What do you know about the stock market?

Not much. I don't do any trading. What little I do know is that the risks are greater than most other investment vehicles.

I think if you have stock in a company, and someone happens to blurt out information that you never asked for, and you sell or buy based on this unexpected information, that shouldn't be considered 'insider trading.' You couldn't control the fact that someone told you, and you can't hardly blame a person for making a wise decision based on it.

If someone knew one of the companies I have stocks in was going to do something newsworthy, and told me about it before it hit the newspapers, I might buy or sell based on it.

Or you can abstain by clicking the button that says "abstain."

I don't know tons about the stock market, but I guess I sort of generally know how it works--buying and selling mainly, is my understanding. How buying and selling work I'm a little more vague on. And there are certainly plenty of intricacies of the stock market that I know nothing about. And I think insider trading is bad.

I don't really know much about the stock market....all I've ever done as far as stocks go is a 401 (k) that I had once.

Close to nothing.

I know too much about the stock market to try to write it all down here, but I don't know that much. I know just enough to get myself in trouble...
I've worked at companies where I was blacked-out for periods (wasn't allowed to sell my stock in that company) due to insider information issues. I recall we got a big lecture about it from a broker and a lawyer at the time. They scared me pretty good.
Certainly "insider trading" is a serious issue and it's good that we have laws and enforcement to protect against it. It's good that we make a public show of prosecuting people for violations as well.
I'm not happy about the Martha Stewart case because I think it may be more about our society attacking a successful woman than it is about her being a criminal. It makes me a little sick when we seem to get joy out of bringing down successful people.

Not much.

I know a lot about the stock market. The whole issue of insider trading has very strict rules and the definition of who is an insider and what constitutes as inside information are very clear. I intend to come back and address this further but right now it's too early and I'm barely into my first cup of coffee.

I will, however, offer this bit of wisdom that concerns the stock markets in general: Any time someone (who is not an insider) tells you they have a "hot tip", 99% of the time the market has already reacted to it and the price has adjusted itself accordingly. Rarely will you hear a hot tip that isn't already old news.
Secondly, to potential investors: When buying individual stocks on the stock market, don't invest more money than you are willing to lose completely. This is because there are so many different industry groups that are all susceptible to risk at one time or another and if you don't have a balanced portfolio you expose yourself to the cyclical nature of the markets. There is so much more to this issue that I can't go into here, but just know that nothing is certain. I stick with mutual funds so that there is a good balance. There might be a thousand companies whose stock is held in one mutual fund so if the financial industry is in a down curve, the biotechnology (for example) may be on an upward swing so that picks up the slack. There isn't much variation in the price of a good mutual fund. Slow and steady wins the race when investing for the future. And pick a good, ethical broker who has your interests in mind, not his own.
More later

I myself don't know a lot, but a friend of mine is a broker and makes his living playing the stock market. I do know he has done well for me.

I know just a narrow segment of the market based on the few assets that I have. I keep my portfolio "safe" with long-term, slow growth funds. I know that I don't know how or where to shift monies to should I be so inclined to move into a higher risk sector. I also know that there are plenty of personal investment advisors, who are much more versed in the market than I am, who can help should I need some. I used a personal investment advisor with my initial investments.

My broker buys and sells a lot of high risk deals for me and has always done good for me. I then take some of what I made doing that and put it into what you called slow growth/low risk funds or stocks. He calls me about every couple weeks to let me know what's going on and ask me questions on what I really want to do. I usually tell him to do what you think is best, or do what you'd do.

What do you want to know? I think I know more about the topic than I could be bothered to detail here.

Insider trading is pretty common practice. It isn't the sort of thing that the police spend a lot of time investigating or worrying about. Even when someone is charged with it, it is often difficult to get a conviction. You only ever seem to hear about it when the accused is someone famous.

Don't know anything about the stock market. Sounds really boring to me, and quite risky.

It's really great that you have found an advisor who you trust so much, and who can work with you like that. Here's my story....and I think you'll be grateful for your advisor.
After the fact, I found out that the advisor I used (many years ago, at this point) relied on getting high to make his financial decisions. He had lost a ton of money which belonged to friends and family. Then, after his services were no longer needed, he continued to shift my money around from fund to fund (he was listed as my advisor with one of my funds) without any consent from me, even AFTER I asked him not to touch anything without my consent. Well, I let this go on for about a year ( because he WAS making me money, but I was always so nervous about his motives and intentions) and then I called the fund and informed them that he wasn't my advisor anymore. Ever since, my dough's just been sitting where it was left, and, I don't have a comfort level with choosing someone out of the phone book to help me!!!!!!!!

OK. I pick stuff based on little things I know about it. We bought Ballard a long time ago, before it got big. In 'pretend' stock picking for a class, I picked one based on a product they were going to release, and I made more than everyone in the class. that was fun.

Nothing

I understand your concern on picking someone. I think you just have to go with your gut.
I've known this guy for a lot of years and he pretty much has free reign on it. I've already made my initial investment back 3 times over so it wouldn't hurt me to lose it. That's why I let him do the high risk moves whatever they might be.
Is your moneys still making money?

Yes, some funds better than others. Obviouslly, all was hit at 911, and some have come back plus some, others are still s l o w l y lingering........................
It IS my intention to find someone to help me with this. It is just one of those things I've been putting off!

I don't know too much about the stock market. Martha Stewart should have just told the feds the truth in the first place. She was involved in "insider training"

My particular niche at work is the use of mathematical models to determine why particular investment strategies helped or hurt the performance of a portfolio. That said, I have very little practical experience in how stocks are actually bought and sold. Insider trading is evil.

I know absolutely nothing about it.

I've never been comfortable with using an investment adviser. I used to have a more high-risk approach, using a scheme with individual small cap stocks, but when the bubble burst, and we lost a lot, I realized I couldn't handle the risk.

I am currently using the very simple, basic, conservative strategy outlined in this book:
Straight Talk on Investing: What You Need to Know by Jack Brennan

Basically, I invest in a handful of index funds that have the no load and the lowest possible expense ratio on them giving me a balanced and diversified portfolio. I don't "play" individual stocks or even special funds (that target areas or are run by hot managers). I ignore all advice, tips, and schemes. The only thing I'm betting on is the market as a whole doing about what it has done on average since its existence (something like 8% per year). I also have long term plans to shift money from stocks to bonds as we get closer to retirement.

We actually had a great year in 2003, something like 30% gains... from these index funds. Which is nice considering all we lost in previous years. But, I'm not expecting that to continue either.

You got 30% gain off a blend of *index* funds? You are a genius.

Thanks Enheduanna! I just noticed this as I came aboard this survey!

It's funny how you can get so used to doing it one way that you never even notice the other option right there! I do that all the time!

Right on! That is great advice! We've discovered that brokers prefer to deal with people who are at least a little curious and take enough interest to check out what's there. My husband told our broker to invest in a certain fund that he had never heard of. He looked into it and told him that it sounded like a good choice (it turned out that it was!). Our broker suggested a few "duds" saying that they were safe... Brokers get solicited by many companies and do "plug" some that are really not that great but you don't have to go with what they say. It really isn't as complicated as it seems, especially with easy access through the internet. My husband has a great time updating our investments; he's created an Excell sheet to keep up with it so we always know what's up and he's always checking to see what's not moving so we can sell it and buy something better.

You're right about the "hot tips" ; it's always old news - by the time it's in the papers, just forget about it - You're too late!

Not much. I do know what inside trading means, however.

i know a minimal amount. i can discuss some things with our financial advisor and know what it is she is saying but if i knew more i wouldn't have a financial advisor i don't think........
i knew what insider trading was before the martha stewart fiasco and i know enough.

Well, it seems that I DO have a brain in my head LOL. I'm pretty quiet about my knowledge but I can say that my license to sell and buyt stocks and bonds probably indicates that I know a thing or two about the markets. If anyone has a question, pick my brain. G'head. I will help if I can. No question is too big or too small

Don't forget - Martha was went down with the famous "conspiracy" charge; next to impossible to disprove... To me, she did what every one of us would have done in the same situation! I understand the need for the law when the insiders own most of the stock and dump it all at once, it can really hurt the little guys who've invested in the same stock.

I'm afraid that I don't know enough about the stock market to propose a solution to this. If Stewart had a much more substantial amount of money at stake; I admit that I would look at this situation with a different eye but a measly 50 grand? That's a drop in the bucket for her...
But the law is the law! I hear echoing in the back. It might be a little easier to take such a charge in the US if they didn't have sentencing guides. I've read lately about some American judges grumbling about this, I don't blame them. What use is a judge if the judgement is already written in a guide?

Richard? Ah ben merde! I didn't know it was you! How did joalis know??

Same here. You're right about diversification - it's not a secret and it is a very wise thing to do. My brother-in-law lost a lot of money with Nortel, it was doing so well that he put too much in it; now he's sorry. It inched back up a little but I suspect something else is brewing over there. Watch the news, chances are another scandal is coming up.

You seem to be assuming that I actually know something about this story!

About the judges (it's a little long but is quite concise);
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/death/...

About Stewart (this too is quite drawn out but you can skip to the juicy parts);
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040322fa_fa...

After these, you can't claim that you don't know what I'm talking about. The thing about the judges is not making headline news - but Martha's name sure is!

I'll read them later...I promise.

Sure...

Okay, I tried. I made a valiant effort to read those links. They were mind-numbing! Martha Stewart means absolutely nothing to me. The only reason I know her name, is because I saw her on an episode of "Ellen" several years ago and I heard she had a TV show too...something to do with cooking I think...

She is an amazing self made woman.

She made herself? That IS amazing!

She's the diva of entertaining and decorating at home!

I bought a book of hers many years ago when she was quite unknown. I regretted it... It was a book about renovating an old home - I thought I might get some good ideas from it for myself. After glancing through it; I felt inadequate! Somehow, that pretty blond woman managed to make me feel like I wasn't part of the people who could do the kind of things that she could. She was way too perfect and obviously had a lot of money... I thought to myself, yeah right! I could have my wonderfully worn stairs, gilded in copper leaf, classic patterns that would just perfectly suit the period my house was built in... I could also have my house swarming with workers to do what I want, like I want!! She seemed so above the average person - it was unreal. Funny how her name has now become the Zeller's stores' best seller! (for the moment, anyway...) She stooped low enough to pick the pockets of the poor Zeller's shoppers by letting the store use her name to back average products! How kind of her...
Believe it or not, Stewart's name is what got Zeller's out of Chapter 11!
As Zeller's would say; "It's a good thing!" (just in case you don't know - that's Stewart's famous closing line to any great project she presents! A lot of high flouting BS if you ask me!) If I wanted to entertain up to her standards, I'd never have time to work so I'd have to be loaded!

What the heck was she doing on an "Ellen" show anyway?

She created an empire!

What's kinda funny he (my friend) seemed to make me as much money after 9-11 as he had anytime. I don't know what he bought into, but I bet it was something to do with weapons/bullet making or something of the sort.

You know, when I first started investing, everything I put my money into was "green". Man, talk about bad investment strategy! I've done much, much, better by simply investing in funds comprised of "main-stream" companies. The way I see it is, we are living in the US, in 2004. We are what we are....I DO know that some of my funds are tied in with defense. There's nothing wrong with that!
I need to find a broker like yours, though!!!

He is a great guy/friend. He does this stuff for his lving and as far as I know me and his sister are the only 2 people he does anything for.

There was a big recovery in the stock market in 2003. Our timing for getting into these indexes was very good.
NAESX (small cap index) 56% gainVEXMX (mid cap index) 54% gain VFINX (large cap index) 35% gain.

I think things were snapping back a bit at the time, 2001/2002 were big loss years for the market, and 99/00 were not so great either. You probably know all this...

Anyway, I think it's important to put the gains of other investments in the context of market indexes. If a fund failed to make 30% in 2003, then it really sucked, anthing under 50% for small caps is below average!

Yeah, it's also so much less stressful. I used to have about 12 companies stocks I owned and was tracking. I would even get their quarterly reports and run the numbers on them (tracking trends in things like accounts receivable and cash flow, looking for signs). But, the movement of those stocks did not correlate well with their numbers and random factors always came into play (like news or general sector or market trends). We had some big gains, but also losses and overall more losses than gains. The whole market was down, so it's not like I was easy to make money in the market around that time.
Though I'm not happy about losing a lot of money, I do think I learned a lot from it in a visceral and imprinting way. I learned my tolerance for risk is not as high as I had thought (psychologically I was counting on that money, so when we had losses it was very upsetting). I also learned that diversification and balance are essential. I also learned that I don't like the stress of buying and selling often and checking prices daily. These are all things I knew about before, but it took some experience before I was able to accept them and really believe them.

A good find!!

Don't worry about him. He's harmless. And, everybody knows that he and you are not the same person. I've talked to him on the phone and unless your voice sounds like a man's, then you are not him!

Be a good bunny and stop messing with ASB. She might decide to go hunting wabbits and, then, you'd be fudgeed!!!

Um, I didn't think about that. You're making this so hard for me!!!!!

You sound rather seasoned now... Wanna invest some money for me??
The only time we lost was after 9-11, it was a slow climb but we're ahead again. Who can predict such changes in the market? There's no amount of insider information that could help a situation like that... I wonder what will happen when (and if) Kerry is elected - will the market soar or will it bomb? My investments may be on my side of the border, but you know what they say; "When America catches a cold, Canada coughs!"

Yep! Joalis is a smart cookie!

It's best to stay focused on the long term, don't worry about things you can't control.

I don't mean this to be snitty, and I'm not expert on securities, but what I know about the stock market would take an essay to explain and I don't feel like it.

I think that even if Martha Stewart did what she was accused of, the amount of attention and resources the government spent on it was all out of proportion to the crime. She's been crucified... I feel very badly for her. Maybe Mel Gibson will do a movie about her...

Maybe Bush will pardon her as a ploy to be re-elected

I have the sense the Pom. knows well about index funds and the market; remember what he does for work...

I have a feeling she was already used as a smoke screen...

Someone was making a huge example of her for some reason. I really can't see her being that naive. She is a very smart woman and she is soooooooo RICH!! Why would she jeopardize everything she worked so hard for for that little money?

Oh and there is already a movie about her I saw it at the video store.

I can imagine that she might have thought she could get away with it. But she's suffered much, much more than the severity of the crime warrants, even if she is guilty.

I agree. I think she should have been fined and made to do some community service and maybe banned from the stock market for a certain period of time. Who is it that decides to waste all this money of ours?

indeed

"Long term" = key words for the stock market.

I know very little. I know that I can't afford to play.

I don't know dick

Nothing

not much, I have stocks at work but my boyfriend looks after them for me.

Jack Crap

The what market?

Nada.

Not much.