Questions tagged [investing]

Investing is the process of buying assets such as securities, real estate and other items of value that will hopefully increase in value over time, providing a return in the form of income payments or capital gains.

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What are some examples of "fixed income" investments?

I'm using an online tool that my broker provides for balancing my portfolio according to my investor profile and it breaks down the suggested allocation into the following categories: Large Cap ...
JohnFx's user avatar
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2 answers
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How can put options be used to buy shares at a lower price?

How to use puts, if you are a net buyer of stocks? I read an article about Warren Buffett buying Burlington Northern stocks and how he used puts to lower the buying price of the shares. Please, ...
gyurisc's user avatar
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15 votes
7 answers
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Taking more amount in mortgage than what I need

I am going to buy a house soon. Paying 10% down. My credit score is > 800. I wanted to to take additional money in mortgage to put it in some low const index fund like SPY. The house is going to be ...
NRJ's user avatar
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15 votes
9 answers
5k views

What to spend money on after getting first good job? [duplicate]

I've finally gotten a good job after several years of searching after I graduated uni. I'm making 80k starting and it's bound to go up (I think) since it's in software/engineering. I'm honestly at a ...
Uguu's user avatar
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15 votes
6 answers
14k views

Saving $1,000+ per month…what should I do with it?

I am able to save $1,100 a month, after all expenses and after paying the minimums ($225 a month on my 2.24% and 3.25% student loans). I want to make smart decisions with my money, but am not sure ...
Daniel's user avatar
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15 votes
7 answers
2k views

Is gold really an investment or just a hedge against inflation?

As per the title of this question, is gold something that can really be considered an investment or is it just a useful hedge against inflation? While I can understand the value in having hedges ...
anonymous's user avatar
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15 votes
2 answers
4k views

Empirical evidence on active vs passive investing

Many people believe that passive investment (say buying into an ETF) typically outperforms actively managed funds because the latter induce more fees. Are there any (solid) empirical studies ...
Peter's user avatar
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15 votes
3 answers
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How do I participate in Treasury auctions with my millions of dollars?

Note: I do not actually have millions of dollars, but seemed like a good question. Let's say you had $10 million dollars in cash in your bank account and you needed it to be a) safe b) liquid and c) ...
Michael Pryor's user avatar
15 votes
4 answers
2k views

Why would I want a diversified portfolio, versus throwing my investments into an index fund?

Index funds are well-known to give the best long-term investment. However, most financial planners recommend having a diversified portfolio, including components such as bonds and foreign markets. I ...
Bigbio2002's user avatar
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15 votes
7 answers
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Where should I park my money if I'm pessimistic about the economy and I think there will be high inflation?

I'm in Australia. My prediction is the economy isn't going to fare very well. I also think that the property market is going to drop. I also think there will be high inflation to come. I can explain ...
Joe.E's user avatar
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3 answers
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Own my home, have no debt, and must start taking RMDs on an Inherited IRA. What should I do?

My father passed away and I have a sizable amount of money in an inherited IRA (about 2 times my yearly salary). I don't have any debt to pay off as I already own my home, auto, no credit card debt, ...
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14 votes
11 answers
9k views

Is it an OK strategy to sell whenever an investment gains value above a threshold?

Let's say I bought 10k worth of stock A and it appreciates to $10,500. Is it OK to sell part of it worth $500 and do this whenever stock appreciates that much? Too often it drops back under $10k if ...
uylmz's user avatar
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14 votes
9 answers
765 views

What are the marks of poor investment advice?

What are the marks of poor investment advice? Basically, how do you evaluate whether the investment advice someone is giving you is good or bad?
Lucas B's user avatar
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5 answers
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Do I understand correctly that while index funds (based on S&P or Dow Jones) generally go up, it might take a decade?

This is probably a simple question, but I don't know much about investing, so here goes: Some time ago, though I can't find it again now, I read a couple of responses on this site saying that these ...
ispiro's user avatar
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14 votes
10 answers
7k views

What assets would be valuable in a post-apocalyptic scenario?

In spite of the tendency for people to think of gold and diamonds as an emergency store of value for a shit-hits-the-fan scenario, I have a hard time understanding how owning physical gold would ...
Zippy's user avatar
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5 answers
6k views

Why do stocks necessarily drop during a recession?

Why do stocks drop during a recession? Where does the money go in favor of these assets? Or is the first question not true?
user123124's user avatar
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7 answers
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What's is the easiest way to purchase a stock and hold it [closed]

I'd like to invest some cash (just few thousands) that is currently sitting on my bank account. There are few companies I believe will significantly increase their value in the next years (let's say ...
ajeje's user avatar
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14 votes
7 answers
20k views

Why does the share price tend to fall if a company's profits decrease, yet remain positive?

I often see news reports along the lines of "Company X has posted a profit of $100 million, 20% lower than the previous year." This kind of news frequently causes the company's share price to fall. ...
Derrick's user avatar
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14 votes
5 answers
2k views

Should I put more money down on one property and pay it off sooner or hold on to the cash?

I've a huge chunk of money saved up for a down payment on a property that I'd eventually like to pay off and use as a rental. The assumption is that the property value will go up substantially over ...
Giablo's user avatar
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14 votes
4 answers
3k views

How does one value Facebook stock as a potential investment?

What techniques would you use to valuate Facebook to determine whether its current stock price is inflated, or whether it represents a good investment?
Bob's user avatar
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2 answers
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What is a large sudden jump (or dip) and instantaneous recovery in a stock price [duplicate]

So why did the price tank all of a sudden and then came back to normal? What does it mean?
user1801879's user avatar
14 votes
4 answers
10k views

How can I determine if my rate of return is "good" for the market I am in?

I am considering a small investment to get started with. What percent rate of return is considered to be good return on investments made in a stock market? I read somewhere that 25-30% is considered ...
Asdfg's user avatar
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14 votes
3 answers
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Why are options more popular than futures among retail investors?

I am puzzled as to why options seem to be more popular than futures among retail investors. Brokerage firms seem to emphasize their options offerings more than their futures offerings. On Robinhood, ...
Flux's user avatar
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I can completely pay off my mortgage early. Should I pay it off or invest?

My mortgage is 3.5% fixed rate. I have enough money to pay off the remaining balance, and still have enough left over for an emergency fund. My investments have historically made more than 3.5% per ...
K the C's user avatar
  • 141
14 votes
4 answers
331 views

For an investor, what's the appropriate response to the U.S. Debt downgrade?

So the S&P has downgraded United States debt from it's AAA status. There have been other threads discussing why/when a downgrade will happen, as well as possibility of default. Instead, I want to ...
BlackJack's user avatar
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14 votes
7 answers
2k views

Why is there a distinction between growth and value investing, when growth is part of value?

I regularly come across articles about "growth vs value investing", "growth stocks beat value stocks", etc. Why is there a distinction between growth investing and value investing ...
Flux's user avatar
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14 votes
1 answer
969 views

Can I avoid capital gains tax if I sell only the amount I put in and leave the rest?

I haven't found a definite written answer, probably because it is implied. However, I'd really love confirmation if anyone can verify my assumption, before I make a decision. Say I bought 10 shares of ...
Larm's user avatar
  • 379
14 votes
4 answers
8k views

How much power does a CEO have over a public company?

I want to invest in a public company and I want to know: Exactly how much power does the CEO has over what the public company does? Can a CEO control a public company even though he doesn't own a ...
Pacerier's user avatar
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1 answer
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What does it mean if a company pays a quarterly dividend? How much would I get quarterly?

If I have a single share, lets say in Google which is currently worth 605.79. Lets say they pay out the dividends quarterly. What does that mean and how much would I get quarterly?
oshirowanen's user avatar
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5 answers
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What should a 21 year old do with £60,000 ($91,356 USD) inheritance?

I'm turning 21 years old soon and have an inheritance coming into my control to the value of approximately £60,000. I'm full-time employed, as a Software Developer in a Financial Services company. I ...
rbrtl's user avatar
  • 623
14 votes
1 answer
33k views

Do companies only pay dividends if they are in profit?

My understanding of dividends is that the company pays each shareholder a fixed amount of money per share they own. I can see how this would work if the company is in profit, because the company can ...
Karnivaurus's user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
619 views

WSJ article about CFDs - am I missing something?

In this WSJ article, it comments Traders held a net $22.6 billion in bets that the dollar will appreciate, a gain of 31% in net wagers over the previous week and the largest such position since ...
DefenestrationDay's user avatar
13 votes
7 answers
2k views

Pros & cons in Hungary of investing retirement savings exclusively in silver? What better alternatives, given my concerns?

For my retirement savings, my strategy is to buy a decent amount of silver (8% of my salary, roughly 1 month) every year to put away in coin form. I am currently investing in nothing else for the long ...
CsBalazsHungary's user avatar
13 votes
5 answers
4k views

Risks of using home equity for high risk market investing

I bought a home after the market crash in 2009 and I have quite a bit of equity in it now (100k). I still have 20 years until I retire and currently my main brokerage account is very high risk / high ...
Jacksonkr's user avatar
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13 votes
4 answers
3k views

Why doesn't my bond ETF provide a hedge against stock indexes in the way I thought it would?

I own BND in an attempt to hedge my portfolio against my stock ETF declines, based off of the Bogleheads philosophy. I've noticed that with this ETF, over the relative long term, I've made but modest ...
Ken - Enough about Monica's user avatar
13 votes
5 answers
5k views

Does Joel Greenblatt's "Magic Formula Investing" really beat the market?

Background Joel Greenblatt's book "The little blue book that beats the market" is based on the premise that he has developed a magic formula. I am heavily skeptical of anyone who claims that they ...
David LeBauer's user avatar
13 votes
5 answers
2k views

What is this type of risk-free investment called?

My mother told me that in 1994, she had $10K to put into a savings account or CD. She went to the local Citibank and didn't like the interest rates that they were offering on their savings/CD ...
7529's user avatar
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13 votes
4 answers
4k views

Making your first million... is easy! (??)

I've seen several people claim "making a million dollars isn't THAT hard these days". Heck, I've seen it here on this forum. Being a complete beginner with investing, business and finance, I wonder ...
Fixee's user avatar
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13 votes
9 answers
5k views

Should I increase my 401(k) contributions, or increase my mortgage payments

I have about $150k remaining to pay on my mortgage. There are 7 years left at a 3% interest rate, then after that the rate goes variable and increases to about 10%+. There's no penalty for paying the ...
Jonathan Hartley's user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
3k views

What is the difference between a stock and a bond?

I am just learning about finances (only 14 years old) and have heard about Stocks and Bonds and I would like to know the difference between these two things and wonder why would I invest in one or the ...
DavinKF's user avatar
  • 405
13 votes
6 answers
2k views

Formula like Kelly criterion for choosing how much of an investment to liquidate?

I made a few investments, and surprise, surprise, a few of them shot up in value. Now I'm faced with the dilemma of the greedy: do I sell now and capitalize on existing profits, or do I wait, risking ...
TheEnvironmentalist's user avatar
13 votes
4 answers
784 views

What is the theory behind diversification? Why does it work?

We are told always that diversification in a portfolio is good. "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." But is there mathematical theory behind diversification to back up the advice?
user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
15k views

How do I make a small investment in the stock market? What is the minimum investment required?

I am not rich, so I am talking one to two hundred U.S. dollars per month only. I would like to know whether I can buy stock using that little amount of money, and how to do that if possible? As an ...
Marco's user avatar
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13 votes
6 answers
840 views

Is there anything material I might own (aside from a house) that would increase in value?

Say, for instance, diamonds, or gold? Watches?
Nat_Rea's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
8k views

How can I replicate Vanguard's Total Stock Market Index using their S&P 500 and extended stock market funds?

I want to approximate the total United States stock market with part of my 401(k). I have access to two low-cost index mutual funds: VIIIX, which tracks the S&P 500 (large cap), and VIEIX, which ...
Craig W's user avatar
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13 votes
4 answers
3k views

Can I buy stocks directly from a public company?

Is it possible to buy stock directly from a public company, bypassing a broker? It seems that discount brokers do nothing more than facilitate a trade and take a cut - I'd like to eliminate the ...
Jesse's user avatar
  • 2,550
13 votes
3 answers
1k views

Are there index tracking funds that avoid the "buy high - sell low" problem?

An index tracking fund is a fund that buys direct stocks with a view to directly matching a particular index (e.g. the S&P500 or Russell 2000). One way to allocate assets in such a fund is to ...
Peter K.'s user avatar
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13 votes
3 answers
617 views

Pension or Property: Should I invest in more properties, or in a pension?

I do not have a pension but have a rental property (which breaks even). Question is, do I invest in more properties or take out a pension ? I am worried if I go down the pension route I would lose ...
Ferdeen's user avatar
  • 231
13 votes
2 answers
839 views

Tax treatment of losses from investment trust going bankrupt

I had some funds held in trust by a financial company. Due to malfeasance customer funds went missing and the company went bankrupt. The bankruptcy is going through its course and it looks like the ...
Five Bagger's user avatar
  • 9,775
13 votes
3 answers
1k views

Has anyone found U.S. Savings Bonds to be effective investing?

Since I was a small child, my grandparents have given all of their grandchildren savings bonds on our birthdays. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but they are always "EE" series. I had to use ...
Artemis's user avatar
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