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Ask HN: Do you invest in the stock market?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you invest in the stock market?

#11

Post by tomgallard »

Yes. I split my investment between low risk, good dividend blue chip stocks (National Grid, Tesco, BP), fixed income preference shares (NWBD, SAN) and smaller, high risk companies.

Current favourite that might interest the HN crowd is:

Monitise (MONI.L): Run backend systems on which on a lot of mobile banking and payment systems operate. Growing really quickly, and recently bought Clairmail, a US based company doing much the same. Wouldn't be surprised to see a NASDAQ listing in the next couple of years.

(None of the above is advice!)

Re: Ask HN: Do you invest in the stock market?

#12

Post by forrestblount »

acheron wrote: post #6

Index funds. You can't beat the market consistently. Maybe you can get lucky for awhile, but if you're relying on that, might as well go to Vegas and have more fun at it.

I've been using betterment for (non 401k) index fund exposure. They'll help guide your investment strategy, rebalance between funds automatically and allow you to shift between stocks and bonds (both indexes) as you please.

Re: Ask HN: Do you invest in the stock market?

#13

Post by LinaLauneBaer »

acheron wrote: post #6

Index funds. You can't beat the market consistently. Maybe you can get lucky for awhile, but if you're relying on that, might as well go to Vegas and have more fun at it.

I can't agree more. There are studies that show exactly what you describe. Also note: The stock market is extremely irrational and chaotic... people have a tendency to think they know better than the average. One study did do an experiment that went like this:

They asked (I don't have the exact numbers at hand) 1000 people to answer the following question:

Do you think that you are better informed about the companies that stocks you hold than the average stock holder who also invests in the same company.

In a rational/non-chaotic market about 50% would say "yes" and 50% would say "no". If I remember correctly 90% said "yes" and only 10% said "no". When you buy stocks you should be aware of that because I think its very important to know...

Re: Ask HN: Do you invest in the stock market?

#14

Post by dvogel »

Currently: MU (+35%), GLW (-10%), NFLX (+30%)

Previously: HP (+50%), BBEP (+180%)

Prospects: HPQ, MSFT, MKC, DSX

I'm 30 years old, so still chasing growth a bit. I've also got a bunch of money in a 403b account that's invested mostly in an S&P500 index fund.

Re: Ask HN: Do you invest in the stock market?

#15

Post by tomgallard »

acheron wrote: post #6

Index funds. You can't beat the market consistently. Maybe you can get lucky for awhile, but if you're relying on that, might as well go to Vegas and have more fun at it.

Tell that to Warren Buffet!

Seriously though, of course the average investor cannot beat the market, it doesn't mean it isn't possible for an individual to do so, or that it is all down to chance.

One approach is to focus on small companies.

Most active funds will not invest here (it is not worth the time when they would only be able to invest a tiny fraction of their funds).

As such these companies tend to be under-researched (not necessarily the same as under-valued though), so if you're willing to put in some leg-work and a lot of patience, there can be some good opportunities.

Re: Ask HN: Do you invest in the stock market?

#18

Post by SatvikBeri »

The thing about investing in individual companies is that you're not betting on whether that company will grow or not. You're betting on whether the company will grow more than investment professionals expect it to.

I have, consistently (over 10 years) invested in individual companies and beat the market, but I found that it just wasn't worth the time. So now I put my money in index funds.

By the way: the biggest predictor of your returns is not which individual stocks you invest in, but your asset allocation-i.e., the percent of your money that's in stocks, bonds, etc. If you want to invest I would first learn about asset allocation before trying to pick individual companies.

Re: Ask HN: Do you invest in the stock market?

#19

Post by davidw »

rdl wrote: post #7
ig1 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you work in the tech industry it probably makes sense not to invest in it. If there's a tech crash that damages your employability then you don't want it to damage your investment portfolio as well.

Definitely true for single companies (ie don't hold only your employer's stock...), or for short term. For a retirement fund, I still think tech gives the best 50 year returns, as a sector.

> I still think tech gives the best 50 year returns, as a sector.

Why's that?

Re: Ask HN: Do you invest in the stock market?

#20

Post by polshaw »

forrestblount wrote: post #8
benjaminwootton wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worry about Apple. They've had a great run, but where can their next $billion market come from? To an extent, the current share price will be factoring in future growth on the same trajectory as we've observed over the last few years.

The question with AAPL is really do you think smartphones and tablets, as product segments unto themselves, have reached market saturation? I think we'll still see massive increases in the sheer number of smartphones and tablets sold, and I think AAPL will manage to retain a significant (not necessarily a majority) market share.

You also have to consider if you think apple could continue to keep their margins in an established tablet market, and a smartphone market approaching 'good enough' like that of PCs today, and whether consumers will continue to accept a 'walled garden' as tablets become primary computing devices.

E: I'd like to clarify I'm including stuff like no USB ports in walled garden.

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