My first Post (i am new)

NiR · #1 08-06-2005, 03:08 PM

Hello i am new here and this is my first post. i am trying to get into stocks with my poker winnings but i dont have much knowledge. if anyone can post anything that might help me please do so. i am specifically lookinf for some up to date books that i can read.or some programs that might help me understand stocks 101.

i dont want this to be a useless thread so this is my input. i started a thread in another site on this and i got alot of informaation there. but i didnt get much info on books and programs. here is the thread. i think it will be helpful to alot of people here.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...ghlight=stocks

Sniper · #2 08-06-2005, 05:50 PM

There have been several recent posts on books, you can start here:

suggested reading list

PancakeBoy · #3 08-10-2005, 05:52 PM

have u read any of the Motley Fool's books? if so what have u thought of them?

Sniper · #4 08-10-2005, 10:53 PM

[ QUOTE ]
have u read any of the Motley Fool's books? if so what have u thought of them?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have read some of the Fool's books, and I would put them in the category of books about how others make $ in the market. (you can see my suggested reading list in an earlier post in this thread)

Its good reading after you have a basic foundation of how to evaluate their suggestions.

DpR · #5 08-07-2005, 03:41 PM

Let me save you a lot of effort and likely poor results. I am assuking you are relatively young. Take all the money you plan on investing for the long term and buy:

40% IVV
20% EFA
20% IWM
10% TIP
10% AGG

You average individual investor does about 60% as well as market indexes (sadly this includes people with financial advisors). Each one of those poeple think they can do better. They can't, it is overwhelmingly likley that you cannot either. Buy these indexes and forget about it. You will not regret it.

Sniper · #6 08-07-2005, 06:16 PM

[ QUOTE ]
40% IVV
20% EFA
20% IWM
10% TIP
10% AGG

[/ QUOTE ]

Mark to Market, YTD this port allocation would have returned roughly:
1.0% in Cap gains
0.7% in Dividends

1.7% total return YTD is nothing to get excited about!

NiR · #7 08-08-2005, 01:47 AM

this is all gibrish to me.. please explain. and i am going to invest with my poker winnings. i will only invest about 1k after tons of research and when i learn how everything works. so more info the better.i will only start with this amount and will hopefully improve. is this a good amount to start with? what is a good amount? and keeps the books comming. a book that shows me the BASICS of how to get started with stock market. i will get the advanced ones next. keep the info comming folks. and i willl beat the stock market!!! i am 20 btw.

DpR · #8 08-09-2005, 08:23 PM

1) You are not going to beat the stock market. There are many professionals out there with a lot more knowledge and experience than you whose proffesion is to beat the market. The market is like poker, a zero sum gane - you have to be better than the pros to beat the indexes. You cannot get that way by reading a few book. Even among those profeesionals I refer, only about 5% beat an index after fees and taxes. Get that? 95% of people who's job it is to beat the market cannot do it.

2) Don't bother thinking about stocks until you have $10k to invest.

A lot of people everywhere including this board will tell you they beat the market yada yada yada, while a coupel may infact, the vast majority most likely do not even know how to measure their performance.

FishHooks · #9 08-09-2005, 09:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
1) You are not going to beat the stock market. There are many professionals out there with a lot more knowledge and experience than you whose proffesion is to beat the market. The market is like poker, a zero sum gane - you have to be better than the pros to beat the indexes. You cannot get that way by reading a few book. Even among those profeesionals I refer, only about 5% beat an index after fees and taxes. Get that? 95% of people who's job it is to beat the market cannot do it.

[/ QUOTE ]

This guy has no idea what he's talking about. The stock market is not a zero sum game. If it was a zero sum game that would mean that random stocks would go up and down and the dow would overall stay the same. Historically there has never been a 30 year period in which the market has gone down, and I believe there is an average of like 3-4% gain in the market each year. That proves it is not a zero sum game, the market would have to have no rate of growth and no rate of decline for it to be a zero sum game.

Also this 95% talk is just retarded, since it's their job they would have to be making money, obviously some dont but for the most part they are pretty successful. Also how you even find a stat like this even assuming it was real.

Sniper · #10 08-09-2005, 09:39 PM

[ QUOTE ]
1) You are not going to beat the stock market. There are many professionals out there with a lot more knowledge and experience than you whose proffesion is to beat the market. The market is like poker, a zero sum gane - you have to be better than the pros to beat the indexes. You cannot get that way by reading a few book. Even among those profeesionals I refer, only about 5% beat an index after fees and taxes. Get that? 95% of people who's job it is to beat the market cannot do it.

[/ QUOTE ]

This post shows your fundamental lack of understanding of the stock market, its participants, and the way it works.

The Stock Market is not a zero sum game.

There are many people who outperform the indexes. There are many more people who have no idea, or desire, and settle for mediocre returns.

The objective of most mutual funds is NOT to beat the key indexes, and they operate under severe restrictions that an individual investor is not bound by.

[ QUOTE ]
2) Don't bother thinking about stocks until you have $10k to invest.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is also not good advice, and compares to saying you shouldn't play poker till you can beat the 2K/4K game.