Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY WAS

**Broken Arrow** · 11-24-2006, 10:46 AM

Re: Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY WAS

I think there are plenty of low-yield investments that are as much of a "sure thing" as one can reasonably expect.

That's not what you're looking for though, is it?

**vishenda** · 11-24-2006, 11:06 AM

Re: Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY WAS

I dont know with you but for me investments that are "A sure thing" don't exist, there is always some risk involved.

**Broken Arrow** · 11-24-2006, 02:35 PM

Re: Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY WAS

I agree that there is literally no such thing as a sure thing, and anyone who says those words should be met with a healthy dose of skepticism.

However, I was implying putting money in your savings account for example. Low-yield, but too not many banks default, and it's FDIC insured (in the US). Or gold.

I guess that's what I meant about being as close to a sure thing as one can reasonably expect.

**creditcardfree** · 11-25-2006, 07:42 AM

Re: Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY WAS

I reduced the amount of interest on my debt by making extra payments and paying it off early. That is a sure thing. Not the same as a investment...but a sure thing.

**Joan.of.the.Arch** · 11-25-2006, 10:07 AM

Re: Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY

Nobody I know uses trite phrases like "sure thing" in reference to investments. It sounds like the vocabulary of a charicature used car salesman type personality. If they did say "sure thing" and were not joking or speaking almost metaphorically, I would think that either they were stupid or were hoping I was stupid, and they'd be discredited in my mind anyway.

**Broken Arrow** · 11-25-2006, 05:35 PM

Re: Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY WAS

Originally posted by creditcardfree

I reduced the amount of interest on my debt by making extra payments and paying it off early. That is a sure thing. Not the same as a investment...but a sure thing.

Oh, I fully believe that paying off debts is a form of investment. After all, what matters most at the end of the day is how much money you can put into your pocket, right? Reducing debt can help us do that as well.

Not only that, but I would also consider this as a better example of a "sure thing" than my original example. If anything, the only question is whether or not reducing certain debts will yield a greater return than more traditional types of investing....

Having said that, I don't consider any type of investments as, quite literally, a "sure thing". Although, come to think of it, I HAVE heard of certain investments that have been promoted as such. They are largely from pyramid-type MLMs and basically people who wanted to sell me something.

**BEVO** · 11-25-2006, 07:47 PM

Re: Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY WAS

yup, a few years ago. williams - natural gas co. based in oklahoma - was in severe straits. stock price plummeted from about $19/share to $1. i was told to buy - that there was no way the company would go into bankruptcy. i didn't buy but the market bought up shares. i think it's at $14/share right now.

**JBinKC** · 11-26-2006, 09:50 AM

Re: Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY

Actually Williams (ticker WMB) is now is $26 and change and yes it was a good buy back then. It was the only large company stock that got hammered in the 2000 crash that I happened to like ( I generally favor smaller caps). The company always had consistent cash flow and that usually is a good sign for it to survive. I bought some shares at around $1.50 and sold it at around $12 a couple of years later.

Nothing is a sure thing but you sure can lower your risk by thorough financial analysis of a company and diversification.

**BEVO** · 11-27-2006, 09:22 PM

Re: Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY

thanks for making me feel even better jbinkc!

the reason why i didn't invest was that williams was a client of mine - highly frowned upon by my firm. anyway, back then, i was waiting for my next pay check so i could blow it away. much smarter now.

Have you ever been told of a "SURE THING" in investing,and discovered it ACTUALLY WAS