Question for you financial gurus (1 Viewer)

dbridge

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I'm taking my money out of a low yield savings account. But where to put it? Any of you have any ideas of good investments? Stocks? Mutual funds? Real estate? Anything? PM me or post here. Thanks.
 
I'm taking my money out of a low yield savings account. But where to put it? Any of you have any ideas of good investments? Stocks? Mutual funds? Real estate? Anything? PM me or post here. Thanks.



Well if you like the thrill of roller coasters, then hop on the "stock express"...The market is very volatile, and almost daily is reacting to different reports that the general public is not privy to ahead of time. Its reactionary. Makes for a bumpy ride. The Fed injects $200 billion and the market reacts with a big WAAHHOOO and rises 417 pts. Where, I have no idea, because none of my stocks increased more that 5%. But companies like Thornberg Mortgage, Citibank, COuntrywide, Hovnanian, Lennar and other banking/mortgage/housing stocks shot up. Too much of a guessing game for me. So I am stacking my chips for when the shoe drops and going all in. And if that day never arrives I have hedged myself with cash.
Right now I would look at a CD or steady Mutual Fund. But I have gotten more conservative over the last few years with all the undulations in the market. Talk to a broker and do your homeowrk on some of his suggestions. Mine got me out of 3 funds and 2 stocks and into Freeport McMoran about a month ago and it has gained about 15% since then. Pretty good pick on his part.

ps I am no guru, so please talk with professionals that deal with this exclusively on a daily basis. I am just another investor. This is just my humble opinion.
 
417 points is only a 3.55% increase in the DJI average.

correct. but some stocks gained anwhere from 20-30% - Thornberg Mtg is one opened at .87 and closed at $1.56. Countrywide open- $4.36 closed $5.11.

As I type, Thornberg is at $2.10 ----

point was none of mine had that little extra "kick" from the news and that news today is driving everything. They have a crude inventory report due out at 10:30 so we will see what happens to crude pricies after that report. Either up or down.
 
Before anyone can give you advice, you should probably state what you're intentions are for this money. What I mean is that is this money that you will need access to in the short-term, or is it money you can invest for the long-term? If it's long-term, then a mutual fund might the way to go, if you want to minimize your risk. Search morningstar.com and look for funds with a 4 and 5 star average. Also, make sure you are looking at no-load funds. In the short-term, the value of the mutual fund might go down, creating a paper-loss for your funds. But over the long haul, you most likely will see price appreciation. But you have to decide if you will need this money in the short-term(say <12 months) or long-term.

If this is money may be needed in the short-term, then CD's might be the way to go. Though your risk is basically nothing, your rate of return is low. As the Fed has been cutting the interest rates, so goes the rate on CD's. We invest some money in CD's via our Fidelity account. The rates are about a percentage point higher than what I can get with my bank, Chase.

Read up as much as you can on investing. I'm no pro at this by far, but I discuss investments with my brother-in-law who is much more experienced than me. If I didn't have his guidance, I'd probably get with an investment professional.
 
A low cost no load index mutual fund will have a greater return than most brokers can get for you. I agree the vanguard family of mutual funds is a good one and recommend their 500 index fund.

The management expenses on an index fund are very low becuase all the mgr has to do is buy the index stocks. Now is a great time to buy with the market down. It might go down more, but the bottom is impossible to predict. It is very likely that in the next few years it will bounce back and you will have a nice return.

If you wnat to be safe, put half in now and put the rest in on the next mkt drop(assuming it does drop).
 
I'm taking my money out of a low yield savings account. But where to put it? Any of you have any ideas of good investments? Stocks? Mutual funds? Real estate? Anything? PM me or post here. Thanks.

Speak to a financial professional. You haven't provided enough information for someone to make any reasonable suggestion to you in terms of specific investing strategies. For example, do you have any credit card debt or other outstanding revolving credit? Do you have a stable earning history? Do you have an emergency fund in your bank account? Are you preparing to retire? Do you own a home? Are you saving for a down-payment on a home? How much risk are you willing to accept? How old are you? What's your investment portfolio mix? What's the status of your life, property/casualty, disability insurance coverages? How many dependents? How much money is this in terms of the overall net worth? How much do you have in your retirement accounts? Are you entitled to a pension? Do you have child support obligations? Are you saving for your children's college? etc., etc., etc.
 
Thanks. Think I'll take a look at some of the mutual funds. I looked at CDs as well but thanks to the feds, the yield is down to around 3.50%. This begins my 2 year financial plan.
 

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