[koam]

Okay, let's try this again. It seems like Nintendo and Apple have sparked interest in the stock market for the NeoGAF boards. I noticed a lot of people buying into NTDOY and AAPL without really knowing anything about the market. I'm no expert though i'm starting to learn more and more about stocks and having a chick who works as a broker is always a good sign. Anyway, here are some fundementals and please feel free to add to it. I'm at work so i'll constantly add to this topic as i get a chance, ignore spelling errors for now.

How it works?
A company can either be privately owned, or publically traded. If a company is public, anyone can buy shares of that company, which esentially means that you can be a part owner of the company (0.0000001% is still a part!).

Market Cap
A company's value (or market capitilization) is basically the price of a share multiplied by the amount of shares available. Let's say a company has 1,000,000 shares, and they're trading at $50 each, the company's market cap is at $50,000,000. So say you wanted to buy the entire company, you'd need over $50,000,000 to do so (plus you'd need to get the majority (50.1%) of shareholders to agree to a takeover).

Stock Price means nothing
A company who's stock is trading at $30 doesn't mean that it's worth more than a company who's trading at $20. You need to take into account the total amount of shares to determine the total value. Microsoft (MSFT) is trading at $29.14 as of this post, while Apple (AAPL) is selling at $130.80. MSFT is worth a lot more than AAPL though.

How to buy
You'll need a webbroker. Unfortunetly, I'm in Canada so I just use TD Waterhouse, for you Americans, I hear e*trade and TD Ameritrade are good. Look for someone with low commission.

Market Hours
The stock market opens at 9:30am and closes at 4:00pm EST. During this time, you can buy/sell stocks, set limit orders or whatever.

Once the market closes at 4:00pm you're in Off hours. Off hours are from 4:00pm until 5:30pm (after-market) and then again from 9am until 9:30am (pre-market).

In order to place a trade during the Off Hour window, you need to call a broker. They will do buy you a share at whatever the market price is at.

A limit order is when you want to buy a certain stock at a certain price. Let's say you want to buy XYZ at $10. You can open a limit order at ANY TIME 24/7/365 for $10 for XYZ. The catch is that this order can only be fillied during market hours (9:30am to 4:00pm). If the price reaches $10 during off hours (4:00pm to 5:30pm, 9:00am to 9:30am) it will not get filled.

This also means that if XYZ is at $9 during market hours, and reaches $13 during off hours, and opens at $13.. you'll have a nasty surprise in the morning because you just filled in at $13. On the bright side, you can place a max on a limit order. So for example, you can set it to buy XYZ at $10 up to a max of $11. So if it opens in the morning over $11 it won't fill.

How much profit do I make?
Basically, it's your net amount minus your book value. Wtf does that mean?

Number of shares sold multiplied by the share price sold minus commission = Net amount.
Number of shares bought multiplied by share price plus commission = Book value.

Net amount - Book Value = profit (could be a negative if you're unlucky)

Dividends
You make money by buying stock 2 ways - an appreciation in your share value (price of your stock goes up), but you will only make money if you sell it (book value increases, but money in your pocket does not, unless you sell). The other way is through dividends. Both of these components - share appreciation and dividends make up your capitol gain on a stock (or capital loss).

A dividend is an amount of money set by management of a company that they decide to return to shareholders. Companies typically pay dividends on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis. Some companies don't pay a dividend at all - doesn't mean they're a bad company or in trouble, they could be doing other things with their money like re-investment in the company instead of paying dividends.

You'll always want to check a company's history to see if they pay dividends and how often they pay dividends. You'll want a good understanding of their dividend policy up front. Dividend policies of company's typically don't change. Once they set a dividend amount to pay and its frequency, they seldom deviate from it, unless they need that money for reinvestment.

As an example, if a company pays a quarterly dividend of .38 cents per share and you own 100 shares, then you will get a check from them for 38 bucks every quarter. Some quarters they may decide not to pay a dividend, but again, it doesn't mean they are in trouble, it could mean that they have to make some major capital purchases in the short-term.

Options
If you need to come to GAF for stock advise, you shouldn't be dealing with Options. I'll cover what they are at a later time.

Some good sites to look at:

Investopedia
CNN Money
Yahoo! Finance
Motley Fool
Reuters

Good luck!

Thanks to mr Walrus for the below:
While I'm posting today.. here's a little manifesto I made for a couple friends who wanted to get a little more into the market. Perhaps this will help someone here.

Technical Indicators:
These allow you to get a feel where the market is headed and how strong. Below are links to the futures markets and advance/decline volumes. In large part Futures dictate where the market heads and if you see them taking off in a direction you can bet the market will soon follow. Advance/declines give you as feel as to how strong the general market is. The more stocks that are rising over falling obviously indicates a stronger market and vice versa, this more than anything tells the true story of market strength/weakness.

www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,432,00.html
www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/futures.html
http://www.marketvolume.com/content/...m_adv_dcln.asp

News sources:
When trading it's paramount that you stay on top of the what and when in the markets. Important reports on the economy are released all the time. Many times the market will drastically move because of these events. A smart investor will make their move based on these reports. The cowboy (such as myself) will try to predict the direction before it happens to maximize profit(or loss).

www.bloomberg.com
www.marketwatch.com
www.investors.com/

World Wide Exchanges:
The US is still the big guy on the block and by all means many markets trade around what is going on here. However as the market becomes more global it is important to keep track of what people are doing while you sleep.

www.finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=asia
www.finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=europe

Forums:
Knowledge is key. There's no way one person can gather and digest all the information out there, that's why it's good to go someplace where others are gathering information and discussing it. Ticker forum is new and still pretty good. Elite Trader is full of old posts worth an incalculable amount of money and yahoo is filled with.. yahoos. Only go there as a last resort.

www.tickerforum.org/
www.elitetrader.com
www.finance.yahoo.com/

Education:
Investopedia is awesome! if you need to know anything about stocks/options/etc. this is your one stop shop.

www.investopedia.com

People I learn from:
A lot of people know a hell of a lot more than I do and so I listen and observe. Each of these links provides a daily account of the market knowledge that you can't get anywhere else. Best part of them is they're free!

http://www.garyk.com/
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=thermal1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frtj-HhDQpI
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=fxbootcamp

Books:
Here are some of the recent books I've been reading. Lots of good stuff and if you're going to get serious about trading I'd suggest getting the first two especially.

Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading
http://www.amazon.com/Come-Into-My-T...1706719&sr=1-1

Technical Analysis: The Complete Resource for Financial Market Technicians
http://www.amazon.com/Technical-Anal...1706630&sr=1-2

Getting Started in Chart Patterns
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Starte...1706672&sr=1-1

Trend Following: How Great Traders Make Millions in Up or Down Markets
http://www.amazon.com/Trend-Followin...1706576&sr=8-1

Forex:
My understanding is still rather new in this field but these are the spots I've found most useful. oanda is the broker I use and the two other sites (dailyfx and Fxstreet) offer timely updates of current market situations.

www.oanda.com
www.fxstreet.com
www.dailyfx.com


Terms to become familiar with:
Risk Management, Trend Lines, Moving Averages, Candlestick Charts, Technical Analysis, Volatility, Support and Resistance levels

and remember, Tips are for waiters.
Find good companies with actual earnings, not the promise of earnings.


Lastly, and most important.. here is a post I read the other day on a message board and since I couldn't say it better myself I'm just going to quote this guy. This in regards to Forex markets but you can equate it to anything.

---------------
Here is the only advise you need to hear. Disregard at you own risk.

If you are serious about "learning" FX here is the starting point ...

STOP doing the following immediately:

Stop asking questions - most don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
Stop listening to opinions - see above.
Stop following other's buy and sell calls - like this knucklehead nik's - see above.
Stop looking for the easy way out and shortcuts.
Stop looking to others to do YOUR leg work.

START doing the following immediately:

Study charts and when you're done study them again ... for hours, days, weeks and months. This is your mission.

Study the price action of the top FX pairs and not just the "majors". Study the action across all timeframes ... 5 min - weekly.

Study various indicators and how they behave in trending and ranging markets across different timeframes.

Study how news releases effect price action.

Based on your study, devise a game plan ... YOUR game plan.

Google your newbie questions.

Put in your time and hard work if your want to be a trader and not some forum piker/fx gambler.

Lesson over.

[StoOgE]

:lol

Not that any of that is wrong, but its like you just stole page one of a series 7 study guide.

[Tarazet]

Right now:

300 JOB @ $1.6499
5 KLAC @ $57.60

Just to put my toes in the water and see how the market is really.

[alr1ght]

if anyone wants to "play" with the stock market, please do some paper trades first before investing real money.

[koam]

Right now: 300 JOB @ $1.6499 5 KLAC @ $57.60 Just to put my toes in the water and see how the market is really.

Wow, I don't know how much commission you pay, but with the fees i pay, i'd need JOB to go up to $1.84 and KLAC to go up to $69.60 before i start making profit.

My last trade was yesterday. I sold off 300 shares of OLED at $11.65... I bought them at $5.55 :D

[Tarazet]

Wow, I don't know how much commission you pay, but with the fees i pay, i'd need JOB to go up to $1.84 and KLAC to go up to $69.60 before i start making profit. My last trade was yesterday. I sold off 300 shares of OLED at $11.65... I bought them at $5.55 :D

I pay $9.99 a trade. The KLAC is a long position just to speculate/learn, $300 is play money to me. JOB has already gained 5 cents since I bought it a half-hour ago, and if it gains another 2 I'll break even on it. :)

[Cyan]

Hot Stocks Apple (AAPL) - Year start (~$83) - Current (~$131) Nintendo (NTDOY) - Year start (~$33) - Current (~$58) Amazon (AMZN) - Year start (~$40) - Current (~$76) Ressearch in Motion - Blackberry (RIMM) - Year start (~$135) - Current (~$215)

"Hot" is code for "too expensive." I wouldn't recommend buying any of these stocks. And I agree that you should do paper trading before dipping your toes in the real thing.

[mrWalrus]

I've been wondering why a thread like this didn't exist here for a while. I'll wait to see how things go before I get too participant but I'll start by suggesting MRVL. It's gotten beaten up badly over the last two days on the rumor Apple was cutting down on their iPhone production.

Earnings should come out anywhere from Aug 15th - Sept 6th. Expect to see a run up into that time period. Stock trades at 17.60 as of this post. I would be extremely surprised if it doesn't hit 22.5 before years end.

Lastly, for those who like to play options. OIH (Oil Services ETF) is a monster, LOTS of money to be made there if you know your TA.

[Flo_Evans]

if anyone wants to "play" with the stock market, please do some paper trades first before investing real money.

Is there a good site that can track all that stuff for you? I'd like to play around without any actual risks.

[koam]

"Hot" is code for "too expensive." I wouldn't recommend buying any of these stocks. And I agree that you should do paper trading before dipping your toes in the real thing.

They're not "too expensive". These companies keep doing better and better and their stocks are reflecting that. It's much safer investing $5000 in these companies and getting fewer shares than investing in a sub $10 company and getting many more shares.

Is there a good site that can track all that stuff for you? I'd like to play around without any actual risks.

Most sites do that, I like using this yahoo widget named "XRStockGain" which let's you put your buy price and number of shares and it will tell you how much money you've made or lost.

I'll wait to see how things go before I get too participant but I'll start by suggesting MRVL

I dunno man, they almost got delisted from NASDAQ. Their past 6 months haven't been so hot either.

[mrWalrus]

I dunno man, they almost got delisted from NASDAQ. Their past 6 months haven't been so hot either.

hah.. well they are all caught up with their financials now and everything is getting in order. They have a huge stake in the Hard Drive business (expect more pc's to sold in the 2nd half), they are getting more exposure into wi-fi products by the day (namely cellphones as in the iPhone and Blackberries), and their X-Scale apps processor powers all RIMM phones and is rumored to be the brains in the 2nd gen iPhone.

I like their chances especially on this today's pullback. I recently got out in the high 19's after averaging down to a cost basis of about 16.80 after the March collapse. I'm no pumper, just stating the facts and trying to help those who want to put some money in market make money.

Personally I would love to see a thread like this pinned up top and perhaps then with the combined knowledge of the board we can take some of the mysticism away from the market and those who are too scared to put a dime in the market can become savvy vets and start making some real money.

[Cyan]

They're not "too expensive". These companies keep doing better and better and their stocks are reflecting that. It's much safer investing $5000 in these companies and getting fewer shares than investing in a sub $10 company and getting many more shares.

Not too expensive in terms of the dollar amount of the shares, dude. Look at the P/Es. As a general rule, "hot" stocks are too expensive.

[koam]

Not too expensive in terms of the dollar amount of the shares, dude. Look at the P/Es. As a general rule, "hot" stocks are too expensive.

Meh, I just bough 50 shares of NTDOY at $58.75

Aug-2007 50 NINTENDO CO LTD ADR -NEW
BUY -$29.00 -$2,966.50 :D

[AstroLad]

Good article by Henry Blodget on the concept of "hot stocks" (esp. w/r/t magazine articles).

Ah, New Year's again, which means it's time for the investment media to remind us that there are fortunes to be made in the stock market—and time for nearly every financial media organization to produce some version of "10 Hot Stocks for 2007!" . . . . If your New Year's resolution was simply "rebalance my portfolio of low-cost index funds," you are displaying more investment wisdom than all of the magazines combined. Whatever you do, do not buy the 10 Stocks To Buy Now, at least not because you read about them in some magazine. If you want to buy the magazine, fine, just don't buy the stocks. . . . . [A]rticles touting "10 Stocks To Buy Now" invariably ignore transaction costs, which are one of the major differences between investing in the real world and investing in the you-too-can-be-Warren-Buffett dream world of the investment media. Transaction costs include not only brokerage commissions, but bid/ask spreads, taxes, research, and opportunity costs (what you sold or did not invest in to buy the 10 Stocks to Buy Now). Worrying about transaction costs is often considered wimpy ("Just pick ten-baggers, dude"), but they cripple returns. If some of those 10 Stocks to Buy Now do outperform the market, therefore—and some of them undoubtedly will from luck alone—they need to outperform it by more than the costs you will incur by buying and selling them. . . . . [I]n the hierarchy of intelligent-investing priorities, stock-picking is your least important consideration, not your most important. Regardless of how attractive the 10 Stocks to Buy Now sound, therefore, your overriding priority is to make sure you are adequately diversified. Before you even consider buying the 10 Stocks, therefore, you need to determine how adding them to your portfolio will affect its overall diversification and risk/reward profile. Will they make it more risky? Less? Will they increase the expected return? Decrease it? Will they increase the expected return enough to justify any added risk? If you don't know the answers to these questions, you won't be alone. Assessing a portfolio's risk/return profile is complicated enough that most pros buy fancy software to do it. If you're going to let a magazine pick stocks for you, you should get such software, too. . . . . Still, it's also no mystery why the magazines run variants of the 10 Hot Stocks articles every year, even though they contain terrible advice: because stock-picking is fun, because such headlines sell magazines, and because investor hope springs eternal.

http://www.slate.com/id/2158086/

Seriously, for most people it just comes down to how fun you find stock-picking vs. investment activities with equal or less risk that involve fewer opportunity costs.

[Cyan]

Good article by Henry Blodget on the concept of "hot stocks" (esp. w/r/t magazine articles). http://www.slate.com/id/2158086/ Seriously, for most people it just comes down to how fun you find stock-picking vs. investment activities with equal or less risk that involve fewer opportunity costs.

Great advice. Which is ironic, considering the source.

[valparaiso]

nice op, thanks.

can anyone link to one of those online practice thingies?

[Flo_Evans]

nice op, thanks. can anyone link to one of those online practice thingies?

I found this one that looks good, but to be honest I probably wouldn't know :lol

http://vse.marketwatch.com

I think we can actually create a GAF game with a starting budget and see who can make the most money over time!

[Cyan]

I think we can actually create a GAF game with a starting budget and see who can make the most money over time!

That can be a fun game, but you wouldn't learn anything about investing.

[Cheesemeister]

I think we can actually create a GAF game with a starting budget and see who can make the most money over time!

If I recall, everyone who participated last time wound up in the red.

[lil smoke]

the only problem with paper stocks is that you make decisions that you wouldn't normally make, if you were using real money. But it probably is good for just learning the process.

I don't know much, but I would rather have a small amount of $$ ready to throw away... and play with that. I think I'd take it more seriously, and learn what it's like to lose real money.

[Mii]

I found this one that looks good, but to be honest I probably wouldn't know :lol http://vse.marketwatch.com I think we can actually create a GAF game with a starting budget and see who can make the most money over time!

I'm definitely in. I've already been in a game there for a while and I'm up for starting another portfolio. Who wants to start it up?

[Flo_Evans]

If I recall, everyone who participated last time wound up in the red.

hmm yeah from my signing up till now I have already lost 10%! :lol

What about sites that allow for small investments? like say I have $500 to play with. What would a good site be for that level? I looked at some sites but they all wanted like $1000 to start an account. With my limited knowledge of the market I think I am better off paying off loans at this point instead of investing :lol

How is everyone feeling about the market today? I have been paying close attention since the drop friday. Is it going to pull out? more drops?

Also for the OP can you explain limit, stop and market orders? I think I know what they mean but I am not entirely sure.

[Tarazet]

hmm yeah from my signing up till now I have already lost 10%! :lol What about sites that allow for small investments? like say I have $500 to play with. What would a good site be for that level? I looked at some sites but they all wanted like $1000 to start an account. With my limited knowledge of the market I think I am better off paying off loans at this point instead of investing :lol How is everyone feeling about the market today? I have been paying close attention since the drop friday. Is it going to pull out? more drops?

The credit market is depressing everything else and it's going to make the market very unpredictable in the near future. It might actually be a good time to look for grossly bubbled stocks and try to short sell them.

[Flo_Evans]

The credit market is depressing everything else and it's going to make the market very unpredictable in the near future. It might actually be a good time to look for grossly bubbled stocks and try to short sell them.

OK, short selling is basically playing the volatility right? Like if the stock is going up and down wildly you put in an order to buy if it dips below a certain point and to sell if it goes above a certain point?

I am trying more to find a good entry point into the market as I don't own any stocks. I got an extra $500 today and I am wondering what to do with it... I could buy some stocks, pay down high interest loans, put it in my savings account for a rainy day, or buy a hooker and some blow!

[duderon]

We need some option lovin in this thread. I'm just starting out with the help of my father and it's apparent that a lot of money can be made shorting options and stocks, although stocks are much more volatile in this situation.

[Cyan]

OK, short selling is basically playing the volatility right? Like if the stock is going up and down wildly you put in an order to buy if it dips below a certain point and to sell if it goes above a certain point? I am trying more to find a good entry point into the market as I don't own any stocks. I got an extra $500 today and I am wondering what to do with it... I could buy some stocks, pay down high interest loans, put it in my savings account for a rainy day, or buy a hooker and some blow!

Are you asking for our advice? I'd suggest paying off some of your loan amount. With a high-interest loan, your rate of return will almost certainly beat the market.

I wouldn't recommend any real money investing until you've paid off any high-interest loans (basically, anything other than a mortgage or student loans), and have a small emergency cash reserve. Then you can start putting money into index funds. :)

Or you could pull a Nighttrain and buy a bunch of stock despite not really knowing anything about the market. Maybe it'll shoot up nearly 50%, like AAPL did right after he bought it. Who knows?

P.S. Shorting is selling stock you don't actually have, with a promise to buy the stock later. You are essentially betting that the stock will go down, and your buy-back price will be less than your selling price. If it does go down before you buy it back, you've made money.

Again, not recommended to someone new to investing. (are you seeing a pattern here? ;) )

[mrWalrus]

pay down high interest loans,

it's always best to pay yourself first.

We need some option lovin in this thread. I'm just starting out with the help of my father and it's apparent that a lot of money can be made shorting options and stocks, although stocks are much more volatile in this situation.

Options are where the money is (made 45% on my OIH puts today).. before one gets started though they should read the difference between a call and a put and the difference between shorting the two. Basically you don't want to short a position you don't have covered. Which would be called a 'naked' call or put.

www.investopedia.com is an outstanding knowledge base.

[AstroLad]

Are you asking for our advice? I'd suggest paying off some of your loan amount. With a high-interest loan, your rate of return will almost certainly beat the market.

Yeah, paying off loans (anything other than low interest) and credit cards is great, especially when you consider that tax-adjusted it's the equivalent of getting a highly abnormal return in the market.

[duderon]

it's always best to pay yourself first. Options are where the money is (made 45% on my OIH puts today).. before one gets started though they should read the difference between a call and a put and the difference between shorting the two. Basically you don't want to short a position you don't have covered. Which would be called a 'naked' call or put. www.investopedia.com is an outstanding knowledge base.

Excellent, will start reading up!

[LJ11]

We need some option lovin in this thread. I'm just starting out with the help of my father and it's apparent that a lot of money can be made shorting options and stocks, although stocks are much more volatile in this situation.

Options are much more volatile than stocks, they're pure volatility plays when not used as hedging instruments. Option trading is much more complex than people make it out to be, but do to gearing/leverage you can earn a lot of money so it's glamorized to no end. Options are a zero sum game, for every person who makes a pretty penny, there's another losing that exact amount.

Flo, take Cyan's advice. Become debt free and look into Index funds, couldn't agree more with Cyan.

[Flo_Evans]

Ok I guess I will pay down some debt. Not as fun as calling my broker and yelling SELL SELL SELL in the phone but I need to get it down so I can buy a house and get in some real debt! :lol

[Tarazet]

OK, short selling is basically playing the volatility right? Like if the stock is going up and down wildly you put in an order to buy if it dips below a certain point and to sell if it goes above a certain point? I am trying more to find a good entry point into the market as I don't own any stocks. I got an extra $500 today and I am wondering what to do with it... I could buy some stocks, pay down high interest loans, put it in my savings account for a rainy day, or buy a hooker and some blow!

Short selling is a bet that the stock WILL go down, i.e. if it goes up, you lose money. Basically, you borrow the stock (usually from someone who bought it on margin and is hence actually borrowing it anyway). Then you immediately sell it at the market price. Then at some point in the future, you buy it back at the new (hopefully lower) market price, give it back to its owner and pocket the difference.

[koam]

Ok I guess I will pay down some debt. Not as fun as calling my broker and yelling SELL SELL SELL in the phone but I need to get it down so I can buy a house and get in some real debt! :lol

Umm, why on earth would you call a broker? it's so much cheaper over the internet.

[Flo_Evans]

Umm, why on earth would you call a broker? it's so much cheaper over the internet.

I've just always wanted to do that... (u_u) :D :lol

[koam]

I've just always wanted to do that... (u_u) :D :lol

Pfft, just click on the sell button 3 times

[koam]

I think i might be investing in Take Two in the near future. They took a huge plunge due to GTA4 being delayed. I'd rather not own NTDOY *and* TTWO stock but it's on special!

Plus this
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/07...8_id.html?.v=1

[Tarazet]

I think i might be investing in Take Two in the near future. They took a huge plunge due to GTA4 being delayed. I'd rather not own NTDOY *and* TTWO stock but it's on special! Plus this http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/07...8_id.html?.v=1

They're still up 38% from this time a year ago..

[koam]

They're still up 38% from this time a year ago..

Think they'll drop more? I guess they should considering no manhunt, no gta 4 and that other sport game bombed.

[Tarazet]

Think they'll drop more? I guess they should considering no manhunt, no gta 4 and that other sport game bombed.

I'm not wondering about that as much as how long it will take to recover.

[koam]

I'm not wondering about that as much as how long it will take to recover.

Q2 2008 :D

[yayaba]

Stocks now are terrible. Be careful anyone who wades in because of this thread.

I think I've lost maybe $2k in profits the past couple of weeks. Pure profit all gone... :(

My buddy who invested in Ameritrade around $17 was all hollering when it hit $21 or so that he pocketed a quick $1k but turns out now it's below his original purchase price :lol

[Tarazet]

Stocks now are terrible. Be careful anyone who wades in because of this thread. I think I've lost maybe $2k in profits the past couple of weeks. Pure profit all gone... :( My buddy who invested in Ameritrade around $17 was all hollering when it hit $21 or so that he pocketed a quick $1k but turns out now it's below his original purchase price :lol

This is a wait and see market. Personally, I'm waiting for interest rates to go up meaningfully and then invest in bonds. The rate of return for a T-bill is too low right now at less than 5%; with the impending credit crunch that should change. My stock portfolio is baby play by comparison because I don't feel comfortable in the market.

[Dascu]

I think i might be investing in Take Two in the near future. They took a huge plunge due to GTA4 being delayed. I'd rather not own NTDOY *and* TTWO stock but it's on special! Plus this http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/07...8_id.html?.v=1

Hmm, on this note, what happened to the Nintendo stocks after the WiiFit announcement?

[koam]

Hmm, on this note, what happened to the Nintendo stocks after the WiiFit announcement?

They've gone up by a few dollars but that's probably attributed to their quarterly results which were higher than expected.

I bought some more stocks, my current holdings are:

Firestone Ventures (FV.V)
1000 shares @ $0.65
Exchange: TSE
Reason I bought them:
They're a promissing mining company based in Vancouver. Pretty cheap stock and LOTS of info about the company is available. I expect big things from them in the future.

Anooraq (ARQ.V)
1000 shares @ $2.83
Exchange: TSE
Reason I bought them:
Another mining company. They're currently in a slump but they've been at $3.20 before, I believe i'll be able to pocket a couple of hundred dollars off them soon enough.

Nintendo (NTDOY.PK)
50 shares @ $57.85
Exchange: OTC (JSE)
Reason I bought them:
The Wii and the DS obviously. I expect their stock to go up when the Wii becomes the worldwide leader in August and Nintendo issues a PR. Also, their next year earnings are going to be a killer. Oh and Wii Fit

Universal Display (PANL) *NEW for me*
100 shares @ $14.98
Exchange: NSE
Reason I bought them:
I used to own stocks in a competing company (Cambridge Display) and i made a killing off them. Cambridge was recently bought and my stocks more than doubled. The reason? Both of these companies are makers of OLED screens. OLED will eventually replace LCD/PLASMA and i've got high hopes for this tech. Their main partners are Sony and Samsung. Go OLED!

Stocks I'm looking into getting when I get some more cash into my account:

Amazon (AMZN): They're going to get HUGE. Harry Potter sales will be in their next quarterly earnings and then, it's holiday season! Double wammy on wii and ds sales for me here.

Bell Canada (BCE): They're going to be bought out in September (or at least approve a takeover). They just announced a dividend. This is a short term commitment.

Garmin (GRMN): Big GPS company. I think they'll continue to improve, but their stock has gotten quite pricey lately.

[koam]

Universal Display (PANL) *NEW for me* 100 shares @ $14.98 Exchange: NSE Reason I bought them: I used to own stocks in a competing company (Cambridge Display) and i made a killing off them. Cambridge was recently bought and my stocks more than doubled. The reason? Both of these companies are makers of OLED screens. OLED will eventually replace LCD/PLASMA and i've got high hopes for this tech. Their main partners are Sony and Samsung. Go OLED!

Go OLED indeed, i mentioned earlier that i bought them at $14.98 this morning, well they closed off at 15.69 with a high of 16.20 during the day :D

[LM4sure]

:lol
oh boy

[Tarazet]

KLA-Tencor recovered from last week's losses, but my risky small-cap JOB is two cents down from where I bought it at the moment. Looks like I'll be holding onto both of these stocks for a while.. and probably not earning much more than I am in my 6-month CDs.

[Christopher]

DODGE & COX BALANCED
0.0000 $0.00 0.5170 $86.65 -$1.44 $46.55 08/03/2007
DODGE & COX STOCK FUND
0.0000 $0.00 0.1440 $152.76 -$4.00 $23.25 08/03/2007
ENHANCED STOCK MARKET
0.2186 $100.88 0.0000 $0.00 -$2.82 $23.21 08/03/2007
TROWE PRICE BLUE CHP GWTH
0.0000 $0.00 0.5950 $37.61 -$1.08 $23.25 08/03/2007
HARTFORD MIDCAP HLS/IA
0.0000 $0.00 0.7510 $29.36 -$0.80 $23.21 08/03/2007
EVGRN SPECIAL VALUES/I
0.0000 $0.00 0.8030 $26.73 -$0.99 $23.22 08/03/2007
EVGRN GROWTH/I
0.0000 $0.00 1.2150 $18.18 -$0.60 $23.21 08/03/2007
AMERICAN FUNDS EUPAC R5
0.0000 $0.00 0.4420 $50.76 -$0.88 $23.21 08/03/2007
LAZARD EMERGING MARKETS/I
0.0000 $0.00 0.9360 $24.02 -$0.35 $23.21 08/03/2007

My portfolio today! ahhh

[Tarazet]

I've been reading very intensively about options trading. I know it's portrayed as a tricky thing that should only really be handled by professionals, but I like the idea of paying a little bit upfront and having that be the most money you can possibly lose on the transaction. The trouble, as I see it, is that you have to have someone on the other side taking the opposite position, earning a little bit upfront but with a potential for unlimited loss.. and that will be reflected in the price.

[bill0527]

Dividends I'll re-write this later, it wasn't very clear the first time

You make money by buying stock 2 ways - an appreciation in your share value (price of your stock goes up), but you will only make money if you sell it (book value increases, but money in your pocket does not, unless you sell). The other way is through dividends. Both of these components - share appreciation and dividends make up your capitol gain on a stock (or capital loss).

A dividend is an amount of money set by management of a company that they decide to return to shareholders. Companies typically pay dividends on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis. Some companies don't pay a dividend at all - doesn't mean they're a bad company or in trouble, they could be doing other things with their money like re-investment in the company instead of paying dividends.

You'll always want to check a company's history to see if they pay dividends and how often they pay dividends. You'll want a good understanding of their dividend policy up front. Dividend policies of company's typically don't change. Once they set a dividend amount to pay and its frequency, they seldom deviate from it, unless they need that money for reinvestment.

As an example, if a company pays a quarterly dividend of .38 cents per share and you own 100 shares, then you will get a check from them for 38 bucks every quarter. Some quarters they may decide not to pay a dividend, but again, it doesn't mean they are in trouble, it could mean that they have to make some major capital purchases in the short-term.