Exchange Traded Funds

atush

badger09 wrote: »

I don't really understand electricity, tv, telephone & internet, computers..... need I go on? But I still buy them :eek:

Like many newbie investors, I'm really trying to understand but there is just so much to take in that I fear I might pop off this mortal coil before I achieve any real depth of understanding

I do understand electricity, internet and computers.

I don't understand totally derivatives and synthetic etfs. So I avoid them.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

badger09 wrote: »

I don't really understand electricity, tv, telephone & internet, computers..... need I go on? But I still buy them :eek:

Like many newbie investors, I'm really trying to understand but there is just so much to take in that I fear I might pop off this mortal coil before I achieve any real depth of understanding

I concur there is a lot to take in and I have ended up with a headache with all my reading. I am going to spend a few days away from it all.

I do know someone who purchased iShares Physical Gold when gold was higher and the price of the ETF has now tumbled right down. Brutal.

jamesd

Nest for your reading list: options and covered warrants.

grey_gym_sock

"don't buy what you don't understand" may not be valid in all areas. i think it's a good principle for investments. i realize it can look like there's rather a lot to understand ...

sometimes, it's difficult to understand an investment product because the product is unnecessarily complicated. so it may be perfectly sensible to steer clear of these products, instead of feeling 1 needs to understand everything.

there are a few basic ideas that it is worth understanding - i.e. what are savings accounts, shares, corporate bonds, government bonds, real estate, commodities - but that is about it. everything else is just buying combinations of those asset classes.

MoneySaverLog

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

I do know someone who purchased iShares Physical Gold when gold was higher and the price of the ETF has now tumbled right down. Brutal.

Yes me with PHSP and PHGP and I shall be holding on to it all until the price is above what I paid.

bigfreddiel

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

Yes me with PHSP and PHGP and I shall be holding on to it all until the price is above what I paid.

Well sometimes you just have to cut your losses ~ no doubt prices will return to the level you paid but it may be a very long time when you could be doing better in another sector

Cheers fj

redbuzzard

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

Does anyone here hold any ETFs? What ones do you hold and for what purpose?

I've a couple of those funny index ones in my HL SIPP. UK dividend plus. IUKD, and a min volatility index, MINV. Just for a slightly different flavour of passive holding.

puzzledinvestor

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

Yes me with PHSP and PHGP and I shall be holding on to it all until the price is above what I paid.

So let's say you bought with gold at 1600 and now it is at ~1400$.
If you had bought at 1500, would you need to wait until it recovered until 1500 instead, or also 1600?
Do you think the price at which you bought has an influence on whether it is a good investment NOW at a different price?

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

puzzledinvestor wrote: »

So let's say you bought with gold at 1600 and now it is at ~1400$.
If you had bought at 1500, would you need to wait until it recovered until 1500 instead, or also 1600?
Do you think the price at which you bought has an influence on whether it is a good investment NOW at a different price?

Gold tumbled recently. My friend purchased iShared physical Gold when the price per share was well over £20. It is now jut over £18 a share

jamesd

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

Does anyone here hold any ETFs? What ones do you hold and for what purpose?

LUK2: a doubly leveraged FTSE tracker during a bull market.
XWXU: global tracker to make selling easy when I decide to reduce my global tracker holdings.