Lets keep this on topic.

Anybody do any investing? I purchased some books and am pretty excited.

 

i'm going to be investing in a new 9mm pretty soon

 

are you going to purchase individual stocks, or stick with a fund? either way if your new to the market, now is a good time to start. with the market down its bargin basement prices for you.

 

corrected

 

probably individual stocks. Ive purchased a few with my company already (emerson electric : EMR) but im starting to look for some more companys.

 

I'd at least look into some of the funds, like the American Groth fund is comprised of all the blue chip stocks like Coke, Pepsi, and all the name brand products that you know. the nice thing about owing a fund is that if there is a huge hit to an individual stock you won't feel the brunt. the fund is spread so it won't be such a negative impact. its all about risk vs reward, the lower the risk the lower reward and vice verca. wall street journal, msn money, motley fool, there are so many resources online to help with educating yourself before you make an investment.

 

Make it a hobby not an occupation, and be prepared to lose money.

 

so true, not that I'm a heavy investor but looking at my 401K lose value over the past few weeks is kind of depressing.
I used to own some individual stocks a few years ago and I'm still claiming the loss on my taxes as a write off.

 

you should see how risk adverse you are. think about your age, income, ability to recoup from a loss. once you figure these things out you can go and research the type of individual investing you should make for yourself.

 

Don't invest any money you can't afford to lose. I'd agree with skabone as far as sticking with funds for now. Some individual investments wont hurt you since you're young and have time to recover