Stocks and shares

[chrbb]

Anyone dabble in stocks and shares?

 

We've decided to dip our toe in and have a go! Are there any decent online traders that anyone uses?

[witch]

mrwITch uses FXCM securities (formerly ODL) as it didnt require a high number of trades and the price seemed reasonable

[vikpaw]

X-O.co.uk - Execution Only Share Dealing - Really good and cheap. Only for London Exchange though.

 

Sharecrazy: Hard data. Harder opinions. - recommends jpjshare.com (same parent company) which is the cheapest around and has other deals if you sign up for their annual membership which gives you t1ps and suchlike, but even without is pretty good. They are also have really low fees on funds, which is a safer way to invest, so worth considering that. Only thing to look out for is that its registered in Isle of Man, and therefore not covered by the FSA and so you don't get that guarantee on your money. However it looks like a stable company and is headed by Tom Winnifreth who use to do that show on Channel 4 (i think) all about stocks and shares.

 

In addition, i think the guarantee is only supposed to cover your money which is held by them when it's in untraded cash, the stocks you hold are in your name, so even if the company goes under, i don't think you would lose the invested amounts as you own the stocks, you just might have to pay a fee to transfer ownership to a different nominee account. So it should be secure. I AM NOT SURE ON THIS THOUGH. So research it a bit more if you go down that route and are playing with large sums of cash.

 

Lastly, my good ol' bank, Natwest is pretty good and allows trading globally, so you can capitalise on those valuable Apple share price rises i mentioned in another thread a while ago - Gone up 3% ish on day of iPad3 launch - The downside is that the spread is a little larger and the transaction charge is much higher, something like £15 per trade. Also, you must keep a certain value in the account else you'll get charged an annual fee, i think it's £2000.

 

I was going to say it's all safe and feels more secure, but in reality it's part of RBS group who is constantly struggling at the moment, though is mostly taxpayer owned so you'd hope they'd look after it. Actually, it's quite a good stock to buy into especially if you catch it in a dip.

[CAM]

Either get an agent or try it yourself. If you do try it yourself, know what you are doing and spread your bets out! The example I saw was if it's rains, you'd make plenty of money investing in a brolly company. But when it's sunny, that company won't do so well, so also invest in ice-cream so you have funds no matter the climate.

 

Also don't expect it to be quick cash. Stocks are long term and the only "quick cash" is the risky world of catching spikes in the share prices and hoping to sell when they peak after watching an upward trend.

 

Finally, leave your emotions at home. You have to be cold and calculating as once you get emotional, you panic and deviate from the plan resulting in loss. In fact, you might want to see if your bank gives you a practice game as they often have online fake trading games against other customers with leaderboards and no real money.

 

(Please note I am not a financial advisor!)

[DSapseid]

My stepdad trades alot of shares. He uses The Share Centre | Buy & Sell Shares With A Share Account they even give you a 'dummy' account where you can buy and sell shares with a fake £20k.

[Pottsey]

I do a fair bit. Do not invest anything you cannot afford to lose and do not invest small amounts. I find due to fee’s it’s very hard to make a profit on £500 and less.

 

You also need to get used to large drops if you invest long term. Same days you can lose £1000’s or £10,000’s only for it to bounce back. Share prices tend to zig zag not move in a straight line up or down.