Informational Update on Buying Stocks

My great investment adventures in the stock market continues.  I am investing anywhere from $300 to $700 a month.  I consider this my retirement fund.

I really like the Disney stock (DIS).  It has been good to me.  My 14 shares have gained $444 since I starting purchasing them a year ago.  I bought my first 4 shares at $68, and an additional ten when DIS was around $75 a share.  It is currently about $110 and I think it will hover there a while.

I also was surprised how well my Rite Aide stock has done.  I bought it thinking it a good risk, and it has risen and made me a few dollars.  It is still cheap to get in at under $9 a share.  It doesn't pay dividends, but it has potential.

I also just purchased INN and have been happy with it. It is a dividend paying stock and my 40 shares have made me $5 in just 2 days.

I am really disappointed in my Real Goods (RGSE) stocks.  They reverse split, and that is never a good sign. This was a company I really believed in, but then the original company bought itself back out of the bigger company. This was the first stock I bought.  I used to own a 100 shares, but thanks to the reverse split I now own 5.  For me to make my money back, those 5 shares would need to be worth about $65 each. I just don't see that happening, so I am going to sell what I have at a loss and get out.  I figure it will be a good tax deduction.  Thankfully my Disney stock has made more than RGSE has lost me.

Canon Inc. has also be a decent stock to own.

My other investments are just hovering and haven't really cost or gained me anything (though some pay a dividend).

Since I'm not a day trader, but investing long haul for retirement, I have time to see if my so-so's go up.

Happy Investing!

Still learning about Stocks and Market

My learning journey through the land of buying stocks is progressing. I'm finding it is easier to acquire knowledge by "doing" as opposed to reading books. Yet, since cash is involved, that may prove an expensive way to learn.

Since I last posted I have purchased 5 different stocks. I have yet to sell any, as my idea is to go "long" on them and hold them all at least a year to minimize any taxes.

The stock I had the most hope for (rsol) is the only one that has sunk down a $1 a share since I bought it. Two of my stocks (asti and ve) are hovering up and down within about $.25 of what I bought them for. My fourth stock (dis), and I must add the priciest stock in my portfolio and the one I could only afford to buy 4 shares of, is doing the best.  My 5th stock (pets) I just bought today, so at this point it is hard to say what it will do.

I have discovered that the more money you have to invest the better your odds are because you can buy the high cost solid stocks that pay dividends.  This will prove tricky for me, because I can only afford to buy about $200 worth of stocks a month. I have thought of just saving up my money for a couple of months to buy the higher priced stocks, but they are the ones that go up and up and then cost more than when I originally started planning to buy them.

I must wait a year though, to learn if my stock choices are proving worth the investments.