Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with finance and stocks

How to learn more about finance.

theholotrope — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:25:47 -0800

Where/How do you get your best stock tips? What is your routine when studying a market trade? What are some good websites to learn about finance? I'm barely getting into the market game and I have a lot to learn. Please share any websites for learning finance for free and/or websites that have helped you gain some knowledge on good stocks to invest in. Thanks.

I'm having a financial existentialist crisis

MrMulan — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:36:19 -0800

Have I been wrong on my financial core beliefs? I have had a worldview when comes to finances for over 15 years that I am now questioning.

1. I believed 8-12% return on your money over the long term was reasonable, conservative, and realistic.
2. I believed in No-load mutual funds.
3. I believed in dollar cost averaging.
4. I believed Technical Analysis does not work.
5. I believed in A Random Walk Down Wall Street.

First there was this segment from NPR(of all places!) that blew my mind: Technical Analysis actually works (at least for oil)
Then this article from Slate on Suzy Orman. The article disses No-load, and Dollar-Cost Averaging without any references.

Was NPR sinking to a major network level of reporting? Or does TA really work?
What is the mounting evidence against No-loads as part of a passive, long term strategy?

There is no other choice for me but to be an optimist for the long term health and prosperity of our country and by proxy, the stock market. Else, the best thing to do would be to stock up and canned food and guns, and that really isn't a nice way for me to live.
Why then is Dollar-cost averaging bad, if you are doing it in mutual funds, and doing it for the long term?

There are many books out know calling into question A Random Walk Down Wall Street. Is there any truth to them?

Difference between the Canadian and American Markets Relative to Their Economies.

Toto_tot — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:17:28 -0800

On the Financial crisis: If the Canadian economy is in a stronger state than the American economy then why is the TSX posting larger point and percentage losses than the Dow and Nasdaq? Is it about investor whim or the make-up of each individual index?

Credible returns on investment in virtual world finance?

vizsla — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:30:37 -0800

Anybody have experience in investing in virtual world banks/businesses/markets (such as those in SecondLife.com etc)? Do they provide a serious way of making a sensible risk/reward on five or six figure investments? I have found discussion of investing in virtual worlds in this article for example which concludes its very high risk but maybe someone has heard of a viable diversification strategy out there?

Resource for evaluating past stock recommendations?

ibmcginty — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:10:23 -0800

Is there anyone (especially online) who's collected reasonably well-informed stock picks from, say, 2, 5, or 15 years ago and explained why the recommendations did or did not work out? Is there a better way to track that stuff down than hunting around for old articles on financial websites? It seems like making the effort to learn from mistakes in the past would help guard against over-optimistic, irrationally exuberant picks today.

Financial / 401k advice for a 23-year-old engineer.

decrescendo — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:26:06 -0800

Financial / 401k advice for a 23-year-old engineer. Considering the state of the economy and the price of oil, what should I do with my stocks. Also, I have the option for a 401k but I have no idea what type of 401k to choose. I have around 30k in McDonalds stock that is up 80% from when it was bought for me when I was a kid. Should I hold onto it and weather the storm? I keep reading rumblings of a recession and stock market crash but is that just a scare tactic? I don't want to get kicked back down to a 30% gain on that stock when it's been doing so well up until right now. It has defintely been a long-haul stock but I'm afraid I'm going to lose all that I've built up over the last 23 years.

Also, I've had the opportunity to enroll in a 401k from my company for the last 6 months. I haven't done it yet mostly because I have no idea what to fill out on the form. I have the following options. Any recommendations? I believe my company matches up to 15%.

Should I go with option 1 or option 2?

1. I elect to contribute ____% or ____$ (per pay period) of my compensation as before-tax contributions to the 401(k) Plan until
such time as I revoke or amend my election.

2. I elect to contribute ____% or ____$ (per pay period) of my compensation after-tax as a designated Roth contribution to the
401(k) Plan until such time as I revoke or amend my election.

Note: The total of your before-tax and Roth deferrals cannot exceed 100% or $15,500.00. Your before-tax and Roth deferrals must be specified consistently (both as a percent or both as a dollar amount). If I am 50 years of age or older and I am eligible for a catch-up contribution, I understand I may exceed this total.

I also have all of these to pick from. No idea what to go with here. Considering the economy and what I hear, I'd probably rather take a semi-conservative approach.

Maxim Aggressive Profile II
Maxim Moderate Profile II
Maxim Conservative Profile II
American Funds EuroPacific Growth R3
Oakmark International II
Oppenheimer Global A
First American Small Cap Select A
MainStay Small Cap Opportunity A
Maxim Index 600
RidgeWorth Small Cap Growth Fund I
Lord Abbett Mid-Cap Value A
Maxim Ariel Small-Cap Value
Fidelity Advisor Mid Cap T
Fidelity Advisor Leveraged Co Stk - T
American Funds Growth Fund of Amer R3
Davis NY Venture R
Marsico Focus
Maxim S & P 500 Index
Maxim T. Rowe Price Equity Income
Oppenheimer Capital Appreciation A
RiverSource Diversified Equity Income R3
Van Kampen Comstock - R
Maxim Bond Index
Maxim Loomis Sayles Bond Portfolio
Maxim US Government Securities Fund
PIMCO Total Return Admin
Guaranteed Certificate Fund 36 Month
Guaranteed Certificate Fund 60 Month
Guaranteed Certificate Fund 84 Month
Maxim Money Market

Any help would be fantastic.

Is an index fund really a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

reenum — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:34:08 -0800

InvestingFilter: Is there anything inherently flawed about investing in index funds? I recently opened up a Roth IRA, and have invested in an S&P 500 Index Fund. I'll also be investing in a bond index soon.

I've been reading articles online and books such as 'The Lazy Person's Guide To Investing' by Paul Farrell. These books make it seem that investing in anything but index funds sets you up for a loss long term.

In my opinion, I'm a passive investor. I don't have the inclination to try and pick hot stocks. I'm fine getting a market average return. Farrell's book and some other sources such David Swenson make it seem that investing in anything but an index fund is lunacy. They harp on about load funds and how actively managed funds always underperform the market.

My question is: What's the catch about investing in index funds? It seems to good to be true. You keep putting money in and 30 years later, a nice pile is waiting for your retirement.

Some input from the more financial minded members of the Hive Mind would be much appreciated.

Why did Microsoft's bid 'cause Yahoo stock prices to jump?

hobbes — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:43:29 -0800

Stocks 101: Why did Microsoft's bid 'cause Yahoo stock prices to jump? I understand basic supply and demand, but is that simply the reason why YHOO jumped nearly 50% today? Or are investors hoping to sell the stock to MSFT at an even higher price?

Naked Shorting Pets.com

Cool Papa Bell — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:22:20 -0800

Hypothetical Finance Filter: What would happen if I did naked shorting on a company that eventually goes out of business? Let's say I time travel back to the halcyon days of the dot-com bubble, when Pets.com, eToys.com and several other publicly traded companies went tits up. I naked short these companies before the bubble bursts, which means I'm selling shares I don't own without any reserve. What happens if in the intervening period, before I have to deliver the shares, the company goes out of business, like Pets.com did?

Did I just get something for nothing?

Very Specific Character's Job Title?

np312 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:53:46 -0800

Help me ascertain the correct job title for a character I’m writing who deals in high stakes international finance. Difficulty level: I have a limited understanding about stocks, bonds, or securities. Hi there—now there are several plot points that can’t be changed that I must work around, so it would be a great help to find a job title/description for this character that fits the following constraints.

The character I’m writing needs to be a high-paid person in finances, the type who might get sent down to Argentina in the months immediately preceding the 2001 Corallito/2002 Bankruptcy in order to broker some sort of high-stakes financial deal involving a US firm (hers) and an Argentine company of some sort.

Here’s the most important part: she’s trying to get these Argentinean businessmen to come on board with her JP Morgan-ish company in some way (invest abroad? Partner up for some reason?) and they are all set to do so –until- the country’s fiscal crisis spirals out of control in the fall of 2001, and she loses the contract/client because of it.

Some job titles that seem to fit are Emerging Markets Bond Trader or Financial Analyst, but I’m still a bit unsure of what those jobs actually entail. So! Any ideas of what this character’s job is and what kind of financial deal is she could be responsible for in this particular situation?

Thank you for all help/ideas!

Wondering about Zecco

ducksauce — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 07:34:25 -0800

Have you had any experience with Zecco.com? Are they reputable? I am thinking of opening an account with Zecco.com which, as far as I know, is the only no-fee online broker. They do charge fees for mutual funds and options, and I guess that's how they make their money, but I still don't understand how they can offer no trading fees.

Where can I find summary information for a specific stock for days in the past? (more inside)

tozturk — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:37:12 -0800

Where can I find summary information for a specific stock for days in the past? I'm trying to find summary information similar to what you'd find at http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=goog for a specific day in July. I have found the stock prices for those days without any problem but I've been unable to find things like market cap, volume, etc for that same day way back in July.I've been to bloomberg, wsj, zack's, and any other number of random sites but I'm having no luck. Does such a thing exist or am I just missing it?

Thank you in advance.

RSS feed to track an investment portfolio?

electric_counterpoint — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 08:18:14 -0800

Looking for a site where I can enter a portfolio (stocks and funds) and generate an RSS feed that gives daily breakdowns of how each stock is doing. I'm a very hands-off investor, but I have some high-risk stuff and I'd like to make sure my IRA doesn't take when I'm not paying attention.

I've seen this thread, but I'm hoping in the last year something's changed online. I'd rather not do individual feed subscriptions for each stock in the portfolio, but rather get one update a day at markets' close telling me what's up. The more options, the better, of course.

I remember reading about one new site about a month ago. It was about investing, but with a social/community aspect. Very web 2.0, and it was the first thing I thought of when this question occurred to me. But, I can't find any reference to it now. In case this will generate the RSS I need, can anyone help my memory?

Does technical analysis 'work'?

neilkod — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 10:47:03 -0800

I'm a buy and hold investor who wants to develop an interest in technical analysis. Specifically, I want to put aside $n and try making some purchases purely on technicals. Is this a good move? I'd also like to know if buying stocks using technical analysis necessarily equates to 'trading'?

Additionally, does this method work? The only thing I really know about TA comes from what I read long ago in the Motley Fool's investment guide-they discredited this method in favor of researching a company's fundamentals.

Can anyone recommend some good websites/blogs or other places to learn about this?

stock portfolio code

hubs — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 14:25:44 -0800

Does anyone know where i can find code that will display my stock portfolio on my personal website? I have found several services that will track your portfolio for you. But, I would like to display my portfolio on my pesonal website (for all to see). Ideally, it would update everytime the page is loaded with real-time or 20-minute-delayed data. There has got to be an easy way to do this with RSS feeds or something but i'm not savvy enough to figure it out and think that someone must have already done it. but who?

Paying stock dividends

sandra194 — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 08:14:30 -0800

when a company says that they will pay a one time dividend of $1.00 for each outstanding share of common stock, does that mean that they are going to pay me $1 for each share of stock that I own? Or what does it mean?

Earning income from stocks

daksya — Mon, 09 May 2005 19:44:16 -0800

How do shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway earn income? It seems that dividends haven't been issued since 1967. Short of selling the stock, isn't the investment "tied up"? On a broader note, how does one earn money from stocks?

I can think of 2 ways:

1)Dividends.
2)Sell it off for a profit.

..and maybe, earn interest off it (if so, how?).

Investing Online

adrober — Tue, 11 May 2004 22:39:53 -0800

I just graduated law school and have received a significant amount of money in graduation gifts. I'd like to "invest" the money in the market but I have no idea how to do that. I'd like to use online investment software that is very intuitive. Any suggestions?