Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Stocks......... and our economy

Man...... I'm only 20 and I am really begining to wonder about our economy. Dow took a huge hit yesterday, down 215. I'm about to go back to school and was fairly set on going into Management Consulting. With all this up and down with business in america, I'm starting to wonder if I'll be able to find a decent job in 4 years????
Does this concern any of you? Do any of you have money in the stock market? I was thinking about putting about 1000.00 dollars in it later this summer. But the stocks to buy are scary. I mean the major four "tech" stocks are WAY to expensive at this time. Those are Dell, Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco. Most of those need to come down about 50% to be considered good buys. Then you have other things such as Target... Which I hear is a good buy right now. I work for wal-mart (distribution center) and that would be a great stock to purchase.. BUT... I've never seen it above 63.00 and I wouldn't buy it unless it's around 20 or so. I don't see that happening... It's been hovering at around 53-55 dollars for awhile now.
Anyway, what's your thoughts on all this movement in our economy. They say, oh it's coming up.... then, well it'll be awhile....... It upsets me that people quite spending money when there is a conflict. Whats it gonna do sitting there in your bank account when you are killed by terroists compared to being invested????? Errrrrr... Anyway........

I've lost a considerable amount of money in the last year or two, both on paper (options) and for real.

Made the mistake like everybody else of being too heavily weighted in tech and of buing at the wrong price.

However, I haven't sold anything as I believe the stocks I own will come back strong in the long term. I still have a good job so at least I have that to be thankful for.

Yeah, my portfolio is around 90% tech, and I'm down roughly 75% right now.. But as with MarkO, I'm holding for the longterm, in hopes of some sort of recovery. Things were looking good about 2-3 weeks ago, but then went to hell in a handbasket really quick (esp with this latest scandal).

Eventually things will turn, so if you have the stomach, this might be a good time to invest in some solid companies while they're at all-time lows. But don't buy the hype, research the companies and know what you're buying into. Good luck.

Looking at stocks day to day, or even month to month is a good way to lose your hair. Figure what your $1000 will be worth in 40 years. I'm sure during the great depression stock holders had less faith then we do now, my how I'd like to have had a grandparent buying up stocks then...

IMO, the only way to make money day trading (or short-term trading) is to monitor every bit of info you can get your hands on every waking hour of the day. Some people have the ability to do that; I don't.

Don't limit yourself to the tech sector. There are tons of good buys out there in more traditional industries.

One of my favorite sites for this stuff is http://www.fool.com . Lots of useful info.

You should be looking at a long-term investment. Mutual funds, which spread the risk among different companies and sectors, are a good choice, especially if you initially have a limited amount you want to invest and are risk-averse. The ideal is to find a broker you can trust, tell him/her the risk level you feel comfortable with, and let him/her go from there. BTW, I confess that I only look at the value of my (limited) portfolio when I get my monthly statements from the broker. The guy in the next cube checks his at least three times a day and has to take stomach medicine. You can take this stuff too seriously....

Or you could take a trip to the nearest casino and bet on black.

Infomercial on;

"If you're thinking about inveting in a tech stock, buy Sun Microsystems (SUNW) it is currently at a strong buy price of ~$6.90
A strong company gaining momentum by outperforming its rivals.
Little debt, major cash reserves, strong business future, ever growing customer base, agressive pricing and advertising.
Invest in Sun, and let us make money for you."

Infomercial off.

Retail sector seems to be a good place to store money (stocks not moving much).
Bio-tech doesn't look as strong as in previous years.
Tech is shaky, but has strong possabilities.
Banking sector could be a quick cash route.

Just my 2 cents.

In the long term, we are all DEAD. Don't buy
any stocks that are in downtrends (read: techs)
Buy only in uptrends, forget fundamentals.

Golds are in uptrends. Why? Because no one
trusts the banks, the governments or the fat cats
running the big companies (enron anyone?)....
my .02 worth.