SteveR Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 You did well to make anything from Woolies, that was bloody risky! Howdens, as a company whos performance will have strong ties to housebuilding activities - again, like you say - much more luck than judgement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 You did well to make anything from Woolies, that was bloody risky! Howdens, as a company whos performance will have strong ties to housebuilding activities - again, like you say - much more luck than judgement. Howden's share's were based on the fact that we've just gone through the 'busy' period in work where they couldn't make enough units, worktops, etc. The operators went from 25/5 working to 24/7. Wollies shares were based on absolutely nothing at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Wollies shares were based on absolutely nothing at all They are £100M in debt, their new (of 2 months) MD - brought in to save them - says they are in awful shape. As a result, the company which has 800 stores. has been valued at £1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/19/woolworths-highstreetretailers Woolworths - which is famous for its pick 'n' mix - is believed to be in discussions with restructuring firm Hilco to sell its 800-store chain for a nominal £1. The shares lost nearly a third of their value on the news, falling 1.23p to 2.58p, after being suspended briefly before the announcement. You were damn lucky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 They are £100M in debt, their new (of 2 months) MD - brought in to save them - says they are in awful shape. As a result, the company which has 800 stores. has been valued at £1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/19/woolworths-highstreetretailers You were damn lucky! I call it a 6th sense I sold them only a week'ish after buying them, kind of reailsed it was a risky one. Still, if you don't take risks, you don't make money or loose money as it normally is for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 6th sense my ass. I've got some shares, but I know about the companies I've invested in. There is calculated risk, and there is going in blind. I shall be doing more spreadbetting in future though, it's more cost effective for the smallish numbers I'm willing to gamble with, and more flexible as I can make money out of companies I think will perform badly rather than just thaose that will perform well. (And in this climate...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkR Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 http://www.moneysupermarket.com/shares/ I made good money (23% in 1 month) by buying shares in the company that made the 3g chips for the new iPhone. I saw the driver name listed in the Beta iPhone software before it was released and bought loads. Just before the launch I sold them at 23% profit... That's doing your home work...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozz Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 I use Barclays online stockbrokers (part of Barclays Wealth). If you trade very infrequently the trades cost £12.95. I think III looks better and is a little cheaper, but you have to wait for activation stuff through the post whereas Barclays let you credit the account from a debit card and trade right away. I looked at Barclays, not recommended if you trade infrequently as they charge £12 a quarter if your account is inactive (no trades). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl0s Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 RBS looks like a cheap buy at 45p, but then I said that when they were at 70-odd P 61p now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Walker Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 61p now! Did you buy any? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl0s Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Did you buy any? Yeah I have 761 shares at 79.9p each They're 62.5 now though. I'm only 18% down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl0s Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 I looked at Barclays, not recommended if you trade infrequently as they charge £12 a quarter if your account is inactive (no trades). Hmm. I must have missed that. Bugger. I'll read the fine print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 My Mum had £40,000 worth of Barclays shares at the start of the year... They were worth £26,000 last month... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl0s Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Closed at 64p today, that a 58% gain if you bought at 41p two week ago ! I have a feeling they'll be up and down just the same in the immediate future though, although it'd be nice if they grew steadily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 Dragging up an old thread Anyone here used Simply Stock Broking, they have a low fee of £8 and a nice looking iPhone app for mobile trading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 http://www.simplystockbroking.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozz Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 I use http://www.h-l.co.uk, easy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 I am wondering if a stocks and shares ISA account would be best as it's tax free, anyone here have any experience with such account? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 I ended up with Interactive Investors, http://www.iii.co.uk They have a flat rate £10 trade fee on their trading and ISA Investment accounts, and no monthly subs. Website is okay-ish, bit slow at times, not the best UI but it's always been available. As a package the whole offering is very good. I set up an ISA account as well. You can trade any old FTSE type shares in them but only a limited amountof AIM stocks, they have to be dual listed, i.e. be on AIM and another exchange as well. I like AIM stocks as they are more exciting The way an investment ISA works is this: You put money into it, and that comes off your yearly ISA allowance. I think it's 10k at the moment, so if you put in 5k you could only pay in another 5k after that during that financial year. You then buy shares with your 5k. If you are fortunate, they go up in value. You can then sell them, but the money you get from selling them stays within the ISA investment account, so you can then use it to buy more shares, or you can take it out or any combination of the two. Using money within the account to buy shares has no bearing on your yearly allowance. Taking money out doesn't either, and it's not subject to any capital gains tax. So you could pay in 5 grand, do some blinding wheeling and dealing and end up with 20 grand of shares, sell the lot, take ten grand out, reinvest the remaining ten, and still have 5 grand of ISA allowance available. What you can't do is then put the 10k you took out back in. Once it's out, it's out - you use up your allowance to put anything back in. Hope that helps. My ISA shares are stinking at the moment haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Great info cheers Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagman Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Probably not the wisest time for seculating/investing , more finding the safest haven In the 1930 crash ,most money was lost by those who thought the market was at bottom an bought- only for it to drop further Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 The markets/units do seem very volatile at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 The markets/units do seem very volatile at the moment. Exactly, perfect time to buy If you only use money you can afford to lose, and write it off as lost forever the moment you invest it, the you should be OK. I have heard horror stories where people do dumbass things like borrow against credit cards to buy shares in a "sure thing". That's probably not a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkR Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 I use www.h-l.co.uk, easy to use. Me too... I am wondering if a stocks and shares ISA account would be best as it's tax free, anyone here have any experience with such account? I do this. I use H-L.co.uk for this too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 More great info Currently looking at a stocks/shares ISA from Simply Stock Broking, seems crazy not to use the tax free allowance plus Simply only charge £8 per trade and have a nice iPhone app. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Currently looking at a stocks/shares ISA from Simply Stock Broking, seems crazy not to use the tax free allowance plus Simply only charge £8 per trade and have a nice iPhone app. Seems like a good deal, probably one of the cheapest on the market. Let us know what you think of their platform if you take an account with them. I am wondering if a stocks and shares ISA account would be best as it's tax free, anyone here have any experience with such account? There's a saying you may have heard of: "Don't let the tax tail wag the investment dog". In other words, don't invest just because something is ISA-able. If you would have invested in it anyway then wrapping it in an ISA may give you some icing on the cake (if your shares go up and your total gains (not just in your ISA, but all your capital gains) put you within Capital Gains Tax territory), and if you choose a provider such as Simply who don't charge an ISA admin fee then you've got nothing to lose by using an ISA wrapper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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