Impulse buying shares I3 ENERGY PLC

seacaitch

missymouse wrote: »

I am very tempted.

Tempted to do what?

- Gamble ('exciting' but you very likely lose over time)?

- Or invest sensibly ('pretty dull' but you very likely 'win' over time)?


If the latter, then good choice: there's lots of good advice around here to help people start out on the right foot. Your future self will thank you.

Thrugelmir

sevenhills wrote: »

I have had Sainsburys twice before, the ones that I have now are 2% down, they will most likely recover.

Tough environment . Aldi are planning further expansion and Amazon are in the wings. Could get cut throat.

bowlhead99

sevenhills wrote: »

I have held Morrisons and Sainsburys shares before, more than once; I generally sell after I have made at least a 30% profit

sevenhills wrote: »

I have had Sainsburys twice before, the ones that I have now are 2% down, they will most likely recover.

I'm sure they'll recover 2% but you might be waiting a while for your 30% on them or Morrisons if Brexit isn't cancelled. A few weeks ago they seemed to be jockeying for position on who can go closest to 100th in the FTSE but have both had a nice little boost since the start of the month. I have a small amount of Tesco in my holdings, and some Amazon too, but haven't had either of the other two for years...

sevenhills wrote: »

Historically shares have gone up, the gamble is not owning the shares, but just owning a limited number. The bookmakers make money from punters, your money is not likely to increase.

I know historically shares as a whole have gone up, and we generally all fund our retirements using investments which participate in stock market growth.

So as you say, the gamble is merely owning a limited number, rather than broadly owning a balanced cross-section like an 'investor' rather then a 'gambler'.

At individual company level, it's certainly not true that historically shares have generally gone up; taking I3E as an example, in January 2019 they were 27p, then nine months later they were 120p, and now they're 27p again, and if you had been invested at the start of that journey you still haven't been paid any dividends along the way, and your percentage ownership of the company has dropped by more than half because the company had to raise funds and you got diluted.

The gamble is whether if you now invest today they will go up 4x from here or instead go down by the same fraction. I stand by the assertion that if you are just in it for some fun rather than trying to understand the markets or individual companies, you might as well just place a binary bet at the bookies if you want to chance winning or losing a high proportion of your stake. Saves all the waiting around.

The fact that the 'bookie always wins' makes people feel like the stock market is better, because of markets growing over time. But just like the casino or bookies where the house takes a rake; on the financial markets there are other participants with a lot more knowledge, insight, experience and capital than you, who will generally get paid before the mug punters 'having a go' at AIM trading ...