Wednesday, August 6, 2008
A good article that proves that $100 can score you big!
I found a really awesome article which outlines 10 companies that have struck it big over the past 20 years. The site allows you to put in how much your initial investment into the IPO would have been and how much money you would have in your account today. You should head on over to the Quicken Website to check it out.
Wow, have you checked out my spreadsheet lately!
You haven't? Well go check it out! I have been playing around with the GoogleFinance function in Google Docs and it's proving to be quite useful. With it, I have been able to monitor my stocks pretty well and know how much i have lost or gained (ok, only lost). This is on a daily basis, weekly basis, and monthly basis... pretty cool huh?
I also put in some charts to graphically represent my portfolio and it's proving to be a bit useful. So go check it out and tell me what you think. If you want to use it, let me know!
I also put in some charts to graphically represent my portfolio and it's proving to be a bit useful. So go check it out and tell me what you think. If you want to use it, let me know!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
June 2008 Statement
Alright, I'm trying to figure out how to read this statement. I know I made $2.27 in dividends, but I also lost about $20 in the process. My ending balance was $280.20, major bummer. Hopefully this month will turn around a little for me, otherwise I might cry. I hope my investments in AGG and the 2 inverse ETFs will save me from losing so bad.
This Month's Investments
Yesterday at the end of the day, I made 3 investments totally $200. I put $50 in AGG, an agricultural ETF that has been doing really well over the past couple months, and it's practically exploded since the flooding in the midwest. Corn should be expensive all summer as well as other crops because so many were lost so this stock looks to be a good investment over the summer months.
I also put $75 into DXD and QID each. These are inverse ETFs that are supposed to double the inverse of the performance of the DOW and NASDAQ respectively. I bought these as insurance more or less. The market has been in a slump especially since oil prices have been rising. Monday and Tuesday the market is strong and then it drops a few hundred points each day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I'm only going to keep these guys around until the market does a turn around since the problem with these bad boys is they lose when the market does well (like today, argh).
Sharebuilder screwed up my account and charged me $4 per trade even though they were supposed to use the credits left over from last month (well that's what the lady said). I called and they gave me $12 back and put it in my money market. Make sure you check these because they do make mistakes too!
I also put $75 into DXD and QID each. These are inverse ETFs that are supposed to double the inverse of the performance of the DOW and NASDAQ respectively. I bought these as insurance more or less. The market has been in a slump especially since oil prices have been rising. Monday and Tuesday the market is strong and then it drops a few hundred points each day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I'm only going to keep these guys around until the market does a turn around since the problem with these bad boys is they lose when the market does well (like today, argh).
Sharebuilder screwed up my account and charged me $4 per trade even though they were supposed to use the credits left over from last month (well that's what the lady said). I called and they gave me $12 back and put it in my money market. Make sure you check these because they do make mistakes too!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Agriculture is the Key
Hey guys, I'm back again and I have an idea. I was watching some show on CNBC last night about the stock markets and they mentioned a few things that might look good to invest in.
They were talking about the droughts in the South and the flooding in the midwest has left this years corn crop looking pretty dismal. The price of corn is expected to skyrocket. As a result, almost all agricultural stocks and ETFs are raising quickly.
I did a quick search to see what some of the best agricultural ETFs were. I found my exact answer here. Now the problem is, Sharebuilder only offers DBA, but I was still able to check the trends of other other 5 on their site. as it turns out, since the beginning of June all of these stocks have jumped over 10%! DBA has almost reached it's its highest point that it did back in March.
Now I have a decision to make. I know that we're in a little bit of trouble this year because of our bizarre weather activity in the US. I'm thinking of putting only $50 into it my next investment time (Along with 2 inverse ETFs for a grand total of $250 invested in July). I'm worried though that with this ETF being almost at its highest price it's been in the past year, it will end up crashing and I will lose dearly.
Again $50 isn't a lot to lose, but it's still $50 that I wouldn't mind keeping. I've thrown it on my Watchlist until investment day comes. Then I can make my final decision. If anything, I'll probably keep it in my portfolio until just before the end of the harvest season and then trade it for something that isn't so high risk.
They were talking about the droughts in the South and the flooding in the midwest has left this years corn crop looking pretty dismal. The price of corn is expected to skyrocket. As a result, almost all agricultural stocks and ETFs are raising quickly.
I did a quick search to see what some of the best agricultural ETFs were. I found my exact answer here. Now the problem is, Sharebuilder only offers DBA, but I was still able to check the trends of other other 5 on their site. as it turns out, since the beginning of June all of these stocks have jumped over 10%! DBA has almost reached it's its highest point that it did back in March.
Now I have a decision to make. I know that we're in a little bit of trouble this year because of our bizarre weather activity in the US. I'm thinking of putting only $50 into it my next investment time (Along with 2 inverse ETFs for a grand total of $250 invested in July). I'm worried though that with this ETF being almost at its highest price it's been in the past year, it will end up crashing and I will lose dearly.
Again $50 isn't a lot to lose, but it's still $50 that I wouldn't mind keeping. I've thrown it on my Watchlist until investment day comes. Then I can make my final decision. If anything, I'll probably keep it in my portfolio until just before the end of the harvest season and then trade it for something that isn't so high risk.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sorry for the lack of Updates
Truth be told, when I keep losing money, I don't really feel like talking about it. I've been checking my account less and less now. I usually check it at the end of the day to see if I'm not a big ol' loser again.
It looks like today, things are turning around, but every time I say that, the market crashes and burns and I lose $5. Currently IYM is the only ETF I have that is above my original investment. EFA is my biggest loser, where I have almost $4 less then what I originally started with.
In a couple weeks, my next round of investments go into effect. Like I mentioned in my last post, I'm going the route of Inverse ETFs. It might be be a wise decision in the sense of making money, but it definitely will prevent me from losing money. Once the market grows a little stronger, I'll dump them and invest that money into a bit of a higher risk fund to see if I can make some money a little more aggressively. If it works, I'll reinvest all that into some more stable funds so I don't lose as much as this month.
It looks like today, things are turning around, but every time I say that, the market crashes and burns and I lose $5. Currently IYM is the only ETF I have that is above my original investment. EFA is my biggest loser, where I have almost $4 less then what I originally started with.
In a couple weeks, my next round of investments go into effect. Like I mentioned in my last post, I'm going the route of Inverse ETFs. It might be be a wise decision in the sense of making money, but it definitely will prevent me from losing money. Once the market grows a little stronger, I'll dump them and invest that money into a bit of a higher risk fund to see if I can make some money a little more aggressively. If it works, I'll reinvest all that into some more stable funds so I don't lose as much as this month.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Inverse EFTs
Alright ya'll, the market seems to be in a slump. Oil keeps going up, factories keep shutting down, and the stock market is as low as it was back in March! How do we fix it? Well we can't really, we can just "insure" our investments.
A commenter pointed me towards inverse EFTs. I did a little research and found out these bad boys are great for times like these. When the market goes down, these things grow. But they are a double edged sword, so be careful, when the market goes up, they lose their value.
My Plan
So my investment strategy goes something like this next month: Instead of putting more money into what I've already purchased and continue to lose (I'm down to about $289 of my original $300 EEK!), I'm going to stick $200 into 2 different inverse ETFs ($100 each). This includes DXD and QID, which both reflect how the DOW and the NASDAQ do respectively.
Now I've learned, sometimes I can come out ahead even when both markets go down some, what I'm hoping is that this phase of investments will just keep me in check. I might end up just being even or making tiny amounts of money over the next few months, but it's better then losing money at the rate I am now!
My next investment isn't for another couple of weeks which will give me time to watch how the market continues to perform and how these individual funds will work out for me. Thanks to sharebuilder, there are a bunch of tools to figure out how the funds will help me so I'm not going into this round completely blind.
A commenter pointed me towards inverse EFTs. I did a little research and found out these bad boys are great for times like these. When the market goes down, these things grow. But they are a double edged sword, so be careful, when the market goes up, they lose their value.
My Plan
So my investment strategy goes something like this next month: Instead of putting more money into what I've already purchased and continue to lose (I'm down to about $289 of my original $300 EEK!), I'm going to stick $200 into 2 different inverse ETFs ($100 each). This includes DXD and QID, which both reflect how the DOW and the NASDAQ do respectively.
Now I've learned, sometimes I can come out ahead even when both markets go down some, what I'm hoping is that this phase of investments will just keep me in check. I might end up just being even or making tiny amounts of money over the next few months, but it's better then losing money at the rate I am now!
My next investment isn't for another couple of weeks which will give me time to watch how the market continues to perform and how these individual funds will work out for me. Thanks to sharebuilder, there are a bunch of tools to figure out how the funds will help me so I'm not going into this round completely blind.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Reaction to Friday
Well now, I guess Thursday's good fortunes couldn't be followed up by an even better Friday. In fact, quite the opposite happened, the market plummeted. The DOW dropped almost 400 points, The NASDAQ dropped 75 points and S&P dropped over 40 points.
I too was a big loser. My portfolio dropped about $8 in one day. AGG was my only winning stock, gaining about $0.56 per share and is my only ETF that is above my initial investment.
Now why did the market do so bad you may be asking, it was oil! Not only does filling our tanks have us pinching our pennies, but it's stealing our money in the market as well. The cost of a barrel of oil jumped over $10 in a single day, the most ever! The cost of a barrel of oil was almost $140 and the national average for gasoline is now over $4.00 (I hope you filled up your tanks before the price spike!).
Anyways, it looks like the cost of oil is going down some. The market just opened and its already down a couple dollars. Hopefully what we all lost Friday will be returned to us.
Just another useful thing to know what effects the market. I'm glad I figured it all out when I only have a few hundred dollars invested, not thousands. Oh and as a side note, Exxon Mobile (XOM) dropped about 2 points on Friday, so even the worlds largest Gasoline company can't win when gas prices go up.
I too was a big loser. My portfolio dropped about $8 in one day. AGG was my only winning stock, gaining about $0.56 per share and is my only ETF that is above my initial investment.
Now why did the market do so bad you may be asking, it was oil! Not only does filling our tanks have us pinching our pennies, but it's stealing our money in the market as well. The cost of a barrel of oil jumped over $10 in a single day, the most ever! The cost of a barrel of oil was almost $140 and the national average for gasoline is now over $4.00 (I hope you filled up your tanks before the price spike!).
Anyways, it looks like the cost of oil is going down some. The market just opened and its already down a couple dollars. Hopefully what we all lost Friday will be returned to us.
Just another useful thing to know what effects the market. I'm glad I figured it all out when I only have a few hundred dollars invested, not thousands. Oh and as a side note, Exxon Mobile (XOM) dropped about 2 points on Friday, so even the worlds largest Gasoline company can't win when gas prices go up.
Friday, June 6, 2008
To Tony and Anyone Else Who Wants to Play the Stock Market with Me
I had a couple comments from Tony (he didn't leave a link back to his blog or I would share it with you all) informing me he wanted to try his hand in trying to earn some money in the stock market.
My first post basically explained where I signed up and what I got out of the deal. I would like to throw in the fact that if you sign up with ShareBuilder, you will get a bonus $25 to invest in the next 6-8 weeks if you use the link in either of my posts.
I guess I will go through a little more detail as to how I went about making my first investment and how I got a free month of the Advantage No Fee program. After you sign up with ShareBuilder, they will basically ask you a few questions. These questions will determine what type of trader you are and they will basically pick a few ETFs that seem to suite your needs. You can either take their advice, or go and do your own research. If you choose to make your own decisions, make sure you do the research, I will say it one more time, DO RESEARCH!
Anyways, you now need to fund your account, this can be done in many ways, but the direct deposit method (via your checking account) is the fastest and best option. After choosing how you will buy the stocks, you will need to setup your automatic investment plan (weekly, biweekly, monthly) and on what Tuesday you want to invest (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th). After that, the system will do everything else for you. Keep in mind though, for each ETF you purchase (you can also do full shares of stock) you will be charged $4. ShareBuilder is strange in the sense that if you want to buy $100 worth of AGG for example, you will have to actually buy $104. Keep this in mind when your investing! These prices can go down if you pay either $12/month or $20/month to get a premium account.
Every month, the system will automatically make your investments as you choose. You can change this at anytime during the month to invest in new investments or put all your money for a month in one ETF or stock. You can buy new investments on any Tuesday for $4 per transaction.
Now how do you get the $20/month premium account for free? I basically called and started asking questions and said I was just starting off and wasn't really sure what I was doing. The woman I talked to (their customer support is awesome, quick to answer the phone and super friendly) basically told me she would give me the upgrade so I could play around and build my portfolio during the first month. I could buy/sell up to 20 times for free so I could get the hang of it.
I can't guaranty they will give it to you, but when you sign up you can get the $12/month program for free for the first month which is good for up to 6 free trades. Just something to think about if they won't upgrade you.
I hoped that help clarify some. I'll try to add some images later. I don't have Photoshop on this computer and Paint just won't cut it, sorry I'm a bit of a perfectionist!
My first post basically explained where I signed up and what I got out of the deal. I would like to throw in the fact that if you sign up with ShareBuilder, you will get a bonus $25 to invest in the next 6-8 weeks if you use the link in either of my posts.
I guess I will go through a little more detail as to how I went about making my first investment and how I got a free month of the Advantage No Fee program. After you sign up with ShareBuilder, they will basically ask you a few questions. These questions will determine what type of trader you are and they will basically pick a few ETFs that seem to suite your needs. You can either take their advice, or go and do your own research. If you choose to make your own decisions, make sure you do the research, I will say it one more time, DO RESEARCH!
Anyways, you now need to fund your account, this can be done in many ways, but the direct deposit method (via your checking account) is the fastest and best option. After choosing how you will buy the stocks, you will need to setup your automatic investment plan (weekly, biweekly, monthly) and on what Tuesday you want to invest (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th). After that, the system will do everything else for you. Keep in mind though, for each ETF you purchase (you can also do full shares of stock) you will be charged $4. ShareBuilder is strange in the sense that if you want to buy $100 worth of AGG for example, you will have to actually buy $104. Keep this in mind when your investing! These prices can go down if you pay either $12/month or $20/month to get a premium account.
Every month, the system will automatically make your investments as you choose. You can change this at anytime during the month to invest in new investments or put all your money for a month in one ETF or stock. You can buy new investments on any Tuesday for $4 per transaction.
Now how do you get the $20/month premium account for free? I basically called and started asking questions and said I was just starting off and wasn't really sure what I was doing. The woman I talked to (their customer support is awesome, quick to answer the phone and super friendly) basically told me she would give me the upgrade so I could play around and build my portfolio during the first month. I could buy/sell up to 20 times for free so I could get the hang of it.
I can't guaranty they will give it to you, but when you sign up you can get the $12/month program for free for the first month which is good for up to 6 free trades. Just something to think about if they won't upgrade you.
I hoped that help clarify some. I'll try to add some images later. I don't have Photoshop on this computer and Paint just won't cut it, sorry I'm a bit of a perfectionist!
I'm a WINNER!
Good morning everyone, I thought I'd get this out there before the markets opened (better hurry, I only have 3 minutes). Anyways, yesterday the market did really well. The DOW was up over 200 points, the NASDAQ almost 50, and the S&P over 25! What does that mean for me? I made some money! I was down at about $298 and some change at the start of the day yesterday, and this morning my portfolio says I'm worth $303.36!
Granted, I don't expect that sort of growth everyday, heck I don't even expect to win everyday (it sure would be nice though). I've yet to read some business articles to see why the market did so well yesterday, but I'll be sure to report back with my findings later in the day, and I'm hoping to bring more good news that the market decided to take it's good fortune and continue it into FRIDAY!
Granted, I don't expect that sort of growth everyday, heck I don't even expect to win everyday (it sure would be nice though). I've yet to read some business articles to see why the market did so well yesterday, but I'll be sure to report back with my findings later in the day, and I'm hoping to bring more good news that the market decided to take it's good fortune and continue it into FRIDAY!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The Manic Depressent Stock Market
I mentioned this a littler yesterday, I figured I'd expand on my thoughts some. The stock market is definitely a crazy little system. One minute its up, the next its down, 10 minutes later its gone up 200 points. The mood swings are driving me insane.
I guess this really doesn't matter much to me since I invest once a month, and can take the money out whenever I feel like it, but it still worries me some. In time, I hope to be able to actually buy/sell stocks weekly, if not daily in some more higher yield, high risk stocks.
The thought of not selling something at the right time and losing thousands of dollars in a matter of minutes gives me a whole new respect for day traders. They go off of gut feelings and past experience and hope they don't sell to early or wait too long. The stock market really doesn't even follow a trend either, making it that much more difficult.
Yesterday, I lost a few cents from the day before. Nothing worth worrying about. At this time, I've made a few dollars and have more then $300 in my account, YAY! Hopefully this continues into Friday so I have a winning first week!
I guess this really doesn't matter much to me since I invest once a month, and can take the money out whenever I feel like it, but it still worries me some. In time, I hope to be able to actually buy/sell stocks weekly, if not daily in some more higher yield, high risk stocks.
The thought of not selling something at the right time and losing thousands of dollars in a matter of minutes gives me a whole new respect for day traders. They go off of gut feelings and past experience and hope they don't sell to early or wait too long. The stock market really doesn't even follow a trend either, making it that much more difficult.
Yesterday, I lost a few cents from the day before. Nothing worth worrying about. At this time, I've made a few dollars and have more then $300 in my account, YAY! Hopefully this continues into Friday so I have a winning first week!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
My First Investment
Alright, so I made my investment day the 1st Tuesday of every month and its Wednesday. The money was transfered from my checking account on Monday evening and the purchase was made the next afternoon. I talked to Sharebuilder and had them upgrade my account to the $20 a month plan for free for the first month so I could get a feel for things (they normally offer just the $12 program for free). Since I did that, I was able to buy 5 different ETFs and I might throw in 1 or 2 more before the month is up, probably some low risk, low yield option, but I don't want to get ahead of myself too quickly just so I save $8.
Anyways, my portfolio looks something like this:
I know just looking at a pie graph means nothing, but you can always look at my spreadsheet to see what percentage each stock is at.
At the end of the day, I lost about $1.50 on a day where the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&P500 all dropped a good portion. Today I've been checking on the market every hour or so and I'm getting frustrated. One minute the DOW is up 80pts and right now its down over 30pts. In time, I'll stop watching these things so much and just let it take its course. I feel like I diversified my portfolio enough between domestic and foreign ETFs that cover everything from gasoline and raw materials to real estate, so as long as the world doesn't take a dive I should come out pretty much even until we get back to good times again.
Anyways, my portfolio looks something like this:
I know just looking at a pie graph means nothing, but you can always look at my spreadsheet to see what percentage each stock is at.
At the end of the day, I lost about $1.50 on a day where the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&P500 all dropped a good portion. Today I've been checking on the market every hour or so and I'm getting frustrated. One minute the DOW is up 80pts and right now its down over 30pts. In time, I'll stop watching these things so much and just let it take its course. I feel like I diversified my portfolio enough between domestic and foreign ETFs that cover everything from gasoline and raw materials to real estate, so as long as the world doesn't take a dive I should come out pretty much even until we get back to good times again.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
My Investment Experiment
I am here today to venture out into the world of investing. I don't have much money to invest, but I've done some research and found that with some patience, anyone can take a small amount of cash and turn it into something more.
My Investment Adventure starts today with $300 and an account from Sharebuilder. Sharebuilder offers buy options called ETFs, which give you the option to own a portion of a share. I'm not here to learn ya'll on how Sharebuilder does its trading though, I'm here to share my experiences with trading.
I like most college students have multiple jobs. I work 65+ hours a week during the summers and over my winter break (not much of a break now is it) and about 15 hours during the school year. Needless to say, my income differs a lot depending on the time of the year. I plan on investing $300 a month during the times when money is good and $100 a month during the dryer times.
I'm trying to set up a portfolio with a few ETFs so it's easier to manage (and keeps the fees down). I will be updating my investment strategy on this spreadsheet. It's not too exciting, but it will constantly be changing and I will be sure to document what I changed and why I changed it in later blog posts.
My Investment Adventure starts today with $300 and an account from Sharebuilder. Sharebuilder offers buy options called ETFs, which give you the option to own a portion of a share. I'm not here to learn ya'll on how Sharebuilder does its trading though, I'm here to share my experiences with trading.
I like most college students have multiple jobs. I work 65+ hours a week during the summers and over my winter break (not much of a break now is it) and about 15 hours during the school year. Needless to say, my income differs a lot depending on the time of the year. I plan on investing $300 a month during the times when money is good and $100 a month during the dryer times.
I'm trying to set up a portfolio with a few ETFs so it's easier to manage (and keeps the fees down). I will be updating my investment strategy on this spreadsheet. It's not too exciting, but it will constantly be changing and I will be sure to document what I changed and why I changed it in later blog posts.
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