Buying shares

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

I'm sure there was a thread on this but I cant find it. If its still here somewhere can you add this post to that thread please.


I have been urged to buy some shares in a particular monetary savings company by an older aquaintance who watches the markets quite carefully. He does not have any involvement in this company, but has bought shares in the past that have done quite well for him.

So, I am totally new to all of this & need some info.

1. How do I go about buying shares?
2. How much should I buy & how much should I spend?
3. Is there a set time for shares to be 'kept in' or can I cash them in at any time?

Any other info or experiences would be gratefull, thanks.

[Dogg Thang]

I know nothing about this but I have such an urge to shout 'RUN! RUN AWAY NOW!'

Not really sure why...

[NW2013]

Sort out your tax problem first!

Agreed with Dogg Thang, don't do it especially if someone is 'urging' you to do it. The only way you should do it is if you're basically happy to lose the money.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Sort out your tax problem first!

Its not MY tax problem mate .

Is ?50 worth of shares too much to waste?

[ETC]

Only shares I own is in brewdog and that was only to get the discount on the bar beer prices heh heh

[Nijo]

Is ?50 worth of shares too much to waste?

You can buy and sell whenever you want, but it'll cost you about ?10 in fees each time. That means a ?50 punt needs to make a 40% gain before you start to make a profit. TBH you want to be investing at least ?1000 before the fees become small enough not to be an issue.

Also, if this "monetary savings company" is Lloyds or Barclays or somebody like that, you're playing with fire!

[Robster]

Tbh Eddie if this friend you know is urging you to buy the shares, surely he should be able to answer the questions you have, also Dogg Thang hit the nail on the head.

Do you ever hear of a tip for a horse at the races, well chances are everyone else has heard that tip before you and you will find out the tip originates from the horse owner/trainer in order to boost the pot of money if it wins.

So be weary and do your home work before you commit to anything, stock market is just a complicated form of gambling and takes alot of practice to get used to it.

[Super Grover]

Well I can speak from experience as I am currently doing a fair bit of share trading, and I have a portfolio of 8 companies, across all sectors.

Firstly, and no doubt you've been told already, make sure you have no debts and will not need the money you will invest in the short to medium term.

I bank with Lloyds, who have a share dealing service online. To buy and sell shares is ?15 each transaction, plus stamp duty 0.5%.

I'm an active member on these web sites which will invaluable if you are going to take buying shares seriously ...

http://www.lse.co.uk

http://www.iii.co.uk

Try not getting sucked in on the boards (especially LSE's) as there are a fair share of rampers/derampers on there, and some bb's, such as the HMV one on LSE, is like gamefaq's for the juvenile banter. However, it does have it's share of very knowledgeable posters who reside there, and they can be helpful if you have some questions.

Try to do as much research as you can on the company you want to invest in. Both III and LSE have comprehensive info on all the FTSE and AIM companies, such as RNS's, Director Dealings etc etc.

If you are going to invest in small caps (or are sometimes referred to as penny shares) obviously you will not need as much money as if you were investing in a blue chip company, but with a small cap, and usually with the very small companies, you probably won't be getting a dividend.

If you're like me, once you start investing and start tracking the market (with me its every few hours, 5 days a week!), you'll be well and truly hooked, especially if you start to see your company's showing blue (gains) as opposed to reds (losses) on its share price.

Also, start reading/learning about Bollinger bands and things like the Fibonacci theory, as using these will add another string to your investing bow. Bollinger bands are fairly straight forward and the charts on LSE do the work for you, although they do not do the Fibonacci numbers, which the charts/graphs on III do.

Also pop down to your local library and get some books to read, as you can never know enough. I would recommend 'The complete guide to online stock market investing' by Alexander Davidson and 'The UK traders bible' by Dominic Connolly as good books to start with.

I made 69% profit on my initial investment last week with HMV, and I'm no big time trader. If I can make money, there's no reason why anyone else can't.

If you need any more advice or questions, give me a pm.

[kryss]

I'd heard that stock options were the way to go if you were looking to make some money. But I imagine the amount of research remains roughly the same.

[charlesr]

Ask your friend what his profits have been over the last few years.
Ask him why he is urging you.

[dataDave]

I'd start off by buying precious metals myself, tamper with silver ounces before upgrading to gold. Mind, they are probably taxable at 20% VAT there when you purchase, here is just 7%.

I prefer wealth in my hands rather than on a computer in a bank that's tied to the markets.

[Nijo]

I'd start off by buying precious metals myself, tamper with silver ounces before upgrading to gold. Mind, they are probably taxable at 20% VAT there when you purchase, here is just 7%.

Precious metals are VAT free, and CGT free too if they're UK coins. But buying PMs is very 2009.


Keeping half an eye on the Facebook IPO would make sense. The price might be ridiculous but if the hype is there you could turn a quick profit. Or a quick loss if it's not.

[kryss]

Yeah I do love the fact that precious metals aren't taxable. Silver is much less of an initial outlay but will still turn you a profit. Just buy bullion, not individual coins and you'll get a small but pleasant discount on the going rate per ounce.

Don't expect a quick return on it though.