StarGateWars Forums

WELCOME! to the Apadamek thread!

Not to worry this thread isn't too self-serving. This thread is going to keep track for me my financial activities in the stock market, the betting world and various other places. It will also serve to answer any and all questions the forum populace has about investing, the stock market, the sports betting world and anything else that comes to mind that they want me to ask. I would love to discuss with others those things as well!


Also you can discuss anything relating to clocks, wristwatches, and other timepieces with me here. I would love to talk and discuss with someone who also shares the passion.

Also anyone who can speak Vietnamese please post on this thread, I would love to have someone to chat with in my new language.

About me:

My name is Apadamek, a long time forum goer I'm also very passionate about the stock market and business world. I am now an investor both virtually and in real life, virtually I try out different strategies and the like to test their effectiveness before real life risk. Then I implement it in my real life. I'm proud to say that I have a 144% return rate in simulations and an 84% return rate in the real world. I'm extremely proud of those return rates, but am always willing to learn and hear from others!

So please...begin posting!

RESERVED POST

RESERVED POST

What kind of investments do you make?

Where do you go to test your investments virtually?

Dubby_CompGamerGeek2 wrote:What kind of investments do you make?

Do you speculate on currencies?

My investments are usually split into 3 types:

1) Long Term Safe
A big company with solid sales, solid growth and solid background. Nothing spectacular, nothing worrying. Examples would be Wal-Mart, large oil companies, Ford and Japanese Auto companies, large energy conglomerates. Companies that won't be going anywhere in the next 5-10 years.
I keep about 40-45% of my account in these.

2) Short-Term
Riskier ones that will last maybe a week minimum to about 3 months maximum. There's more risk involved but there also a level of safety. It's stocks with enough volatility week to week or month to month that it would be worth the risk. Stocks like Citigroup, most banking stocks in this day and age, Japanese stocks in general for sure, and european stocks in general due to the debt issues. These stocks rise and fall but they have a steady line you can count on that they'll eventually get back to and you'll recoup most if not all of your losses. The only problem is if the company is over-valued but on average that doesn't happen.
I keep about 20-30% in these types of investments

3) Daytrade
Very risky, trading small stocks on massive volume. (I.E. one share is 0.03) I'm just trying these out now that I'm in an american time zone once again but I'm having some issues on how to choose the right stocks. So much of it is driven by word-of mouth it's hard to ride the waves right.
>5% of my account is in these.

The rest I keep for sudden opportunities in case something pops up that I won't need to sell stock to acquire it.

I haven't messed about with currency stocks too much, just downloaded a couple books on Forex trading, gonna try and get the handle of it. Do you?

There are dozens of sites that allow you to simulate stock trading. Some of the best are:

Google Finance
Bloomberg Personal Finance
Theres a marketwatch simulator if you google it
and there is TD ameritrades think or swim but that's a little more complicated than your average portfolio simulator.

nope.

Where do you test your investments virtually?

I have looked for easy-to-use accurate simulations, and have not found them.



Any advice for someone who would prefer socially responsible investments?

Dubby_CompGamerGeek2 wrote:not yet.

Legit. It looks like a good way to make some money but I just don't know how to play it right, how the news effects it and the like.

what are your thoughts on watches that dont use the standard analogue/digital format?

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Apadamek says (11:46 AM):
*:)
*discuss stocks, watches or life with me Sol!

I cant really talk finances. dont like eet. and life? meh. lol.

~soul

SuperSaiyan wrote:I've recently been buying stocks with my spare cash, I've invested in GE and Symantec mostly

GE's always a safe bet, they aren't going anywhere and everyone knows it. I was actually thinking about GE for my account, in a week I think it could be up a solid 4-5%.

Don't know much about Symantec what drew you to them?

@ SOLUS

That's a pretty good looking watch. In some ways I'm hesitant to like digital watches, the average watch collector would avoid them like the plague. They lose value quickly and are usually a form of fad that fades quickly. I think they can be really pretty though and they're usually very cheap. some brands are moving into them though, like the SEIKO electronic ink watch which is really cool.

Dubby_CompGamerGeek2 wrote:nope.

Where do you test your investments virtually?

I have looked for easy-to-use accurate simulations, and have not found them.



Any advice for someone who would prefer socially responsible investments?

Marketwatch.com allows for virtual trading simulations. I think they have them listed as "Games" on their website.

You can create a virtual game of your own and compete against friends using real-time market information. My class used this function in one of my Investing and Stock Analysis classes to see who had the best portfolio over a month long period. I'm sure you can also join pre-made public games, as well.

Psyko wrote:

Dubby_CompGamerGeek2 wrote:nope.

Where do you test your investments virtually?

I have looked for easy-to-use accurate simulations, and have not found them.



Any advice for someone who would prefer socially responsible investments?

Marketwatch.com allows for virtual trading simulations. I think they have them listed as "Games" on their website.

You can create a virtual game of your own and compete against friends using real-time market information. My class used this function in one of my Investing and Stock Analysis classes to see who had the best portfolio over a month long period. I'm sure you can also join pre-made public games, as well.

yup. The game is really good actually, quite well made and easy to understand. Think or Swim by TD ameritrade as I said before would be a great program once you get more experienced and understand more.

As an update to this thread, come Monday August 1st there will be more updates and stuff, just gotta get some things in order first!

@SS
Nice! and I'll be sure to check into that company, is that you entire portfolio or are you more diversified?

right. anyone knows good, reliable and free intraday historical price downloads (other than dukascopy)?

Hey Appy, do you use any normalized CF methods for valuation of the companies you invest in, and if so, do you think that applying a price goal has any effect at all?

I've seen that many American companies seem to have a very low stock price considering the underlying cash flow for these companies. Could of course be related to a conglomerate discount, due to the fact that the big companies have lots and lots of interests in many fields. What are your thoughts around investing in these conglomerates contra investing in businesses who only care about one specific market?

Also, long time no see

What do you make of forex trading?

Corran Horne wrote:right. anyone knows good, reliable and free intraday historical price downloads (other than dukascopy)?

Sorry I don't know Corran, I don't really look at intraday stuff.

Jora Sjacka wrote:Hey Appy, do you use any normalized CF methods for valuation of the companies you invest in, and if so, do you think that applying a price goal has any effect at all?

I've seen that many American companies seem to have a very low stock price considering the underlying cash flow for these companies. Could of course be related to a conglomerate discount, due to the fact that the big companies have lots and lots of interests in many fields. What are your thoughts around investing in these conglomerates contra investing in businesses who only care about one specific market?

Also, long time no see

I don't really look too much at CF. I look at profit and growth mostly. Cash Flow is well and good but I think in terms of investing, you need to worry about profit and growth. A business that is experiencing growth but loses profitability or doesn't maintain the same percentage is one I'd avoid, because Cash Flow is fickle and clearly the management likes to spend. Depends on a case to case, but overall I'd take highly profitable but low cash flow to low profit, high cash flow.

Conglomerates are risky, because if one thing goes down it all goes down. Take Berkshire Hathway, it's technically "undervalued" because their insurance companies are doing poorly. Berkshire is one of the most diversified conglomerates around and they're being hurt by the fact that one sector is doing poorly. I'd say a healthy mix is best for any situation, Conglomerates are good but so are single market firms. Good mixes of the most diversified conglomerates and the best managed companies.

Also, JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Mordack wrote:What do you make of forex trading?

I'm not currently involved in it, and I don't know too much about it. I understand that you can make quite a bit off tiny adjustments, and that currency markets are much more driven about news and the like than even stock markets. However, I really can't say much to it.

Something that definitely warrants investigation, I'd love to know more about it