Frustration Incorporated

I have come to a little bit of money, and I was thinking of investing what I have in the market.

Particulary I'm familiar with stock trading more than anything else.

I need some advice, as all I know is theories, meaning I have no practical experience.

Last year I wanted to invest in Ford, which was selling at about 1.50 and now its up to 11 dollars. I didn't get on that invest because I hesitated. I made the same mistake with Sirius as well as some other penny stocks.

What I need from you my friends, is an intro, things to do, and more importantly things not to do. Thanks in advance.

I don't know much about investing so I'm a pretty conservative investor. I think it takes years of investing experience before someone can afford the risk of investing in any particular stock. Of course, if you work in a particular industry or have studied a particular company, then it may be worth the risk doing stock investing.

Myself, I've got a diverse portfolio of mutual funds - modestly conservative. I take advantage of dollar-cost averaging and contribute a fixed amount every month. On occassion, with the agreement of my advisor, I throw extra cash into my funds. For example, in Nov. 2008 I made a one-time contribution of $30,000 and in March 2009 I made a one-time contribution of $7,500. I was able to do this by accumulating some of my uninvested savings in my bank account. When I felt that the markets were sufficiently low I decided to dump that money into my investment and RRSP accounts.

Too bad you didn't have this money to invest a year ago. The markets have grown quite a bit since last March. That being said, the markets are still low and do have room to recover.

Having a steady income source helps with my strategy. I've been working at the same place for over ten years now. If I couldn't rely on such a steady income, I wouldn't be able to throw as much money into my investment accounts - For about 1.5 years (until March last year) I had been expecting immediate short term losses on most of my investment contributions.

Thanks smurfster. I'd like to track you down on ts sometimes, and ask you some questions about that.

I'm a patient man and am not looking for a quick roi. I want to take half my capital and play, and half and stay. The whole thing is an experiment for me. I'm working with a seriously small amount of cash. So we'll see.

Email Kramer if you're serious - he may have some more tips for you.

After all, he's in the BIZ.