Discussion: Stock Market

[tony]

I'll admit, my knowledge of the stock market is minimal.. I'm a beginner but I do know from the past that when things are going bad, its typically a good time to get educated because eventually the market recovers.

Right now the financial market is taking a hit, a lot of panic blah blah but in the midst there has to be some opportunity there.

What I am not looking for in starting this conversation are tips to strike gold, moreso I would like to open dialog about the stock market.. how things work and how world events affect the stock market. So please don't come in here with the "you don't know **** and I know it all" attitude, if you know that much contribute to the cause and help enlighten us.

As I said, with Indymac going under it seems like the financial sector is taking a beating but I have to imagine some of these banks (Washington Mutual, ETrade) will recover over the next couple of years. Discuss.

[BB6dohcvtec]

I'll admit, my knowledge of the stock market is minimal.. I'm a beginner but I do know from the past that when things are going bad, its typically a good time to get educated because eventually the market recovers.

Right now the financial market is taking a hit, a lot of panic blah blah but in the midst there has to be some opportunity there.

What I am not looking for in starting this conversation are tips to strike gold, moreso I would like to open dialog about the stock market.. how things work and how world events affect the stock market. So please don't come in here with the "you don't know **** and I know it all" attitude, if you know that much contribute to the cause and help enlighten us.

As I said, with Indymac going under it seems like the financial sector is taking a beating but I have to imagine some of these banks (Washington Mutual, ETrade) will recover over the next couple of years. Discuss.

I don't know **** about the stock market but I am with you on getting tips on investing because at some point it has to come back up but it will prob be a year or two if things go right if I'm thinking correctly.

[Vteckidd]

VISA

[ironchef]

Many of the stronger financial companies will recover greatly over the next couple years once this whole sour economy turns around.

Some of those companies are at their lowest points ever. Could they go lower? Possibly. How likely is it? IMO not very likely for many companies to go more than 10% from where they are now, unless they're just poorly managed and have complete idiots sitting on the BOD. Could they have bottomed? Possibly, and more than likely the situation for many of them. Its hard to generalize the financial sector, as certain components will perform vastly different than the sector as a whole. Then again thats the case with every sector.

Another good area will be tech stocks, alternative energy, and commodities. But the commodities/futures/forex market is HIGHLY risky, much more so than regular stocks. But as they say with risk comes reward, and commodities/futures/forex are VERY rewarding if played correctly. Much much much more so than 99% of stocks. But to see gains there, you have to be a pretty active trader.

^^ All IMO of course. Your mileage is subject to vary. But I think this discussion could be cool, and hope it keeps going.

As far as VISA, it could definitely be a great long term play. If it follows Mastercard's path at all, its a sure winner. Mastercard went from $40 to about $250 since its IPO in 06 I believe to now. And with VISA being a bigger more capitalized company, I don't see why it can't have the same kind of success.

[tony]

Many of the stronger financial companies will recover greatly over the next couple years once this whole sour economy turns around.

Some of those companies are at their lowest points ever. Could they go lower? Possibly. How likely is it? IMO not very likely for many companies to go more than 10% from where they are now, unless they're just poorly managed and have complete idiots sitting on the BOD. Could they have bottomed? Possibly, and more than likely the situation for many of them. Its hard to generalize the financial sector, as certain components will perform vastly different than the sector as a whole. Then again thats the case with every sector.

Another good area will be tech stocks, alternative energy, and commodities. But the commodities/futures/forex market is HIGHLY risky, much more so than regular stocks. But as they say with risk comes reward, and commodities/futures/forex are VERY rewarding if played correctly. Much much much more so than 99% of stocks. But to see gains there, you have to be a pretty active trader.

^^ All IMO of course. Your mileage is subject to vary. But I think this discussion could be cool, and hope it keeps going.

As far as VISA, it could definitely be a great long term play. If it follows Mastercard's path at all, its a sure winner. Mastercard went from $40 to about $250 since its IPO in 06 I believe to now. And with VISA being a bigger more capitalized company, I don't see why it can't have the same kind of success.

Its funny right after I posted about the financial market Wells Fargo jumped 20% at opening due to good earnings, that would be luck more than any kind of skill I may posses. Actually a lot of the financials are doing well, even Airlines are rallying today.

Right now I'm investing for growth over the next couple of years, still researching to see what has good potential with the inevitable changes coming within the next year.

[ironchef]

Take a gander at the BRICs if you get a chance, emerging economies could provide very lucrative results.

[AirMax95]

Take a gander at the BRICs if you get a chance, emerging economies could provide very lucrative results.

I like my T. Rowe Price emerging market funds. Right now I am still learning the stock market also, but I do know that several ventures elsewhere are proving good results.

I am researching sectors that will not be affected that much by the economic downturn. Not the easiest task when you are learning. With that said, investing across the water long term is my tactic.

[DevilK9]

Check out some online offshore trading options. I used to limit myself to domestic investments, but now that I started trading on foreign markets (especially those rare occasions where the primary is US produced commodities) I'm doing much better.

For instance, YKK for me has been performing wonderfully over the past year and a half. Their second largest customer is the "big 5" US defense contractors that make clothing, gear and assessories for US uniforms, flight gear and 782 items.

There are some different rules and regs with this type of investing, but the overhead is low, and with the globalized online marketplace, the process is rather simplified.

That's my $0.02 worth. Hope it turns into a dollar for ya.