Posts Tagged ‘stock exchange’

Is It Over – Can I Come Out Now?

August 10th, 2011

Is my money still there?

Last Wednesday I had a fairly respectable and profitable stock portfolio of about $11,900. I was starting to dream about breaking my mental $12,000 barrier. Thursday ended with me looking glumly at $11,380. What’s going on, I wondered. Friday made me feel a little more confident as I finished at $11,430 and I spent quite a relaxed weekend. Just as well, because I needed all my strength for Monday when I watched things change dramatically. The day ended at $10,800 and I spent a sleepless night.

Came Tuesday

I’d prefer to forget all about Tuesday. I sat and watched the Dow dropping like a stone, trying not to convert the Dow into my personal losses, not an easy thing to do. Later I went to the kitchen, made cup of coffee, added a shot of Johnnie Walker and staggered back to the TV set. The Dow was rising as though it was on an elastic string connected to heaven. I sat mesmerized, forgot the coffee and switched to Johnnie Walker straight. I went to bed happy.

Now it’s Wednesday

I waited for the market to open with bated breath and I wasn’t surprised to see it plunge. The truth is that I still don’t believe what I saw at the end of Tuesday. It’s stopped yo-yoing now and has settled down around the 10,900 index. Remember how we prayed to help it climb over the 12,000 level.

What I have learned about the stock exchange

• There is no such an animal as a stock exchange expert.

• No-one really understands the stock exchange.

• All the analysts, forecasters, advisers, and consultants do not know what is happening. They are as surprised and as confused as I am.

• Everyone is very nervous.

• No one knows what to do – should I buy or sell?

The stock exchange experts

The reaction of the experts to the current chaos is fascinating. About 50 percent of them are shouting “See, I told you it was going to crash!” and about 50 percent of them are shouting, “Hey, this is a great time to buy!” There is so much hysterical advice going around that it has all meshed into one grey mass of sound and nothing can actually be heard, which is just as well.

Why am I here?

The most important thing I have learned is that I should not be within a 100 miles of the nearest stock exchange. Neither should I have a penny invested in a share whether it be blue-chip or any kind of chip. I should never read the stock exchange news and I should never even talk about the stock exchange. I should leave all that to the experts, right?

So where should I be?

A casino is a good place or if there isn’t one nearby, standing next to a lotto stall. A regular automatic ticket on a 6 out of 49 Lotto draw will give me a chance of 1 in about 13 million. I’m not getting that on the stock exchange!

Tags: Crash, Finance, Shares, stock exchange
Posted in Business, Economy, Finance, Money, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

Do You Have To Be Rich To Open A Brokerage Account?

June 9th, 2011

I meet an old friend and get the answer to this question
About 4 years ago I visited an old friend and found him in his study frantically working the keyboard in front of a 3 or 4 computer screens. “What’s going on?” I asked. “I’m playing the stock exchange; be with you as soon as I complete this trade,” he said. That’s the day I found out one can do it from the privacy and comfort of one’s own study and that you don’t have to be rich to do it. Agreed, I was backward in stock exchange matters in those days. I wonder if he did become rich after all.

My broker
Today the term, “my broker” means something entirely different than it did 20 years ago. A few decades ago, having a broker usually meant having a relationship with a human who would help you manage your portfolio and select stocks. These human, “full service” brokers still exist and serve many people. But things have changed.

Brokerage firms
The giant brokerage firms like TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, Fidelity and E-Trade allow just about anyone to create a brokerage account. Once you set up a brokerage account, usually just a matter of filling out some information about yourself online and then funding your account. You can fund, or put money into your brokerage account, by transferring cash from your checking or savings accounts, either by writing a check or doing it electronically.

Now you have a broker
Once you do that, you can say you have a broker. And luckily, thanks to cost-savings powered by technology and competition, having a broker is more accessible than ever.
Most of the major and even the smaller brokerage firms have all but done away with minimum deposits. That means if you only have a few hundred dollars you can save your money in your brokerage account and start buying stocks and investing.

U.S. brokerage firms
Here is a list of some noteworthy U.S. brokerage firms and the minimum balances they require to open an account:
• Charles Schwab, $1,000 (for most account types)
• E-Trade, $500
• Fidelity, $2,500
• FirsTrade, None
• FolioFN, None
• ING Direct Sharebuilder, None
• Scottrade, $500
• TD Ameritrade, None
• TradeKing, None
• Vanguard, $3,000
• Zecco, None

Commissions
Keep in mind that while many large brokers may not have a minimum deposit, they do charge commissions for many transactions. Even a seemingly small $7 a trade commission can be pretty costly with a small account. A $7 commission is 7% of a $100 account.

No initial deposit
If you are starting small, you’ll want to consider brokerages that not only have no minimum initial deposit, but also offer commission-free mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. Fidelity, Schwab, Scotttrade, TD Ameritrade and Vanguard all offer a broad family of ETFs that you can buy without paying any commission.

Electronic brokers
I use a company called Interactive Brokers. There was no initial fee and they charge $1 per trade, which means I am trading for virtually nothing.

Tags: Brokers, Broker’s commission, stock exchange, Stock trading, Trading
Posted in Economy, Employment, Finance, Money, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

Everyone Can Use Cash Advances

April 10th, 2011

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