Any stock experts here ?

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marine65

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I have been buying stock for the last 3 months on a very small budget ($300.00)
So far I have the following
MDVX 37 shares medical
BRG 4 shares real estate
NOG 17 shares oil and gas
XXII 10 shares plant biotech
TDW 11 shares offshore energy support
XRX 9 shares Xerox
INVT 4 shares licensing
NAK 11 shares mining

Any comments or recommendations?
 
What I notice about your investments is its greatly inefficient to buy a spread of stocks with a just small amount of funds, because its terribly inefficient to do so if you pay a commission for each trade. Small amounts should be invested in just one or two stocks, or, better yet, a mutual fund or an index fund to save trading fees. That way you can get great sector diversity at a minimal cost.
 
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
What I notice is its greatly inefficient to buy a spread of stock with a small amount of funds, because its terribly inefficient to do so if you pay a commission for each trade.

This.

Unless you have many thousands to invest, individual stocks are inefficient.

Index funds are the way to go. I put money into VTSAX every two weeks. VTI is the same in an ETF format.
 
I used to be in the stock market. Of course not a big player but I prefer to invest in myself because my returns are far better
smile.gif


I did score many years ago on Ford when it went to $2 a share and rolled the dice and held it until it hit the teens. I don't like gambling with money unless it's a small amount. But with Ford I got very lucky. Best payday ever and I still buy a Ford whenever I can.
 
My wife and I pick stocks. We've got a Schwab brokerage account in my retirement account that allows us to buy and sell without tax realization and at $8.95/trade. About 40% of our portfolio is in 20+ stocks in that account. We reinvest dividends. We've had some big wins, some big losers, and generally enjoy the working together to achieve a common financial goal. We stick to a strict rule: no more than 4% of portfolio in any one stock. So while that mitigates the gains, it prevents any one mistake from wiping you out.

The rest is in mutual funds. Outside of retirement accounts/funds, we've got some modest cash to cover expenses. I contribute a considerable portion of income to my retirement account as I'm 53 and have an imperative: I will be ineligible to work when I turn 65.

I think the most important part of picking stocks is your financial education.

Start with this list of books: http://www.bobbrinker.com/books.asp

You can borrow all of them from the library if you like.

And listen to Bob Brinker when you can...
 
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I got VTI in my brokerage account and IRA. It's commission free to trade their ETFs in a Vanguard account.

I don't invest in bonds, but have companies like VZ and T just for good dividends.
I mention VTI because the OP mentioned his small budget to invest.
 
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
What I notice about your investments is its greatly inefficient to buy a spread of stocks with a just small amount of funds, because its terribly inefficient to do so if you pay a commission for each trade. Small amounts should be invested in just one or two stocks, or, better yet, a mutual fund or an index fund to save trading fees. That way you can get great sector diversity at a minimal cost.

Agreed. It is generally said you should be spending no more than 2% on transaction fees. With a small portfolio you would be better off with a broad ETF (and VTI represents the broad US market) or a no load, low MER, mutual fund. If you intend to add small amounts on a regular basis (which is a good idea), a no load mutual fund may be the better choice because there is no transaction cost.

A stock portfolio should be well diversified with at least 15 or 20 stocks in different sectors. And that is just not practical in a small portfolio.

I'd suggest you start reading too and decide whether you're a value investor, a growth investor, a momentum investor or a dividend investor. When I started off I had a broker who recommended stocks based on their momentum and I was at heart a buy and hold investor. After a couple of years, I realized he was making as much money as I was (and neither of us was making much) and I didn't get back to buying individual stocks for several decades. That was in the days before ETFs, and having had a bad experience with individual stocks, I had to make do with mutual funds. I remember wondering why my mutual funds couldn't at least keep up with the index - but I now know that few do.
 
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
What I notice about your investments is its greatly inefficient to buy a spread of stocks with a just small amount of funds, because its terribly inefficient to do so if you pay a commission for each trade. Small amounts should be invested in just one or two stocks, or, better yet, a mutual fund or an index fund to save trading fees. That way you can get great sector diversity at a minimal cost.


I pay nothing to trade.
I do it on a phone app only called Robin Hood.
I can watch my stocks all day on my phone.
 
Originally Posted By: marine65
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
What I notice about your investments is its greatly inefficient to buy a spread of stocks with a just small amount of funds, because its terribly inefficient to do so if you pay a commission for each trade. Small amounts should be invested in just one or two stocks, or, better yet, a mutual fund or an index fund to save trading fees. That way you can get great sector diversity at a minimal cost.


I pay nothing to trade.
I do it on a phone app only called Robin Hood.
I can watch my stocks all day on my phone.


You're confusing "can" with "should"

What are your goals?
Risk tolerance?
What's your investment strategy?
Stock selection criteria?
Desired portfolio composition?
What research/analysis does your free app provide?

Your portfolio is worth, what several thousand?
What are the tax consequences of your trades?

When you've done some reading, and can answer the questions above, then start playing around with buying/selling stocks.
 
Originally Posted By: marine65
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
What I notice about your investments is its greatly inefficient to buy a spread of stocks with a just small amount of funds, because its terribly inefficient to do so if you pay a commission for each trade. Small amounts should be invested in just one or two stocks, or, better yet, a mutual fund or an index fund to save trading fees. That way you can get great sector diversity at a minimal cost.


I pay nothing to trade.
I do it on a phone app only called Robin Hood.
I can watch my stocks all day on my phone.


Are those stocks just play money (gambling), or is that your nest egg strategy?
 
Originally Posted By: marine65


I have been buying stock for the last 3 months on a very small budget ($300.00)
So far I have the following
MDVX 37 shares medical
BRG 4 shares real estate
NOG 17 shares oil and gas
XXII 10 shares plant biotech
TDW 11 shares offshore energy support
XRX 9 shares Xerox
INVT 4 shares licensing
NAK 11 shares mining

Any comments or recommendations?


After some reflection, and time spent on Schwab's site, I'm looking at this:
MDVX 37 shares @ $1.13
BRG 4 shares @ $14.37
NOG 17 shares @ $3.50
XXII 10 shares @ $0.94
TDW 11 shares @ $2.26
XRX 9 shares @ $6.94
INVT 4 shares @ $0.48
NAK 11 shares @ $2.63

You've got a portfolio worth about $300.

That's not investing.

That's entertainment. So...have fun...

I still encourage you to read. Read lots. Educate yourself.

Then you can chart your future financial course, and determine where, in the larger context of your plan, this little bit of play money belongs.
 
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Originally Posted By: marine65
Any comments or recommendations?


It depends upon what your goals are for the investment.

Is this an investment that is expected to be part of a retirement fund? Then it's a very poor choice.

If it's just something to play with, then there are some interesting choices. Northern Oil and Gas is in the middle of a lawsuit from shareholders because of their CEO. I'd steer away from that one. Bluerock had some reasonable growth in the last 12 months; enough so that I'd consider cashing out, but with just 4 shares you might as well let it ride. Medovex is somewhat interesting-if what they're doing actually pans out I'd expect a larger company to buy them out. That may make the investment worthwhile. 22nd Century Group-no thanks. Tidewater could be interesting depending upon what happens over the next year or two. Xerox could get interesting now that they have spun off Conduent and sharpened their focus on their market. Inventergy is another one that could see a big benefit over the next couple of years. It will be interesting to see what happens with Northern Dynasty and Cantor Fitzgerald.

One of the problems is that you're very limited on the quantity of each stock. Even if one does extremely well, the possibility of significant returns is limited by the number of shares held.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: marine65
Any comments or recommendations?


It depends upon what your goals are for the investment.

Is this an investment that is expected to be part of a retirement fund? Then it's a very poor choice.

If it's just something to play with, then there are some interesting choices. Northern Oil and Gas is in the middle of a lawsuit from shareholders because of their CEO. I'd steer away from that one. Bluerock had some reasonable growth in the last 12 months; enough so that I'd consider cashing out, but with just 4 shares you might as well let it ride. Medovex is somewhat interesting-if what they're doing actually pans out I'd expect a larger company to buy them out. That may make the investment worthwhile. 22nd Century Group-no thanks. Tidewater could be interesting depending upon what happens over the next year or two. Xerox could get interesting now that they have spun off Conduent and sharpened their focus on their market. Inventergy is another one that could see a big benefit over the next couple of years. It will be interesting to see what happens with Northern Dynasty and Cantor Fitzgerald.

One of the problems is that you're very limited on the quantity of each stock. Even if one does extremely well, the possibility of significant returns is limited by the number of shares held.


Agreed. This is not investing. This is gambling and playing around in the market. Gambling is entertainment, and not an investment strategy. I'm willing to lose money gambling and going to a football game, but with my investments I don't play around. So the OP should think about whether he is investing for the long term or just having fun with play money.

As others have mentioned, VTI is good for the long term, and reading sensible investment books is important...

https://www.thestreet.com/story/10114563/1/the-fund-investors-reading-list.html
 
if the entertainment helps him become familiar with the concepts and gets it out of his system to check every day then it is still useful education.

it's better than if he learns there in tbe sandbox rather than getting burnt by commissions or margin calls.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Originally Posted By: marine65
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
What I notice about your investments is its greatly inefficient to buy a spread of stocks with a just small amount of funds, because its terribly inefficient to do so if you pay a commission for each trade. Small amounts should be invested in just one or two stocks, or, better yet, a mutual fund or an index fund to save trading fees. That way you can get great sector diversity at a minimal cost.


I pay nothing to trade.
I do it on a phone app only called Robin Hood.
I can watch my stocks all day on my phone.


Are those stocks just play money (gambling), or is that your nest egg strategy?


Its just play money to have some fun.
But I would like to make a little money.
 
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