Investing - Holding long term

[slow99]

Ah sorry, didn't see that. I pay less than $5 each way (discount e-broker) so even at $12 it's expensive.

That isn't the point; I don't pay $12 either. A lot of people don't trade frequently enough to get the best commissions. A lot of people don't search out the best price. A lot of people pay $10-$12 a trade. A lot of people don't think about the impact that commissions have on their return.

[92redragtop]

That isn't the point; I don't pay $12 either. A lot of people don't trade frequently enough to get the best commissions. A lot of people don't search out the best price. A lot of people pay $10-$12 a trade. A lot of people don't think about the impact that commissions have on their return.

Yes I know, I hear you. It's a good point - I don't do small trades so a few bucks in trading fees are not material to my returns. However, as pointed out the OP has not indicated how much he has invested so if a smaller amount then the fees are a consideration.

[Stoner]

Hijack!

Anyone invest in precious metals? Thoughts on gold ? Mainly silver?

Too late or the right time?

Silver is looking pretty good right now.

[slow06]

Yes, a year you are in the long-term holding classification for tax purposes.

Since I don't know the dollar amount of your position, I have to offer the following. Think about how commissions eat into your return - especially since you might repurchase more shares later after you liquidate some of your current. If you have a $500 position and you round trip it at, say, $24 in commissions, that's almost 5% of your return eaten up. At low dollar amounts, you essentially get this levered effect. You make 10%, great - awesome trade - then give away half of it on commissions, not considering tax. I think this is the most common "wow" reaction I get from individuals who are asking me about stocks - they just don't think about it.

I've heard it all ... I've had guys tell me, "Yeah, no worries, I trade all the time, I do well," then they're telling me months down the road that some position is killing them because they put all their available funds in one stock and a 10% ($50) loss is killing them. I'm not shitting, I've heard it/seen it before.

Thanks for your input. I always try to factor the cost of buying/selling in just because I am playing with ~$3000, so % wise it is a lot. Can't afford to pay $12 too often if I am only making a couple hundred dollars when I make a good decision, it eats it up fast. I hope to get more money in there at some point though so I can make some more significant trades.

Do whatever you want and don't listen to other people except Slow99. No matter what you do, I would hope you have a better reason for it than "I think it is going to go down". Understand what you own, this isn't roulette.

My thoughts on Ingersoll Rand is that it is a housing play and the period a while back where you could buy it at $28 was a period when the market was acting very stupid. They came out with piss poor results and a shitty outlook right when everyone was worried about Europe. That price isn't much more than book value and it may not ever return to that level. I bought some at the same time and will never sell it unless I have a very compelling place to park the money that results, or if I feel it is incredibly overvalued (like three times book or about $80).

This is where I realize that I am not a truly educated investor... when you start talking about book value and overvalued. I understand the terms, but not all the work that goes into calculating them. I'm not asking for that though, just something I need to read up on and find out where to get the numbers.

The best point you made relative to my plan is probably about having somewhere else to put it though. If I sold I would just let the money sit until IR dropped or I found something else worth buying. I guess the dividend alone is probably worth more than just letting the money sit in an account making nothing.

Hijack!

Anyone invest in precious metals? Thoughts on gold ? Mainly silver?

Too late or the right time?

Silver is looking pretty good right now.

I've got some silver, won't pretend to offer any advice on buying though, I haven't followed it in a while.

[jayjohnson600]

PM's generally don't make money, unless you lever into a financial security.
PM's advantages are to generally maintain purchasing power, and reduce counterparty risk.
There are other advantages, but they are lesser in the status quo.
You can make money in PM's if you get in just before they take off parabollically, and get
out just before the drop. This is very difficult to get right, and you really need to get it right
twice. Once to get in, and another to get out. Or just accumulate on the dips and don't pay
too much attention to timing the moves perfectly.

Everyone should have an allocation of PM's that lies in wait of true necessity.
Accumulate over time at the dips/lows.
If you find your allocation overweight(or underweight) of PM's(because spot moves),
you can trade around your core position. Preferably into parabolic moves, up and down.
And if you pay enough attention to the market affairs, you can hedge with PM ETF's,
up and down, as needed.

A month or two back, I found a receipt of a silver purchase for my disaster holdings from
1991 and posted a series of pics of the unboxing. It hadn't been opened in 22years,
just lying in wait, serving its purpose.

[Captain Crawfish]

energy revolution means big money for the markets. My fav buy and hold Cheniere. when the panama canal is finished this will fly

[slow99]

PM's generally don't make money, unless you lever into a financial security.
PM's advantages are to generally maintain purchasing power, and reduce counterparty risk.
There are other advantages, but they are lesser in the status quo.
You can make money in PM's if you get in just before they take off parabollically, and get
out just before the drop. This is very difficult to get right, and you really need to get it right
twice. Once to get in, and another to get out. Or just accumulate on the dips and don't pay
too much attention to timing the moves perfectly.

Everyone should have an allocation of PM's that lies in wait of true necessity.
Accumulate over time at the dips/lows.
If you find your allocation overweight(or underweight) of PM's(because spot moves),
you can trade around your core position. Preferably into parabolic moves, up and down.
And if you pay enough attention to the market affairs, you can hedge with PM ETF's,
up and down, as needed.

A month or two back, I found a receipt of a silver purchase for my disaster holdings from
1991 and posted a series of pics of the unboxing. It hadn't been opened in 22years,
just lying in wait, serving its purpose.

PM - for those folks scoring along at home - means precious metals.

[Shorty]

PM - for those folks scoring along at home - means precious metals.

Fuck. These private messages I've been hoarding are worthless.

[Nash B.]

Mine are worth their weight in hard drives.