just curious

[cwsiggy]

Re: just curious

I don't think the general population realizes the leverage in real estate.

Would you put 10% down on GE, Mo or INTC stock to control 100%. Not a chance. You wouldn't be able to anyway unless you were a hedge fund.

If a house goes up 5% in one year - you just made 50% on your original investment.

That's why when housing goes down in pockets of the country occasionally, it is devastating. That's also why people are feeling rather wealthy from their real estate holdings. It's practically the one thing responsible for what's holding the economy up. Cash out refi's, home equity loans etc.

Get in there Mortimer and buy, buy, buy

[asdf_admin]

^^^ wrrong. real estate is terrible time to buy. it is doing the dot com thing. next year i would expect it to pop and all the suckers with it.

of course long term ... buy buy buy.

[supaz]

Re: just curious

If your trading FX, make sure that you understand charts well...and be disciplined with your entry and exit strategies. Always use stop orders.

The industry standard to technical analysis is Murphy's book, "Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets." Ask any professional, educator, and they will agree.

[Jibgolly]

ive always wanted to buy stock in something. but i dont know where to start.
seems like easy money if you know how to do it right.
just causes a little worry and sometimes you lose.
seems worth it though when you get paid!!!

[skahound]

Re: just curious

Jib if you have a few extra bucks laying around and you wanna play stocks you should check out some companies that have DIPs and DRPs in place. A 'DIP' is a 'Direct Investment Plan' and is how I got started when I was 15. Basically you buy your stock directly from the firm and bypass and all activity with a broker. There is usually a much lower buy-in amount (ie $50, $100, $200) and you can contribute roughly $10, $25, $50 per month (depends on the company). A 'DRP' (pronounced: drip) is a 'Dividend Reinvestment Plan' and allows the company to purchase additional shares of your stock with your earned dividends rather than cutting you a check. Again, these DRiPs are directly through a company. Check out http://www.sec.gov/answers/drip.htm

Check out www.sharebuilder.com which is an online brokerage firm that alllows you to get started with a substantially lower amount of money.

Obviously all of these still assume the same amount of inherent risk as any other form of investment but they are geared to allow the middle-class investor an 'in' into the market.

[msanchez]

Re: just curious

I'd say my portfolio is..strong.

[phaeton]

Re: just curious

If your trading FX, make sure that you understand charts well...and be disciplined with your entry and exit strategies. Always use stop orders.

The industry standard to technical analysis is Murphy's book, "Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets." Ask any professional, educator, and they will agree.

Yes, supaz, what I did first was to compile a list of basic books to read. Unfortunately, I can't afford to use online pay services to buy books from here, very unsecure. I'm lucky I know russian 'coz those russians .... they cracking and coping everything, like they never heard of copyrights. and I have find all the books I need just on one site ( Murphy, Shwager, Demark, Fisher, Williams etc).

Do you have any fx expirience, supaz ?

[neoee]

^^^ I use sharebuilder too, but whats kinda shitty about them is that they only allow you to purchase stocks they have approved. Secondly there's no way for placing shorts either. A while ago I was with Datek which has since been bought out by Ameritrade I believe and I'm not sure what options you have there or the cost. As Datek they were really cheap (9.99 a trade).

[camposja]

Re: just curious

I go to school for Econ and Finance
taking a class Investment Finance

I know a bit about it
dont trade yet
as soon as i have some money im going to do so online jajaja

[phaeton]

Re: just curious

I go to school for Econ and Finance
taking a class Investment Finance

I know a bit about it
dont trade yet
as soon as i have some money im going to do so online jajaja

well, I think , after deciding what you wanna trade, you could find a demo trading platform to practice, before going live

in forex market, all the brokers have demo platforms, but of course don't stick to much with it , 'coz demo trading doesn't educate discipline and to bild good trading habits.

[phaeton]

Re: just curious

sorry, wanted to say "doesn't help to build good trading habits"

[mixu]

Re: just curious

[supaz]

Re: just curious

If your trading FX, make sure that you understand charts well...and be disciplined with your entry and exit strategies. Always use stop orders.

The industry standard to technical analysis is Murphy's book, "Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets." Ask any professional, educator, and they will agree.

Yes, supaz, what I did first was to compile a list of basic books to read. Unfortunately, I can't afford to use online pay services to buy books from here, very unsecure. I'm lucky I know russian 'coz those russians .... they cracking and coping everything, like they never heard of copyrights. and I have find all the books I need just on one site ( Murphy, Shwager, Demark, Fisher, Williams etc).

Do you have any fx expirience, supaz ?

I have extensive equity/index option experience. Far as currencies, I have some experience in swaps and forwards, but not standardized contracts. It's all about charts when it comes to FOREX...

[FM]

^^^ wrrong. real estate is terrible time to buy. it is doing the dot com thing. next year i would expect it to pop and all the suckers with it.

of course long term ... buy buy buy.

now it is, yes, because everything is getting re-built in Florida. I mean of course in the overall sector. Certain areas (like my hometown) are still booming with the housing industry; we had 3-4 new devlopments go up within the past year totaling about 90-100 losts, nearly all of which have been sold. By the same token, I wouldn't expect that to continue and don't think much will occur after the final lots are sold and built within the upcoming spring & summer. Other areas I'm sure will spring up, but I agree that overall within the next year or 2, starts and sales will slow down. I'm sure there'll still be some good deals to be found, just not at the rock-bottom prices that exist now.

How's this for a long-term investment: my old house was built/bought in 1978 by my parents for about $86,000...couple additions, upgrades, etc. were made over the years to bring the total probably around $120K tops (new room addition, siding, pool, hedges, etc.) Sold it 9 months ago for $206K...(and they bought a new custom-built home for over $300K)

Someday though I wouldn't mind getting some money and playing it on the market on the side; my aunt made a nice comfortable living doing such (and still does in retirement)

[neoee]

^^^ wrrong. real estate is terrible time to buy. it is doing the dot com thing. next year i would expect it to pop and all the suckers with it.

of course long term ... buy buy buy.

now it is, yes, because everything is getting re-built in Florida. I mean of course in the overall sector. Certain areas (like my hometown) are still booming with the housing industry; we had 3-4 new devlopments go up within the past year totaling about 90-100 losts, nearly all of which have been sold. By the same token, I wouldn't expect that to continue and don't think much will occur after the final lots are sold and built within the upcoming spring & summer. Other areas I'm sure will spring up, but I agree that overall within the next year or 2, starts and sales will slow down. I'm sure there'll still be some good deals to be found, just not at the rock-bottom prices that exist now.

How's this for a long-term investment: my old house was built/bought in 1978 by my parents for about $86,000...couple additions, upgrades, etc. were made over the years to bring the total probably around $120K tops (new room addition, siding, pool, hedges, etc.) Sold it 9 months ago for $206K...(and they bought a new custom-built home for over $300K)

Someday though I wouldn't mind getting some money and playing it on the market on the side; my aunt made a nice comfortable living doing such (and still does in retirement)

asdf- People have been saying that for quite some time now (including me for a while), but I've really started to doubt that there's any bubble right now. I was holding off buying a house for quite some time hoping for the "bubble" to pop only to find homes climbing even more. Unlike stocks, with homes there is an increased demand for them year after year simply because of the rate of population growth. The local area also affects the real estate market in its offerings (job potential, ammenities etc.).

I bought my first house recently and paid 280 for it (housing prices in WA are out of control as you may know). I have continued to watch housing prices for comparable homes just to see where the market is headed. While I did see an initial downturn in the market for the first few months I'm now seeing new developments sprout up within 2 miles of me. In particular I'm seeing a builder who is known to build low quality, cookie cutter homes with almost no yards, selling one of his for 299... this house is 4 sq feet bigger than mine, will have no appliances etc. Of note my house 6 years old but would be comparible to these house, except I have a yard, appliances, tile countertops etc. So if this guy is able to sell these homes for 299 he's going to effectively increase my homes value 20K overnight.

The people who owned my house before me paid 205 for it 6 years ago. My parents who live ~ 5 minutes away from me had their house custom built in 91 for ~ 200, they could easily sell it today for 700.

All this time I've been hearing about this housing bubble and even convinced of it myself. IF there was a bubble it would have burst within the last two years as everyone in WA was losing their jobs forcing the housing prices to drop, instead they continued to rise. The demand is still there and as long as people are willing to pay these prices there will be no pop. To give you an idea I was outbid on 3 houses during my hunt. Some of these houses ended up going over the listing price. I also saw houses sold within 24 hours of listing. I saw a home in one neighborhood sell for 240 and a house in the same neighborhood, same floorplan sell the next year for 275, less than 24 hours after the listing went up (I was on my way to look at it when I found out).

Anyways I hope your not holding off buying or telling others not to because of fear of a bubble because its just not there.