Self Stock Portfolio

[thomsoad]

I am currently about to start stock investing outside of my Roth and 401K. I would like to start picking and choosing my own stock portfolio (15-20 stock portfolio). I will be putting in $750 a month and wondering for those who do Value/Contrarian Investing .... Do you buy every month or keep it in the account for six months or even a year then buy with the all the money you put into the account during that time?. Also I get 100 commission free trades a year so commision fees are NOT an issue.

[bjl584]

I approach this two way.

I have a set amount of money that I use to buy into various mutual funds each month.

I also have a set amount of money that I put into a cash account that I use to purchase individual stocks. Sometimes I buy companies often, but sometimes it may be several months before I purchase something. But, I always have a cash account available should an opportunity arise. When I buy a stock depends on what is going on with the market, what is going on with the company, how much research I have done, etc. There really is no set rule. I just make sure I always have money on hand for the purpose of buying.

[thomsoad]

The set amount is pretty much what my 401K is all about. I get what you are saying regarding no set way but got an additional question for you.

When you say you always wait for opportunities to present themselves... do you use all the money you have in the account to "pounce" on that opportunity at that point in time or do you always hold a rough % back?

[bjl584]

No real set rule there either. It really depends on the individual security as to how much I buy and how long I plan on holding it. I usually buy stock in blocks of 100 shares, so I make sure to keep enough cash on hand with that in mind. I usually try to not let my cash reserves drop below $5000 though. This fund is not my Emergency Fund. That is seperate. The cash account that I am referencing is for investing in stocks only.

[Hector]

For fun money,
I like the excitement of picking individual stocks. It is also fun to try market timing with fun money. So I dont buy every month, I try to time the market.

[snafu]

When I started, I put sums like your $700. a month into a low cost Index fund until there was sufficient sums to buy my 1st three stocks and keep that cycle going. I use the time to research stocks trying to find one 10 bagger for each 10 stocks bought. For example, I bought a 'penny stock' gold company a few years ago and it's morphed into a mid player. Bought BOA around $5. last year and expect it will rebound to it's pre crash highs. It's really important to know something about the principals and/or the business before buying individual stocks. ETFs like VWO-N in the Emerging mkts. has huge potential in this shrinking globe.

[jpg7n16]

If you're going to be selecting individual stocks, I'd highly recommend watching this video:

Warren Buffett MBA Talk

It's right at 1.5 hours, and worth every minute. At least you may learn a thing or two to help select a few of those stocks.

[bjl584]

For fun money,
I like the excitement of picking individual stocks. It is also fun to try market timing with fun money. So I dont buy every month, I try to time the market.

You probably can't time the market per say, but you can make intelligent stock and investment picks based on current market conditions. That's pretty much how I do it.

[MrPolarZero]

Hey, those are good numbers that you got there. In my case, it often depends on the situation whether I make the purchase or not.