Father's investment

[Westside]

I'm an amature when it comes to stocks, but father claims to be able to make a ton if given the startup money. He invested 100 stocks in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) at $120.00 per stock. Recently it's been going up and doing well. However, I think that relying on stocks to make money is completely stupid. My math teacher tells me it's all wishful thinking... How would I convince the old timer that buying stocks is not the way out in life?

 

[Costello]

Well you know, a lot of people actually live off stock profit.
Your father isn't totally wrong about it, I think.
I completely hate this system because of what it involves, but you gotta face it: it does work... sometimes. That's the problem. It can be so unreliable.
I wouldn't count on it for a living but I'm no expert.

 

[Little]

It's all about risk. The stocks are quite high risk, but also high reward. Just think that let's say apple release a new product that sells shit loads, and the shares go up by $10 each. He's made $1000 pretty much over night. You'd be looking at around 2/3 years of having $12,000 in the bank at 5% interest before you get similar return.

 

[FAST6191]

Apple doing well?: since this year started it has tanked losing nearly 80 points (when it started out a literal fraction under 200) although it is clawing back some stuff slowly.
http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&...p;q=NASDAQ:AAPL

The only safe way to make money in stocks is to go the other side of the law but still that does not help here.

I would suggest you try and shift it to another form of investment like the forex (currency and fairly easy to follow although it is quite high risk) or something that makes sense to him: technology (referring to apple here) is all well and good but it helps to know what is what (you know your dad better than I here).
Likewise materials/metals: more exotic than steel perhaps but nothing precious might be an idea: there are but a handful of mines, mills and processing plants the world over.

This being said I am frequently amazed by the stupidity of people (I will spare examples and probably a flame war) and sometimes I am pleasantly surprised as well (PC World parent company getting kicked out of the FTSE 100: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/12/1...e_100_drop_out/ for those unaware PC world is a joke of a computer shop posing a superstore yet it still had more than one customer) and so despite my being reasonably clued up in the area it could still go wrong.

 

[Westside]

Apple doing well?: since this year started it has tanked losing nearly 80 points (when it started out a literal fraction under 200) although it is clawing back some stuff slowly.
http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&...p;q=NASDAQ:AAPL

The only safe way to make money in stocks is to go the other side of the law but still that does not help here.

I would suggest you try and shift it to another form of investment like the forex (currency and fairly easy to follow although it is quite high risk) or something that makes sense to him: technology (referring to apple here) is all well and good but it helps to know what is what (you know your dad better than I here).
Likewise materials/metals: more exotic than steel perhaps but nothing precious might be an idea: there are but a handful of mines, mills and processing plants the world over.

This being said I am frequently amazed by the stupidity of people (I will spare examples and probably a flame war) and sometimes I am pleasantly surprised as well (PC World parent company getting kicked out of the FTSE 100: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/12/1...e_100_drop_out/ for those unaware PC world is a joke of a computer shop posing a superstore yet it still had more than one customer) and so despite my being reasonably clued up in the area it could still go wrong.

I understand and as I said, I am completely against stocks. The problem I'm having is that I have a hard time convincing this man to quit on stocks as he still sees me as a child and laugh off my explanations, and it is true, I know nothing about the market so my suggestion would seem twice as unreliable. He was especially cocky after apple rose to 127 after he bought it, and that was within 3 days that it rose $7. I know this trend is not likely to continue.

 

[silverspoon]

.

 

[Mangofett]

What will make him stop is when the stocks start falling.

 

[JPH]

Reminds me of the time my friends dad said he almost invested in Google...man, they'd be rich as hell.

I'd suggest that your father gets a financial adviser...

 

[Westside]

Reminds me of the time my friends dad said he almost invested in Google...man, they'd be rich as hell.

I'd suggest that your father gets a financial adviser...

Lol, ever penny this man has is going to Apple.

"No dinner for you tonight son! We're buying more apples!"

A psychiatrist might be a better choice.

 

[Ice Cold]

Your father is kind of smart that he'd invest in Apple stocks, since they generally do pretty well, but stocks are just like gambling. As someone else said, Apple dropped quite a bit this year. It really depends on if Lady Luck is on your side. Yes, the money works for you, but making a living off stocks is very risky and unreliable. It looks like your dad is spending big bucks if he bought 100 shares at $120 a piece. If he's just beginning, I'd recommend he test the waters first by not investing so much rather than plunge head first. Another thing he could do is follow all the stock gurus who prosper and know what they're doing. Chances are your father just started and really doesn't know much about the stocks. I suggest your dad studies up before he makes a move.

 

[PapiChulo]

Your father, like most people, thinks the stock market is a big bucket where everyone puts in $1 (or 1 CAD as it were) and then everyone takes out 2 $. That's not how it works, somebody has to lose. And that's most people. There are professional players who can stack the deck against amateurs. Not only that, but with the world markets in turmoil over the US credit crunch, look for equities to fall in a big way.

 

[PapiChulo]

"Anyone with a view of less than 5 years putting his/her money in the stock markets is purely gambling"

Silverspoon

If you'd have bought US DOW index five yours ago, you would have lost even with the nominal gains net inflation, brokers fees and capital gains taxes.

The point being "invest for the long term" isn't necessarily any more of a winning play than "gambling".

 

[Westside]

Sorry to bump such an old topic, but apple stocks are up, my father is getting really cocky...

 

[matriculated]

If anything, Apple is low-risk nowadays. They only came close to shutting down in the late 90's when Steve Jobs was outed (out of the company, not the closet).

 

[PBC]

Horror stories outnumber the get rich quick stories by 100-1 if not more. Maybe you should go out and buy a 100 lottery tickets and then see what his reaction to that is. Then kindly remind him when he gets pissed that he is doing the same exact thing by investing all his money in stocks.

The people who make the most money in stock markets are the illegal inside traders who get their information directly from the company and turn around and use it to bail out (if bad) or horde up (if good) before the common man, your father, gets any knowledge at all.

Even if apple is considered low-risk, they are also low-gain and don't seem to be picking up steam by any means.

You have to understand that your father will be slow to admit mistakes and probably won't concede to his son on what he thinks is a grown-up decision.

 

[dsbomb]

Investing in one stock is quite risky. Diversifying across a large number of stocks is safest. Invest in an index fund like the S&P 500, and you'll come out ahead in the long term. Five years ago, S&P was 900, now it's 1400, up 55%. You won't get Hillary's sort of profits, but it's dependable.

 

[gizmo_gal]

My dad bought some stocks. He couldn't afford the ones that he wanted several years ago but everynow and then he gets a little something from them. If we relied on them even 10% of the time though, we'd be broke and would sink back below the poverty line.

If your dad has the money to invest so much in apple, then I take it you'll are mildly wealthy (Congrats, lucky if you are) and that you'll arent 50% or more dependant upon the success of those stocks, but if you are I wish you'll the very best of luck.

I doubt theres anything we, a punch of "punk kids" and "tech obsessed teens" could tell him about his spending habits. I say put away some money and then have faith in daddy.

 

[Anakir]

Stocks remind me of the movie Pursuit of Happyness. True story about some guy that became homeless with his son and then became a multi millionaire from stocks. Stuff like that is extremely rare though. Stock should probably be a plan B kind of thing, unless your dad really knows what he's doing.. which doesn't seem like it so far since investing on one stock doesn't seem that great in my opinion.

On a side note, 50 cent (rapper) invested in vitamin drinks and got millions off it as well.

 

[Harsky]

My mum once bought shares in Northern Rock after the whole, "LOL WE NEED MORE MONIES" crisis.

I think she made a little money out of it but like everyone said, it's not exactly the sort of thing you'd rely on for income.

 

[Westside]

I had a good talk with my dad and he seems to know his limits. He told me about a friend of his who relied on making a living out of stocks. This man would wake up, get dressed into his expensive suit, puts on his tie combs his hair, kisses his wife goodbye and then go into his second bedroom to watch stocks on his computers. He actually made it seem like a job. My father would call him and he would say he is currently busy doing a lot of work in Bay street, then his wife would shout: "Don't listen to this fool! He is talking to you in the bathroom while taking a shit right now." This man made stocks seem like such an amazing thing, but he ended up losing about $80,000. That's life.