Anyone made money from shares?

I don’t have enough disposable income to dabble in shares but I still read the thread. Boredom perhaps?

Anyway my surprise was ‘oh Gabriella54 returned a couple of months back ... then noticed her post was 2019 - as were all these posts. A resurrected thread!
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I’m trawling through now looking for another thread to grab my interest (still swerving politics till the NY though I’m having to sit on my hands as I read them!)
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A very interesting discussion. mOnica gives some excellent advice.
I think the first thing to decide is whether you’re investing for profit or fun. If it’s the latter, follow mOnica’s advice. If it’s the former, you’re probably best off investing in an assortment of low cost tracker funds - a company called Vanguard do this well. If you’re with Hargreaves Lansdown, they have a number of cheap trackers run by Legal and General. Invest every month rather than in a lump sum to even out the impact of peaks and troughs on the market.

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yes. I did courses on TA, technical analysis, once had 3 computer graphs going at once. Doubled my husbands pension. I would say get the training first, be objective and decisive and never ever use it as a form of gambling. Women can make good share traders. I cut my teeth on ukx and indu and then went onto shares using TA, buying low and selling high. Not these days at my age, now responsably invested in gilts, which have all gone up 12%

Liaise, would you mind telling which Investment Trusts you have invested in?

Meant to mention that I'm in the U.S. ..

Do your banks offer a sign up bonus for opening savings and/or checking accounts?

Yes, I have a Halifax share dealing account and also invest in containers through a broker.
My losses are currently 44% lower than gains.

My pension has done very well over the last few years by being invested in a FTSE 100 tracker fund. I'm not brave enough to go for "emerging markets" etc. but having this degree of risk means I will be on target to retire in 2 years time.

My son buys and sells shares and there is money to be made but he studies the market.
You need to spend time managing whatever shares you have for it to be a success.

We've had the usual shares like the gas ones which we made money on over the years, have units in a bond which we still make about 3% on under an ISA umbrella.
I received ones from John Lewis when I worked for them but made no money on them at all when I sold them.
Some years ago hubby and I took advice on investing into shares, bought into different companies his as done well, mine I lost half my money.
Don't invest anything you can't afford to loose if you are not prepared to manage them yourself because management companies charge fees and these can be high.

When my husband retired he completed the training , and exams , to become an Independent Financial Adviser . The idea was not to work as an IFA but to gain knowledge about , and manage, our own finances. He has been successful in managing our own portfolio with an overall gain.

My advice to anyone contemplating dipping their toes into stocks and shares would be to read as much as you can about the companies you are thinking of investing in and be prepared to lose money as well as gain it.

Don't mention technology shares kitty!

I wouldn't ask a bank financial consultant for advice; if you can do your own research from various sources, only dabble what you can afford to lose and keep your main savings elsewhere in a safe place, then it could be interesting.
You could look at the AIM for inspiration.

If the markets plummet then that could be the time to invest but who knows when the bottom is reached? Tracker funds are boring but safer but if you want some excitement then picking your own would be better.

Even the sainted Hargreaves Lansdown have been known to get it wrong!

It 's all a gamble.

I would always have plenty of money in other savings and investments, from building societies before I started investing in individual shares.

we have invested in green energy, solar panels and wind Turbines and this has brought us in a steady income over the last few years. We even have share in the solar panels on M&S in some part of the country.

Once I made £1,000 in a short time on Charles Church shares. It was floated and OH and children sold theirs I kept mine and they zoomed up.
What to buy now? Apparently Ocado was the best performing share last year.

If you don’t know much about investing in shares try Investment Trusts. Do a bit of research on income and growth and choose what suits your current needs.

It can be a bit of fun, but as others have said, it needs to be long term to ride out the inevitable rough patches.

We have a few shares, some have done better than others but overall we have done ok.

I have only invested relatively small small amounts, though as the golden rule is only invest what you can afford to lose.

Our biggest gains though over the years have been from property, dating back from when we started buying buy to lets about 30 years ago.

Urmston I regret not having any fever tree too.
When I sold my business 10 years ago I gave the money to a financial advisor to deal with. She came well recommended.

I (or she) have done very well with an average of about 11%.
I didn’t want to do it myself as I’m not very interested in the markets. I was in a medium to high risk so didn’t want to know when I was suddenly poorer by £40,000.
As has been said I am in it for the long run. I don’t think that I will need the money out in a lump sum or in a hurry so I can afford to ride the storms.
I use it as an addition to my state pension.

This is a very uncertain time, the markets could do anything but are probably going to go down. We may be on the verge of a recession so I would be very cautious.

ReportedEmmaHarmon - wasting your (and our) time

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I only used managed funds. The temptation is to hang onto them when they are doing well, but then you risk a sudden collapse. Sell when they are likely to continue on rising, you will still make a profit and be safer. Reinvest when you think they have sunk about as far as they are going to go and are turning a corner. Seems to work for me!

I wish I’d bought into ‘FeverTree’ 10 years ago when it was a new company! When I first bought it no one I knew had heard of it - it was all ‘Schweppes ‘!

P.S. this is not an activity that should ever involve a cold caller who offers you any type of service....its a matter for independent research and recognised well respected services. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

DH invests in funds too but he is very interested in innovation and has done well out of new technologies.