Online Share Trading

[Dr Who]

My biggest blunder like that this year was Aspen, when it got to 180 i thought i had missed the boat. Now look at it.

 

[creeper]

I have Afrimat on my wishlist. It is still in my parameters for deciding to buy or not

 

[Gaz{M}]

Hindsight is always 20/20.

You never remember the stocks that 'looked good' that turned out bad.

 

[saturnz]

or you can trade using derivatives on the gt247 platform

much cheaper than trade in the underlying share

 

[Markd]

Hindsight is always 20/20.

You never remember the stocks that 'looked good' that turned out bad.

you do if you bought them......trust me on that, lol.

 

[Gnarls]

I was with standard bank some time ago but purely to get access to the free courses. Mostly I use to invest passively with etfs and I made quite a bit with Absa's Newgold but all my cash has gone into paying university fees. As I'm finishing up at the end of this year I'm thinking I might just get back into it when I have a job again. I'm currently still paper trading but last year I think I made 35%.

My biggest winners thus far were, Mr Price, Pinnacle, Famous Brands and Distell. My next mission is to figure out covered calls. Does anyone know if you can do this with Standard Bank?

Cheers

 

[HavocXphere]

Ideally, you need around 16-20 shares in a portfolio to spread your risk.

I'd agree with the overall approach. A bit of commentary if I may though:

While there is a range of claims out there regarding how many shares you need to diversify. Depending on which market & timeframe the study in question was considered they got different results. On top of that the number of shares is misleading because the benefit obtained diminishes the more you buy. So *technically* any guidance would have to be linked to the fee structure used.

All of which is way too much hassle - so the Tuks lecturers suggested as a rule of thumb: ~11 you can get away with, 20 you're already wasting your time. I never actually checked up on those numbers - but the lecturer in question was rarely wrong about anything. This of course assumes you can find 11 shares you like - easier said than done.

So you are looking at R160k - R200k.

Thats assuming a very unfavourable fee structure. e.g. I pay around 1.25% for everything iirc (0.75 on buy, 0.5 on sell) - the only fixed component being the 10 bucks cap on the STRATE fee.

Crunch those numbers and it'll probably be viable to do 16 shares at say 40k instead of your 160k. [*]

More crucially though, having a portfolio that is viable at 40k means you enter the market earlier & make you early stupid mistakes before serious money is involve.

* In the interest of full disclosure I should probably add that I'm paying a fixed monthly banking fee. That as the economists would say is a irrelevant cost since I'm paying it anyway. (or was it sunk - my theory is failing me here - don't think future costs can be sunk costs ).

 

[Jehosefat]

I'd agree with the overall approach. A bit of commentary if I may though:

While there is a range of claims out there regarding how many shares you need to diversify. Depending on which market & timeframe the study in question was considered they got different results. On top of that the number of shares is misleading because the benefit obtained diminishes the more you buy. So *technically* any guidance would have to be linked to the fee structure used.

All of which is way too much hassle - so the Tuks lecturers suggested as a rule of thumb: ~11 you can get away with, 20 you're already wasting your time. I never actually checked up on those numbers - but the lecturer in question was rarely wrong about anything. This of course assumes you can find 11 shares you like - easier said than done.

Even then, if all 11 shares are in mines for example you haven't really diversified your risk much.

 

[Gnarls]

^You'd be really silly then.

 

[Jehosefat]

No disagreement, I'm just saying that diversification is about more than just holding multiple shares.

 

[borga]

I currently use the investec platform as I bank with them and it works well. Does anyone know if you can invest in ETF's on this platform?

I also bank with invested and trade on the investec platform. You can invest in EFT, Satrix Div and Satrix Rafi currently forms part of my portfolio, also had Satrix Top 40 a while back.

Just click on search, remove all filters and filter for Exchange Traded Funds, there seems to be about 40 that you can invest in.

 

[czc]

Can you invest in Satrix from Standardbank Online sare trading?

 

[HavocXphere]

Even then, if all 11 shares are in mines for example you haven't really diversified your risk much.

I had kinda assumed that was obvious, but yes you are of course right.

Technically you'd need to look at correlations in historic prices too in addition to spreading it across sectors though. e.g. You might have two companies focusing on luxury goods in different sectors. Chances are their movements will correlate somewhat despite different sectors because the target audience is the same.

Can you invest in Satrix from Standardbank Online sare trading?

Don't know, but I'd assume so. Try searching for "STX40" or "satrix".

 

[patrick]

Can you invest in Satrix from Standardbank Online sare trading?

Yes. Any ETF in fact, hence the name exchange traded fund

 

[Gnarls]

By how much do you think you'd increase your profits on let's say, the Satrix 40, by just buying the dips in an uptrend?

 

[HavocXphere]

By how much do you think you'd increase your profits on let's say, the Satrix 40, by just buying the dips in an uptrend?

Depends on how well you time it. Generally trying to time the market is a risky proposition though, because it essentially means you're going against the trend (short term trend in this case).

I essentially do the same but with individual stocks. It kinda works, but luck plays a decent sized role in that.

In the case of Satrix I'd also be a bit concerned about the level of volatility. Timing the smaller dips means you can't stay in the position for long, so you need volatility to cover the 1.5% transaction fees hit fast enough.

 

[Gnarls]

I'm not sure we're on the same page here. What I'm thinking of doing is just buying the dips. Have a look at the following chart I made on fin24's website.

http://i.imgur.com/gbsX32p.jpg

I'd pretty much only buy when the price is close to the 50 day ma. I wouldn't sell at the top though. Although, IIRC, eftsa charge you a minimal fee. I've only just started looking at technical analysis so any and all help is much appreciated.

Cheers