buy HSBC 005 now?

[discobay]

I just noticed my green blobs shrink down to an all-time low of 3 (apart from when I first started here all those years ago) so rather than take the guess work I've arbitrarily red blobbed participants just to show how pointless the system is.

[PDLM]

Not HSBC then - you'll probably need to go for a very high risk small cap rather than a blue chip and you're pretty much in pure gambling territory.

[discobay]

OK but if I want something long term then 5 is good to go?

[PDLM]

I would say so, yes. But for the long term you should aim to spread yourself a bit, both across different stocks and other asset classes entirely (bonds, property, etc).

[gilleshk]

I want 50%.

That's ridiculous... you might as well go to the casino or the horse races. Trying to pick a stock that will go up 50% with the market at this level is random and unlikely. That's certainly not the way to invest your money unless you are prepared to lose a lot.

Do some research, read what the houses are predicting for 12 months and be satisfied with a 10%-15% yearly + dividends. Spread your picks across different types of stocks and always keep some cash for the dips, corrections or crashes which is where you can make quick money if you have some balls.

I have doubled my money on a few good stocks I bought very low during the dark days last year(SHK and Wharf for example) but I certainly didn't have that expectation nor do I think I'll be that lucky in the next 12 months.

[discobay]

So you don't buy mark six tickets either. Why not just stay at home.

[gilleshk]

Never bought a lottery ticket in my life, I try to use my brain and I have no desire to make millions either

[discobay]

So you're giving out advice for us to make squat diddly.

[gilleshk]

Go right ahead and find your great stock that will give you a 50% return. It's a brilliant idea! In fact you should put all your money in it...

I'll stick to my piddly strategy that earns me 50-80K/month, that's enough peanuts for this monkey

[discobay]

If you had a brain you wouldn't need to out guess the stock market - you'd get a proper job. I do a 9 to 5 job and earn twice what your piddly strategy gives you with no worries when I knock off. But if you're happy with peanuts go fill yourself.