I have recently subscribed to Stockopedia and I am about to enter the market having been out of it for several years. I have no shares at all and I am starting with a £20k investment which I want to spread across 20 stocks. With such a wealth of tools I don't know where to start.
I would welcome suggestions as to the best method to highlight potential investments.
Put 90% of it in an index tracker and dip your toe with 1 or 2 individual picks until you have a better idea of what you like.
I suspect you may have been “once bitten” in which case, assuming it will be within an ISA, I would take up to ten higher yielding UK stocks from different sectors in the FTSE all-share. Examples would include some basic materials co.s (Rio tinto, steppe cement, centamin, Polymetal , sylvania platinum for example) a couple of energy companies (seplat, gulf keystone) a couple of consumer cos (imperial brands and persimmon) and see how you go. Don’t expect wonders. there’s loads of information on the site to help you research what you want.
The first thing to consider is whether right now is the time to start - consider waiting a short time until the Russia/Ukraine situation clarifies.
If you want to go ahead then its worth considering the apparent shift towards "value".
https://www.stockopedia.com/co...
I'm currently looking towards high yield in large caps as a way to combat inflation and volatility.
But the overall thing is slowly does it, do research, get comfortable with the Stocko site and find your own style - we're all different.
I would recommend investing the £20k across 8 or 10 holdings not 20. This should give you adequate diversification whilst keeping costs low.
I would suggest that the first steps that you should take are to get some sort of strategy worked out first. This would involve answering questions such as 1) Do you want income or capital gains or both? 2) How long do you expect to hold the shares for? 3 months? 25 years? Do you have some specific event in mind such as retirement or paying off a mortgage? 3) What is your attitude to risk? Are you comfortable with the idea of continuing to hold if the share price takes a dive? 4) Where will you hold the shares? Do you want to take advantage of tax breaks like with an ISA or a SIPP? 5) Under what conditions would you sell? Eg after a large rise? After a large fall? 6) How much time per week are you prepared to spend on doing your research? 7) How much, if any, attention are you going to pay to tips? 8) Will you buy expensive shares eg for growth, or cheap shares perhaps in the hope of a turnaround or recovery? 9) Will you buy on fundamentals or the share price charts or both?
I think it best to write your answers down so that you can refer back to them later on and maybe occasionally make some changes. Once you have got answers to questions such as the above, then you will be in a better position to start thinking about which particular shares you should buy.
Depends which platform you use, some costs now are low, I only pay £3 per transaction, so costs for me are not that crucial.
The educational section in Stockopedia is quite good. Tells you how to create and use screens or just creates some using rules from some of the more famous Stock traders. On Youtube look for Financial Wisdom. Gareth creates a good set of videos reviewing investing books and some analysis techniques. Also the Mello events are worth a watch.... Good luck ..Lloyd
