[Archived] Shares/ Stocks Thread

[Al]

I've got Stocks and Shares ISA - split accross 2 different funds. In 2008 they lost a good 30% of that value very quickly. As I kept paying in rather than cashing out, then with the Market recovering, the money I was still paying in at that time has grown rather well.

That's the best way to do it Ste. The fund managers are far more expert than any of us and only make a small charge for their services. Occasionally when there is a bear market they may lose a little short term but over any 5 year period they always have beaten inflation and any interest that could have been earned.

[dave birch]

They do charge you for it, Al.

I've been looking at the gold price, it's done very well for me over the past couple of years. I did very well in the late 70's , but I chickened out at $600 when it went to $800. I'm looking at bailing out once again.

On the advice of my son, I bought some Rio shares some time back, they then did an issue at $28.00 and are now at $81+, nice.

My penny dreadfuls are languishing at .037c, having an average buy of .053, but all it needs is a kickalong from the Japanese post tsunami/earthquke economy and I'll be looking healthy there.

I was advised about a scheme that you can do your self, it's hard to describe in detail, but it requires you to look at dividends of certain companies and to sell on the anniversary of your purchase. Like I said, it's a little bit complex and needs some thought and investigation, but can be quite lucrative.

[Al]

I know they charge for it Dave but it's only a small percentage and IMO fair for the benefit of their expertise. We amateurs left to our own devices are far less successful. Trouble is that when there are bargains to be had the fund managers have snapped them up and the price consequently risen before we have the chance to buy and the price is usually past it's peak by the time we can sell.

[The Gull]

I am the Treasurer of an Investment Club called FFS Holdings.

It is made up of 9 of us who were looking to get more educated on investment matters, I happen to have experience of working in the Investment sector for the past 7 years, within the financial accounting and analysis side formerly but for the last 2 years I have been working for a very large private Pension Scheme that has assets of over £1bn.

The members of FFS come from a variety of back grounds whcih we all use to try and spot opportunities and meet once a month to discuss. We pay a monthly subscription in to our bank account and invest once we are all agreed.

We use the Share Centre online for our investments and they are a very good source of information.

Whilst the main idea was to get better eductaed in these matters for most myself and my cousin, who is an IFA, plus the Chairman who instigated the forming of the club pass on what knowledge we do have and basically use it as an excuse for a drinking session once a month. Most of the members are married with kids and struggle to get out.

You could say we are actually a drinking club which does some investing!

We haven't made a killing yet, infact we are just about break even after costs (set up costs, investment fees etc), but everybody is still very enthusiastic about FFS.

I would encourage like minded people to investigate this as it offers an opportunity to spread the dealing costs amongst a number of you rather than just yourself by pooling your money, this is more significant if you can not invest large sums so gives those of us with little to spare the opportunity to "play the markets".

We have shares in RBS which were purchased at a very low number, all it has to do is get up to what the government paid for them to makes us a tidy little profit. This will happen, but is more likley to happen in stages as a full sell off of the governments share in RBS would impact the markets significantly and probably result in not getting what they would like.

We bought BP after the oil crisis and that is already at a tidy profit.

We are holding BP and RBS as long term investments, the thinking being that they are massiviely below histrical levels and there is room for some big movements which could lead to some nice profits.

We have speculated on an AIM stock, this market has less liquidity so you can get large bid/offer sreads which you need to be careful of but there are some good looking stocks in this area which if they get picked off by the big boys can make some ridiulous profits for you. The flip side is you could quite easil;y lose your money so be sensible with what you are willing to risk.

Try and have a bit of fun with this and be aware of what your are risking, be prepared to lose it all and think what that would mean. Also, be careful of "Tips", I have seen plenty of people be enticed by these tips whcih result in nothing but a wild punt andlosing your money.

[Hughesy]

We have speculated on an AIM stock, this market has less liquidity so you can get large bid/offer sreads which you need to be careful of but there are some good looking stocks in this area which if they get picked off by the big boys can make some ridiulous profits for you.

What do you class as a big spread?

[The Gull]

What do you class as a big spread?

That will depned what you are comfortable with and what your aim is.

On the stock we purchased it was priced 1.2/1.25 (bid/offer)when we took it, it soon went out to 1.05/1.35 and has recovered to 1.2/1.3 recently. This basically means that even though the price has increased beyond our initial outlay, the offer price, if we were to sell it we would only get the lower bid price.

We are basically waiting for this company to get a big contract, its price rise dramatically and a big boy wanting to take it over. It is by far our most speculative investment and accounts for approx 25% of our portfolio.

[Hughesy]

So Alan what sort of strategy do you have? Do you just buy it and then hold on till it hits a certain level or profit?

Im watching a few penny shares - one goes between 2.5 - 5p, im just waiting for it to drop to the lower amount to buy - Iv had some city traders check it out for me and they reckon its a good buy based on the RNS feeds and also the market cap set against the company, its also got plenty of volume each day so the spread isnt too big.

Also a oil & gas company, again they tend to go between 1.1p - 1.6p, im waiting to see if it drops lower before I buy.

[Al]

So Alan what sort of strategy do you have? Do you just buy it and then hold on till it hits a certain level or profit?

Im watching a few penny shares - one goes between 2.5 - 5p, im just waiting for it to drop to the lower amount to buy - Iv had some city traders check it out for me and they reckon its a good buy based on the RNS feeds and also the market cap set against the company, its also got plenty of volume each day so the spread isnt too big.

Also a oil & gas company, again they tend to go between 1.1p - 1.6p, im waiting to see if it drops lower before I buy.

You can't keep buying and selling with ISA's Hughesey or you lose the tax benefits. The fund manager does that for you. I just let the investments grow until I need some money, then make a withdrawal. That's not very often as I only invest the surplus I have left at the end of each month and that usually covers my annual ISA allowance.

[The Gull]

So Alan what sort of strategy do you have? Do you just buy it and then hold on till it hits a certain level or profit?

Im watching a few penny shares - one goes between 2.5 - 5p, im just waiting for it to drop to the lower amount to buy - Iv had some city traders check it out for me and they reckon its a good buy based on the RNS feeds and also the market cap set against the company, its also got plenty of volume each day so the spread isnt too big.

Also a oil & gas company, again they tend to go between 1.1p - 1.6p, im waiting to see if it drops lower before I buy.

I monitor the prices and any major movements I report back to the group. We have set some targets which would automatically trigger a review of our investments but we need quorom and a majorty vote disnvest.

We very much have a long term view and are not risking much money at the minute but that is building up due to our monthly subscriptions. We are actually due our AGM where we will review the amount we put in each month. At the moment it is a fixed amount for all so one of the things we are to vote on is whether we allow individuals to put more in if they wish but that would make it a little more difficult to administrate.

[Mike Graham]

My post a few days back:

"Finally I punt 10%, this is why I have gone for PDX (Pursuit Dynamics). I believe that this will grow massively in say 6 to 12 months time and will be ripe for a takeover, in this case there are companies sniffing around."

Pursuit Dynamics went up 25% on Friday!!! Did any one else invest?

[ABBEY]

Isa

How does what work?

[Hughesy]

Pursuit Dynamics went up 25% on Friday!!! Did any one else invest?

No Iv been watching them though.

But I did invest in Parseq PLC at 3p, as of 1 minute ago they were 7.35p. They have won the contract for the mobile payment system, announcing a 3 year contract with 02 on thursday/ friday last week.

Abbey - My understanding of it.......different ISA's out there. There is the cash ISA (Put your cash in & get it back with a set amount of interest added after a term), Cash & Share ISA (Think its £5k each you can put in), there are Share ISA's with fund managers (they invest the money for you and try to make extra cash), or you can put your shares inside an empty ISA wrapper and buy and sell shares inside of that.

Basically the ISA is to make sure your not taxed on profits

[ABBEY]

Still non the wiser lol

[Ozz]

Grab yourself a few cans of Stella Abbs and get yer head through this lot.

ISA FAQS

[ABBEY]

Plan

[Al]

Has anyone noticed that there is a NS&I bond paying inflation(RPI)+1%? It is nominally a 5year bond but if you cash it in after 1 year you only lose 1/2%. With RPI running at over 5% at the moment that is probably the best 100% safe investment availible.

[Hughesy]

Has anyone noticed that there is a NS&I bond paying inflation(RPI)+1%? It is nominally a 5year bond but if you cash it in after 1 year you only lose 1/2%. With RPI running at over 5% at the moment that is probably the best 100% safe investment availible.

Yeah its been on moneysavingexpert and yahoo finance....think they said its the equiv of 7% for basic rate tax payers or 9% for higher earners

[Aberdeen Blue]

Just a general point of interest; sticking a few pennies into small oil companies is generally a good ride if you then watch their activity closely.

These guys are professional speculators in a major game so follow closely and don't be greedy is the watch word.