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I don't wish to sound harsh here, but it will come across that way, the truth cannot be helped...

The market does does not give too hoots if you are half-blind, blind or a quadraplegic. It will do what it does.

Because of this and the following, I will point you back to my original post...

the only way I will really learn is by trying my hand at it all too. Staring small and losing small is IMO better than starting big and losing it all. That's my thought anyhow. And as someone said earlier we all have to start somewhere.
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The worst thing that can happen early is probably the following from Nun....

you might just get lucky enough to grow into more larger position
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I have known people who this happens too. They then think they are market geniuses and tend to over trade.... until they blow up, and blow up big.

In asking for opinions you are showing a classic newbee tendancy, "others must know more". Being experienced in markets means nothing of the kind. Your guess as to a good stock to invest in is probably as good as anyones, the real test comes in how you respond to changes in price over time.
That is where learning the ropes really comes in. Only being involved will help here, and persistence to learn how to control your emotions and outside influences on your actions.

Eventually you will learn a style of investing/trading that suits your personality, that you are comfortable with. It may take 6 months, it may take 10 years, but persistence is what counts.

A question (or two) for those who have suggested paper trading or earning interest in a bank account. How much is enough for a beginner to start with?? If early lessons are expensive, then why not start out cheap??

brty
 
coffee_snob said:
And yes, all my dosh will be going into one company. I don't believe I'd do much good spreading the cash between a few companies! its not like I have 20k to spend here - otherwise i'd consider it!
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That then ups the risk which is inconsistent with what you outlined in the first post.
 
I will not at all call myself an expert, however from my experience and please note its is only my experience based on events that i was fortunate or unfortunate to have

i started off with 2k and i would say had i stuck with the 2k i think i would of watched my investment go from $2k to $243 and back to about $500 over a 3year period. fortunately i was able to through more money at my learning experience and now am happy with the 6.5% growth.. which mind you I might of been able to manage in the bank.

as I personally believe 2k is not enough to invest and to learn.
learning generally requires some buying and selling i believe. learning how to manage your funds protecting yourself from yourself

I think spending about a year learning while your hard earned money builds 5-7% interest and you paper trade getting some experience in the long term will do you well. It is very easy to think your better then you are get it right 5times in a row and all it takes is that 6th time were you know your right but the share price falls 90% but you were right
 
Couple of points: Suggestions that the banks are good value are a little stretched IMO at least from what I read (although that may well be crap).

The exposure of WBC and CBA of over 50% of their loan books to residential real estate means that if/when we get a reasonable house price correction (which we haven't had and the graph still looks extremely bubble-like) they are obviously going to be hit hard. Given that our banks are also reliant on overseas borrowing to fund their loan books, it also means that they will, ala WBC, be putting up rates over the next 3-4 years above what the RBA decide to do. That may well mean some significant increases in mortgage defaults over that period, a possible reason for the initial proposition of a price correction.

Also, IMO you are better off getting into the game now while volatility is higher, although it has come off a bit, as this will test your resolve and help you learn about the psychology of changing prices (read dropping prices), as has already been mentioned.

BTW how big did techs comment look through the maginifier
 
Hehe pretty big

and yes I realize the market does not care whether I can see or not, I was simply explaining my situation so you guys (mainly Julia) could understand my perspective/situation. I'm a pretty open person so please excuse me if I give info that's irrelivant
 
Learn learn learn for at least 6 months just so you get some of the basics because the market will be there whenever you decide to invest, but if you feel youre ready, at the end of the day we all learn in different ways.

N.T
 
ThingyMajiggy said:
Just occurred to me.....can someone be illegally blind?
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That's probably right: Most likely $5000 minimum. Sorry for the misdirection.

No, Comsec is not the only place to access these. But bear in mind you are going to be paying fees for this management which often turns out to be less expert than you might anticipate. Better, imo, to stick with a direct share.

brty said:
I don't wish to sound harsh here, but it will come across that way, the truth cannot be helped...

The market does does not give too hoots if you are half-blind, blind or a quadraplegic. It will do what it does.
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The OP has not suggested at any stage that he/she expects any privileges because of a disability. The explanation of being legally blind was obviously offered in response to my earlier congratulations for having had the determination and stamina to complete a degree plus save $2000 whilst on the meagre income of a Disability Pension.
In asking for opinions you are showing a classic newbee tendancy, "others must know more". Being experienced in markets means nothing of the kind. Your guess as to a good stock to invest in is probably as good as anyones,
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The OP has made clear he/she is new to the market, so naturally any questions are going to reflect that. Brty, it's not like you to be so critical of what is perfectly reasonable under the circumstances.
And I rather disagree about the OP having the same capacity as an experienced investor to choose a stock. I certainly made many mistakes in stock selection in the early days compared to now.
 
brty said:
Good grief!!

brty
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How is that comment helpful to the OP?
He/she has clearly stated that he/she's inexperienced.


tech/a said:
Sorry to hear that.
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ThingyMajiggy said:
Just occurred to me.....can someone be illegally blind?
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Good Lord, fellas, I can't believe how unnecessarily insensitive you are.
Consider walking a day in another's shoes, perhaps.

The OP is, imo, to be further congratulated for not responding to this rubbish.
Why can't you just try to be genuinely helpful instead of smart?
 

Hey, what did I do?

I was just asking a genuine question! Seems to be a weird classification, someone being "legally" blind, hence wondering if someone can be illegally blind, not having a go at, or belittling the OP at all, not sure how you could interpret it as offensive, maybe find a new hobby?
 

There is totally blind, and there is legally blind. If you are legally blind it does not mean that you are totally blind. You can still be classified as being blind if you have some sight, but it has to be below a certain level.
 
Julia,

If I sounded too harsh, I apologise. The original "good grief" comment was in regard to lots of er... 'non advise' that was rejected in a call to "what stock is good" type of comment/question, as if all the previous posts were irrelevant.

The explanation of being legally blind was obviously offered in response to my earlier congratulations for having had the determination and stamina to complete a degree plus save $2000 whilst on the meagre income of a Disability Pension.
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In terms of trading/investment the above is completely irrelevant. I have my own 'disabilities' but never bother to refer to them as they have no meaning in terms of money. The market is the market and a person is a person, end of story. If they do not have the ability to read properly, they are behind the eightball. If they do not have the ability to comprehend they are behind the eightball, if they are too arrogent they are behind the eightball. No ifs, buts or maybees.

I rather disagree about the OP having the same capacity as an experienced investor to choose a stock. I certainly made many mistakes in stock selection in the early days compared to now.
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Exactly my point about starting with the $2k and investing in pretty much anything. Yes I choose stocks better now (well I think I do ) but we all have to learn. Only having skin in the game helps us really learn, especially in regard to our own reactions to market action.

Why can't you just try to be genuinely helpful instead of smart?
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I thought my original post in this thread was exactly that, yet it was completely ignored, as were many other thoughtful suggestions. The OP has a disability in terms of the market, this disability is in seeking the 'answer'/'secret' from other posters, it has nothing to do with sight.

brty
 
Yet another destructive thread IMO.

Why don't you look at point 2 that I raised in the

Why is ASF the best place to blog? thread

My final contribution to this thread. Goodnight!
 
IMHO a stock like Telstra would be a good buy at current levels. It pays a great dividend of around 9% which is better than any bank and is a good defensive play if the market corrects.
 
WOW coffee_snob. I envy you. I do not know what I'd do without my peepers when studying. Congratulations on keeping yourself focused on your end goals.

With that sort of determination, you should do very well in the markets once you get it down.

It's hard to balance starting out. Should I go in blind (sorry no pun intended there)? Or should I wait, save more and possibly burn a lot more dough when I do take the plunge?

I would say put your money in a netSaver for now as term deposits generally ask for a minimum of $5000. I know others offer less, but the rates are probably just as good in a netSaver account. Your money is also not locked in that way.

Definitely paper trade first though. At least to get some sort of feel for it. If you can treat paper trading as a serious game, you'll find playing the real thing much easier.

Google finance has a portfolio that you can use

http://www.google.com/finance/portfolio

I found it hard to manage my paper trades when most brokers only offer 14-30 day demo accounts. Google finance helps a lot in that respect.

If you really have an urge to get your hands dirty, perhaps consider trading forex with a very small amount. OANDA would be a good start. Throw in $100, trade 100 units at a time (about 1 cent per pip) and get the ball rolling. They have decent spreads as well. I see that as a much cheaper option to learn the hard way. At least to get the feel of a "market" anyway.

Don't worry too much about the "emotional" side of trading at this stage. I find this to be an ongoing battle. Once you get more competent, you invest more and they (the same emotions) start all over again That's just me though, we're all different.


Speaking of a managed portfolio, has anyone seen this from ANZ?

http://www.anz.com/personal/investments-advice/products-services/online-investment-account/

You can get started with only $1,000
Make contributions whenever you like from as little as $100
Your money is not locked away - access your funds easily
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Might be worth looking into further coffee.

I wish you all the best on your journey. Judging by your past determination, you will do quite well.
 

I apologise for offering this offending statement unreservedly. By the way Julia, I was laughing at the serendipity of the statements laid bare on this thread. It started with the "blind leading the blind" and the poster HAD NO IDEA that coffee_snob was legally blind. Then tech/a did the CAPITALISATION thing ... thinking he was helping. If I found this funny due to the posters thinking they were helping coffe_snob then I will check my funny bone at the door in future.
 
Hi again Coffee

As I responded sensibly the first time,

Please dont take offence at funny or unfunny comments, you get a lot of that on forums. I am guilty.

Also I mentioned STW in my first post, but forgot SFY, which is the ASX Top50 proxy, as you mentioned one holding and blue chip (its a low cost ETF)

The advantage of this is it can be traded immediately via online broker

The MINs are more cumbersome to transact both time and paperwork wise, and charge a higher ongoing fee.

or you could try this

http://commodities.about.com/od/profilesofcommodities/p/coffee_futures.htm
 
I trust we will not be seeing any more insensitive remarks in this thread. Sadly, I just had to remove one.

Initially, it appeared as though some people were unaware of the difference between being totally blind and legally blind and were confused or a little curious. Fair enough. However, I sincerely hope that we have all now moved on.

Nobody with a disability should be made fun of, mocked or subject to ridicule. It's primary school stuff and not something I expect of those here at ASF.

Now, I suggest we leave all that behind and move forward with the original topic of the thread; that is if anyone has anything further to add.
 
Hi all

I have decided to stick my money in a net saver account for now and add to it fortnightly until it grows into at least 5k. May take some time, but that will give me the opportunity to learn more about the market.

Thanks to everyone for your advice. See you around the forum.
 
A very wise choice coffee_snob. Congratulations on your endeavours thus far and all the best in the markets. May the wind be at your shoulder and the sun in your face on all your future trades !
 
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