invest in the stock market

I had some time before work so I went to visit one of my friends at his workplace but he wasn’t there. Instead, I talked with Bruno, the guy who replaced him. I had the chance to talk with this guy a few times before, I know he’s a very nice man, a traveler with a lot of experience and culture.

It was quiet and he was playing with some numbers on the computer screen, and told me he was investing in the stock market. Just in front of my eyes, he earned $200 with some actions he had bought three days ago! I was like “wow!”

I’ve always been fascinated by investment activities, I guess I could make it a hobby of mine. And as long as we make smart moves and use our head instead of our emotions, we can earn a bit of money.

I need to save some money first, so that I can buy some actions and start.

With the recent stock crash (October 2008), I’m painfully realizing the importance of asset allocation. I’m lucky that I had a good portion of my accounts in cash, but the portion in stocks wouldn’t have tanked so badly if I had allocated them in the types of mutual funds and bonds that were recommended to me for my age group. Listen to the experts. Also, dollar cost averaging has always paid off for me even if I haven’t always done it.

starting from fundamentals…. Let c how it going to work out.

I’ve wanted to do this since I was a kid (Yeah, I was a weird kid.) Finally started about 6 months ago. My second investment was Bear Sterns – about an hour before closing on friday before JP Morgan announced they were buying them out at $2 share (I bought at… $33 I think..) Well, it seemed like a better idea at the time ;) Anywho, so I’m still down a bit from that – but regaining my money back. I love it!

I think I’ll just join e-trade and figure it out from there. Do any of you know any good books to read to learn more about investing in the stock market?

I got started doing a 401k at work. It’s painless because it automatically drafts out of your check. Totally feel responsible and it’s good to buy in low like right now.

My dad is a former stock broker. I hope that he will be able to help me out with this. It feels very grown-up.

As with most things I knock off this list, this was completely impulsive, unpremeditated, and done just because I had the proverbial “bug up my butt” today.

Having a substantial chunk of change left over after paying bills this month (for the first time in two years) and finding myself defending a bold assertion about a particular new technology that I think is going to take off, it was suggested that I put my money where my mouth is. Always one to rise to a challenge, immediately after lunch, I opened an account at sharebuilder.com, transferred some money into it, and bought ten shares of stock in a company that I think has some interesting growth potential over the next 24 months. If I’m right, I’ll probably make enough money to buy the good, fresh steaks instead of the “throw out after today” ones. If I’m wrong, I’m only out what I would have spent on a couple of “date nights” with the wife. Either way, it’s probably a better investment than buying comic books or MP3’s, which is what I WOULD have spent it on.

... and assuming I don’t lose my shirt, I’ll invest a similar amount next month and try to build one of those “diversified portfolio” things that people keep telling me about.

I have no idea how to go about this. I guess I will start by buying books on the subject and researching it. I also want to contact someone who is into it heavily and seek advice about it.

Today, the stock price hit 0.17 and closed at 0.165.
So on paper, I’m up $2060.

Not bad, but I’, still going to hold.