Hi All,

Have been thinking about investing in stocks / shares, and am about to take the plunge. I have some money to invest, I suppose like most people I want a quick big return for my invesments, and the reality wil not be so, this I am prepared for as I know the investments have to be for the medium to long term.

My question is, should I be looking to thinly spread investments into say 8 - 10 companies, or to invest in 2 or 3 companies. Like I mentioned before, I know there is no magic formula, but a few pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

I am looking to invest for the future, I have a full time job, which is nothing to do with finance / investments, so this is an exciting project I am looking forward to.

Thanks in advance for any help given.

Simon - UK

Yes Big Al..

I give in and admit...;)

"Genovese1 -Another question, would it better to buy lots of shares at a low price (penny shares) ? or smaller amounts of higher priced, like the topical Abbey Bank ?"

Don't buy lots of penny shares.


Stick to small spreads bigger caps, low trading costs.

Trading penny shares...hard to buy, big or rather HUGE HUGE spreads... hard to trade, low vols, hard to sell. Yawn, yawn, wait wait for sometimes could even be months or YEARS for just the spread to be filled before you can even break even!

Genovese, the rampers can be spotted by checking the chart of what is being ramped. If the price is going in the opposite direction to what they are recommending they are ramping. Usually.

Jumpin. ;-))

Genovese1 - keep a good spread of investments, i.e. a selection from the largest caps to the smaller ones. Don't be tempted by the BB's to jump into all the tiddlers - surefire way to get into trouble and you'll sleep easy.

Genovese, penny stocks can be very problematic to sell if you need to get out in a hurry and it is possible to lose most of your investment in minutes

I agree with large caps and small spreads and look to get into a stock in a rising trend. They all have retracements so look out for that and watch for strongly positive volume on a re-test of a support level

think `mountain goat` and be happy to plod upwards

Maria otherwise snip (member of big al fan club)

ps the book by Elder is a wonderful read and a `must have`

Buy the pullbacks indeed! This a lovely example over a long time period. Best level is behind so no advice given!!





Cheers,
Al
(fan of all the wimmin!)