Best share market web site ???

I have never met a stockbroker who didn't invest himself in stocks.  Of course trading is a specialised subset of the stockmarket and I sure hope there are brokers who don't trade.

I think your post is a whopping generalisation that is impossible to substantiate even if it was remotely true.

Of course noone can predict movement 100% but a trader needs to be right just 30% of the time to make a decent profit.  Even this is difficult to do but clearly not impossible.

Your question doesn't make sense. Monitor or did you mean subscribe as huntley is a subscribe site. I am using http://www.wise-owl.com.au which is a subscribing site and http://www.rivkin.com.au.
The most important success factor in the share market is that you have to sell loss making shares rather than fall in love with a share and cut your losses.
Mistakes are made but dealing with the mistake fast and minimising your loss made is important.

A very useful program is located at http://www.sharewatch.com.au/ for viewing australian share prices

The sites I read are as follows:

http://www.smh.com

http://www.invested.com.au

http://www.hotcopper.com.au  (not so much any more)

newsletters from http://www.motivatedmoney.com.au and several others accumulated over the years

http://www.asx.com.au

These are just off the top of my head.

When you say monitor what exactly do you mean?  Forums?  Paid newletters?  News services?  Online Brokers?  Traders Blogs?  Education sites?  There are an awful lot out there.

Hope you find what you are after.

If you havn't done so already check out the ASX website, specifically the online education facilities. They are interactive and informative and a great way to expand your trading knowledge.

As long as you understand that your ignorance has made you decide to turn your back on a legitimate source of wealth that many people invest in.  Most people if you include Superannuation.  A form of security that underpins the economy.

of course your other choice is to do a little reading and make an informed choice.

What I described was trading and only in response to an earlier post. 

I personally invest in high yielding tax effective income streams.  Some of which are positive geared.    Does that sound more attractive?

Another assumption. 

I haven't sold a share for over five years.

I buy high yielding companies that have a history of tax effective dividend growth and capital growth and hold them.

I check them every month or so out of curiosity.  Certainly that is easily done from anywhere in the world.  In fact if being OS is a concern then you would find shares easier than property to keep tabs on and effect decisions on than property.

Perhaps it is my advanced years but you seem to have a pretty solid bias against a major asset class that my posts will not be able to budge.

I reckon choosing one asset class over another is like trying to play the white keys only on a piano.  You wil make a tune but wont achieve the best results.

Maybe when you are as ancient as myself you might take a look at them.  I hope you don't kick yourself then. 

As my last word on the suject I will include an article that some people have found illuminating. 

Lastly let me ask you…  Do you have a passion for property or a passion for making money?  Mine is the latter.

Good luck to you mate. 

Many investors are dyed in the wool property investors collecting a portfolio of positive or negative geared properties to fund retirement – hopefully earlier retirement if we choose well.

I am of a firm believer that the markets are cyclical having been through three cycles since I began my investment journey in 1989.  I hope that the younger readers might take some heed of what I have seen and be better placed to enjoy the next boom than I was for the last few.  If people tell you “That this time it is different” do not believe them.  It is never different!

The aim of this article is to compare the stock market to the property market.  I will be using Managed Funds as my example as they equate to a parcel of well selected stocks rather than individual stocks.  Individual stocks may not follow the actual market closely however if diversified into a pool of stocks we can use the effect of a boom to our advantage.

I am also writing for the “Buy and Hold” investor who collects assets and holds them for the long term believing that “time in” the market is easier than attempting to “Time” the market as a trader might.

Property Investors buy properties when the market is less buoyant, when it is a buyers market – as I suspect we are at in today’s cycle.  The majority buy when they are confident of the market.  They are confident because all their friends and the media claim the market is hot and profits are being made.  Some will make profits but many will time it wrong, buy at the peak and watch their investment stagnate or fall.  Fortunately for some, they will not realise any loss unless they attempt to sell.  As the property market is less liquid many people prefer to buy and hold – in this respect time will heal most poor decisions.

The seasoned investor will buy when demand is low.  He will have his choice of the market and will be able to buy when he feels a vendor is motivated to accept his lower offer.  He will hold his property for the medium to long term and either let time increase his value and/or he will add value in a number of ways such as renovations, development, subdivision etc.

Why hold all your assets in one class with just the one boom every 7-11 years?

I propose that we can treat the stock market in much the same way.  Buying on weakness and allowing time to add value to our portfolio.  Unfortunately there is little we can do to add value ourselves.

Imagine buying a $200K managed fund as opposed to buying a $200K property.  We have exposure to a different market cycle which means that we can be buying in either market on the downturns of the cycle and thus extending the “buying season”.

One can gear into the equity market much like properties.  Although the interest rate is fractionally higher (8ish% as opposed to 7ish% currently) it is actually a far easier loan to get with lending being assessed on the stock or fund being purchased and the deposit raised.  Your income is not assessed.

Thus with a stock “rated” at 70% as most blue chips are, for every $30K you have you may buy $100K worth of stock or managed funds.   This compares favourably to the 20% – 80% ratio of non LMI property lending.  Buying costs are lower with the abolition of stamp duty on stocks and agents fees can be reduced by using an online broker.

Going back to my earlier example – one can buy a $200K Managed Fund for no upfront fee, no mortgage application fee, no inspection fees, legal costs or stamp duty.  Normally with an IP one allows 5% to cover these costs.

Minimum deposit required is $60K.  Repayments are as for a LOC and a minimum might be around $1080 pm.  However this may be capitalised as long as the overall equity position remains under that specified for the fund.

Other advantages include ease of sale.  MF may be sold in approx 24 hours with low fees compared to a property being marketed with a 3% sales fee plus legal costs etc.

Whilst this may sound like I am comparing MF favourably to property I am not.  I am merely suggesting that one should seek to be able to buy in both markets. 

Management fees are less with the MF and there are no tenancy issues.  Although a property may provide a lucrative Depreciation Schedule one should also remember that Managed Fund distributions may have franking credits attached which also give taxation relief to the owner.  A franking credit is basically a tax credit that comes with the share to recognise that the company paying that dividend has already paid tax at the rate of 30% on its income.

One major advantage of property is that, with LMI, one may actually gear into it with as small as a 5% deposit.  The property is not revalued by the lender and as long as the borrower makes his repayments he can be assured of keeping the property.  However should one gear the maximum into equities then a fall in value could see the lender requesting further funds or selling part of the holding to address the imbalance to the equity position.  I personally choose to only gear to 50% to allow a large buffer before this might happen.  To my advantage is the liquidity which means that I can reduce my holdings when I suspect that the share market boom is at an end and have my portfolio at a healthier position in preparation for a buying season.

So perhaps a portfolio can have several properties and then several holdings in Managed Funds or Blue Chip shares.

I have not described Speculative shares here as I do not feel they can be likened to property.  There is certainly a place for them but only with amounts one can lose without stress to the financial situation.

Some fair points there and better reasons than it sounds like going to the races.

Investing and trading are worlds apart.  In fact I will just leave a quote here which I use to remind myself why I choose not to trade.

"The Stockmarket exists to move wealth from the impatient to the patient."

If you ever get the urge to do some learning on equities investing (not trading) I would encourage you to read the book Motivated Money by Peter Thornhill which can be bought online at http://www.motivatedmoney.com.au  he explains buy and hold investing far more eloquently than I.

Ciao,

If some one is trading shares it means they are buying and selling regularly to try and beat the ups and downs of the market, most Share investors are not share traders they do not use this stratergy they buy + Hold much like property investors only a very small amount of the total shares out there are traded regularly the rest sit locked up in super funds and private portfolios for years,

Secondly what the hell does an accounting degree have to do with stock broking,