I have $1100: What Should I Do?

[Aleta]

I have been checking out books from the library and if I think they are worth buying, I buy them from Amazon - Used. I can't believe the condition. Some are in mint condition.

[InDebtInDC]

How about just putting it somewhere that's quickly accessible in case you need it education-related purposes?

You're not really supposed to use financial aid grants to invest. You're supposed to return it if you don't need it for school.

You may want to check into that before going overboard with it.

[autoxer]

I asked the forum about what they thought of purchasing apple in june, mainly because the iphone was about to go on sale. everyone said dont do it, the price already reflects the iphone, etc etc. well i did what one person suggested and went with my gut. I bought 86 shares of apple at 115. One month later it went up to 145. Did you sell and lock in your gains when they were up to 145? I made 2580 (before taxes) without breaking a sweat. Did you have to pay any commissions or trading fees? Of course its lower now but i would suggest still invest If you didn't sell, then you didn't make 2580. If you did sell your shares, then why would you recommend to someone else to buy? because later this year the new operating system (leapord) comes out, which is supposed to be revolutionary. What if the new system is a flop? It doesn't look much different than the current OS. Not to mention the sales of the iphones will surely take off and reach 1 million before the end of the year. or simply because apple is an amazingly reliable company that continuously outdoes itself. What if apple is too stubborn/greedy to let one of the good cellular networks use the iphone and they don't reach their sales figures? What will happen to their profit if they slash the iphone's price and eliminate one model?

now if your looking for investment in the stock market, go with apple.

I'm sorry if I'm coming across so negative, but stock picking like that is not much different from gambling. Three quarters of all the professional stock pickers (mutual fund managers) can't beat the market consistently.