I am looking for help on where to start - I have a little knowledge about markets, shares and ratios but am a bit bamboozled.
I would like to build a good foundation for making decisions.
Any recommended reading or websites?
Thank you
You have come to the right place, you can search for companies on here. Read Paul's small company reports. Do dummy portfolios until you build up confidence to invest real money. Look at the NAPS portfolios done by Ed. Take your time there is no rush.
This is the first done January, 2015 : http://www.stockopedia.com/content/new-year-naps-top-10-stocks-for-2015-89568/
If you go to Folios top right of your screen you can set up your own. Also you can look at Guru selections or do your own selections. For ranking just go to Ranks above, click on Top StockRanks and it will come up with the top ranked shares in UK. But best to read Ed's NAPS first so you have an understanding of it.
My advise would be read as much as you can, I highly recommend Robbie burns books, I wish I had found them before starting out. Very easy read and very direct to the point. There is a lot of jargon out there but overtime you will learn to develop your own method how to research stocks
This is one of the best forums I have come across in terms of quality, but Dont get to washed away on some of the story stocks that you can find trawling other bulletin boards.
Also try and understand your attitude towards risk vs time, if you are not very risk adverse then maybe you want to look at long term safer investments like ftse100 stocks which have e a decent dividend yield (note: not all of them are safe and perfect!)
Where as the other end of the spectrum you can use your time following smaller cap stocks which can be more rewarding but can (not always) carry more risk, but you might have to watch them more closely.try and understand what's fits your trading personality.
It's and endless pursuit of learning and you might be surprised how much time you can spend on the subject.
Sean
This is really advice to myself and written as such - so I'm not being preachy, more like writing a do and don't list to myself!
I would start by investing monthly ( iii and TDDirect both do monthly investment accounts) and select maybe 3 or 4 stocks and put a similar amount in each per month, depending on your budget. Pick a couple of high risk and low risk stocks, so maybe if you can afford 4 or 5 to start with.
Let the benefit of pound cost averaging work for you. Buy stocks that you are interested in, not what everyone else says you should buy. Pick a few sectors and understand them. Because you're interested in them, it won't seem like work. Don't buy multiple stocks in the same sector. Stay well clear of gambling stocks - think junior oils / exploration stocks. Invariably they are all money pits and will quite happily consume all your money. Stay away from well-known (or infamous?) CEOs. Most are pump-and-dump merchants.
Remember that mid-cap and large stocks can also do well, it's not only small caps that can double.
Finally, if you've done your research properly (and the backbone of it should be this site), stick with your convictions. No-one knows the future. Most experts get it wrong, just get it wrong slightly less than they get it right. Don't let professional investors invest your money. You will be able to do better. Remember they are businesses, their business is to get investors to give them money which they then invest and get their fees. Just use funds etc to target sectors which might be impractical to invest in directly yourself.
And have fun! Don't stress if stocks go down, in the long run they'll recover - or go bust. And don't borrow / leverage. It's the path to ruin.
Oh, and be patient - and not greedy. That's the private investor's greatest asset.
Good luck!
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Many years ago there was an investment site that was the 'bee's knees' for private investors but for various reasons it has long since lost it's shine over the last 5+ years or so. Buried away on that site is probably one of the best introductions for private investors starting out on the path of enlightenment. It can be found here: http://www.fool.co.uk/investing-basics/getting-started-in-investing/
A few things to bare in mind learnt from decades of investing. Dummy portfolios are a waste of time. Only when there is real money at stake do you learn. In the grand scheme of things there is nothing 'new' in investing; so old classic investment books are as valuable today as ever. When it comes to bulletin boards 99.98% of what is written is garbage. Useful non-the-less for establishing hard facts but expressed opinions are generally worthless.
Investment is largely psychological. Take a look at Ed's recent video about 'the Monkey' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K174mUaSV4U
My advice is:
Buy cheap stocks with low or little debt, rising profits and rising charts. (you can screen for companies on this site)
Stay away from story stocks with high debt, no profits with downward charts.
Stay away from mining and oil companies - too complicated.
Don't bother trading forex - 90% lose.
Let your winners run and cut your losers (don't let them run more than 20%)
Always use stop losses
Read loads of books - Robbie Burns Naked Trader is great as is anything by Peter Lynch.
Invest in stocks you know and in industries you do, or have worked in. This will give you a head start.
Be patient
Don't invest you life savings or your whole pension until you know what you're doing.
Keep records to see where you went wrong and why you did well
Don't listen to anyone!
