I cashed in a CD that matured and did the same with two mutual funds that had been losing money for three years. I used that money and bought stock in two defense contractors. I'm thinking with President Trump's increase in the military budget these stocks will do well
Way back when I was studying investment possibilities, I tended to buy land, and it's turned out well for me. But one way to invest that intrigued me was perspectives. I checked out the ones that were available at the time because I wanted to do an experiment. I purchased some stock in Center Point Energy for $200. I let the interest roll over without ever taking anything from the account. I wanted to see in what ways those blocks of stock were going to bounce around over a long given time span. And this thread just reminded me it's time to cash them in. I bought them in 1992.
I'm hoping to get enough to pay off my car. I still owe over $8,000 on it. But I doubt I get that much. When I cash out they are supposed to give me a graph/chart of the past 25 years. That was the whole reason I did it, to be able to watch it grow or fizzle. I do admit I wish I had been in a better position to invest more, but this was all I would allow myself to spend on such iffy gambling. Land has been a better investment for me.
Sounds smart to me as well Sheldon. I don't think I've seen the future of America look brighter in my lifetime than since we've got Trump in there. I'll say it again, I have some hope now at least.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/...tback-sparks-doubt-over-trump-tax-reform.html I just read stocks have been dropping since Trump couldn't repeal Obamacare, hope it turns around.
I believe the part about the stocks dropping, but am not so sure about the attribution. Whenever stocks go up, they look for something that the Democrats did to attribute it to, and when they go down, they blame it on the Republicans. Personally, I think it was the Russians. Damned Russians.
The movement of prices of publicly-traded securities is a much-touted issue, emblazoned by emphasis by brokerages, banks, mutual funds, and the like, aimed at creating public interest to secure ever-more funds committed to traded issues most folks know little or nothing about. It used to be "Industrials, Rails, and Utilities", which shows the extreme strength within the economy of those 3 types of securities. Utilities were once the most secure and safe options one could buy. But they paid less dividends back than the other 2 categories. Sometime back in about the '90's. the very first time EVER, a public Electric Power Co. went belly-up: Tucson Electric Power. There goes your safety in the big 3 categories. Good times or bad, some securities will rise, while others will fall. More rise when the climate is conducive to taking risk; more agitating by media-driven forces sucks folks in to buy the securities. The mad scramble to not "miss out" results in "land-rush" buying of anything and everything. Then, as the national economy falters as in 2008, the beleaguered "buying public" slinks away, having sold their "sure things" at or near the bottom of their historic values. Frank
Update: The stock market has done very well since Trump became president. The defense contractors I bought stock in; well one of them has gone up $49 a share more than I paid for it. The other has risen about $30 per share. They are expensive stocks so I don't have many shares but I'm sure glad I bought them. They both pay dividends too.
I wish I understood stocks and shares...I'd love to invest in something...but I'm scared to in case I lose my money...
Only thing we invest in is my wife's 401k at her work. She used her CD's to buy the house we had in Colorado. Investing is a nice idea, for those that have the money to do it.
@Cody Fousnaugh , 401k"s are the best way to buy stock or mutual funds. Many companies match part of what you put in. That's free money. I would put in the maximum allowed in the 401k before I even thought of investing elsewhere. I used my 401k to pay off the house when I retired. Since I retired I no longer had a 401k so I started investing through a broker.
@Sheldon Scott I do a similar thing with my VA disability check. It's not very large and I invest the whole amount each month. So far it is doing better than just sticking it in a savings account. The market is doing pretty well so far, fingers crossed...