well quite. I can't see them returning to their divi paying form for ... well ... forever.

There are a lot of value shares out there, and loads on high yields. Maybe add one bank to your portfolio, but not 100% in banks, no, never.

Thrugelmir

gadgetmind wrote: »

There are a lot of value shares out there, and loads on high yields. Maybe add one bank to your portfolio, but not 100% in banks, no, never.

I've been a regular purchaser of Standard Chartered and Handelsbanken over the past 5 years. Not all banks have bad lending practices.....