FTSE lower than in 1998?

wheresmydoshat

"Hi, can anyone offer advice on whether i should top up my stocks and shares ISA (my cash ISA is at the limit £3,000) up to the total £4,000 or do something else with my £840 which i haven't invested yet. Thanks"

unless your flush, personally right now i would just keep it to one side in savings account.

jon3001

ginster wrote: »

Hi, can anyone offer advice on whether i should top up my stocks and shares ISA (my cash ISA is at the limit £3,000) up to the total £4,000 or do something else with my £840 which i haven't invested yet. Thanks

Despite the name it doesn't have to be invested in stocks and shares. There are other asset classes to choose from: bonds, commodities and property. Some providers will even let you hold cash pending investment.

StevieJ

free4440273 wrote: »

Today's stock market prices (both FTSE and Dow) have absolutely not priced in a recession: "The market is cheap" - I don't believe it for one second

Don't be ridiculous.

free4440273

StevieJ wrote: »

Don't be ridiculous.

:rolleyes:

thor

For the last few decades shares have generally been on the up BUT that does not mean shares have to continue rising. Nobody knows if the stock market won't keep heading south for the next 10, 30, 100 years. I've always thought that trading in shares was just a respectively dressed up form of gambling and nothing I have seen has changed my view.

Iconic

Entertainer wrote: »

It's also currently 60% higher than it was in 2003. Doesn't sound so cheap now eh?

But anyone that bought shares in 1998 has made no money (apart from dividends).

Is it all about timing or are shares not as good an investment as they once were?

ryandj

Flynn wrote: »

Setting aside other considerations, you could do worse than follow the addage "Sell in May and go away, come back on St Leger's day".

One reason it may have some truth in it of course is because stockholders tend to believe it has some truth; and it's belief that drives markets.

This is quite an interesting book on stock market traders and what not...


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Chance-Markets/dp/014103274X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205823660&sr=8-2

purch

But anyone that bought shares in 1998 has made no money (apart from dividends

Havn't they ??

Well I have......and I know I'm not unique..........many people have made truck loads !!!!

Anyone smart enough to sell occasionally will have made money.

Buy and Hold is a great strategy, as long as the point you wish to liquidate your position is not during a bear market. If the point you wish to liquidate is many years hence then the best strategy is to stop looking at current levels.

kennyboy66_2

Iconic wrote: »

But anyone that bought shares in 1998 has made no money (apart from dividends).

Is it all about timing or are shares not as good an investment as they once were?

Once upon a time..........

people used to buy shares for the dividends.

Amazing isn't it.

Red_Cat

I think someone mentioned it above, but if you want to invest in a stocks and shares ISA before the end of the tax year, you can actually put it in cash as long as you eventually buy some investment.

e.g this one from Fidelity:

http://www.fidelity.co.uk/cgi-bin/direct/iframe/iframeparent.cgi?sid=0607650