A newbies initial portfolio

Hello all. I am new to the stock market in the last six months or so. I see myself as an "investor" with a long term view (5-10 years) rather than a "trader". In my current portfolio I have:

csl ($32.50)
hvn ($2.18)
flt ($8.36)
bbg ($7.98)
dye ($0.57)
sek ($2.70)
cnp ($0.67)

I learnt a harsh lesson investing in centro (1st investment) without much prior knowledge of the company, instead listening to a "friend". I happy with the way I am progressing from reading books and posts from ASF.

However I think my portfolio is not very diverse. I am looking at other sectors such as banking but I feel there is still more pain ahead for the banks in the next 6 months as more debt is revealed. In the food sector I think WOW is a great company but it is overpriced and WES has too much debt. I am a greenie and thus not looking in the mining sector.

I am getting more and more patient waiting for the right time to purchase "bargain stocks". I dont think timing is everything from an "investors" point of view but it certainly helps.

Would appreciate any advice on other sectors/stocks I should investigate further and my current selections.

Thanks

RRyall

People are not allowed to give you direct fin advice, without a Fin Lic.

By the way WES is a coal miner as well as a retailer.

Trembling Hand said:

People are not allowed to give you direct fin advice, without a Fin Lic.

By the way WES is a coal miner as well as a retailer.

Click to expand...

Advice was a poor choice of a word. How about feedback?
Thanks for telling me about WES.

Hi Ryyall,

there is a thread only about 1 week old along similar lines.

You may wish to look at that.

TH is correct that we cant give advice, that is an ASIC requirement.

If you use the search function you can learn much, including similar past threads.

you can search the stocks you already own to find out what other people think about them, especially some of the questions you have raised about debt and pricing levels.

I am sure you will find out things you did not know.

remember that people have divergent opinions though.

I have occasionally bought stocks that came to my attention via ASF

awg said:

there is a thread only about 1 week old along similar lines.

Click to expand...

Cheers. I read that thread but it went off on a bit of a tangent (as forums do).

awg said:

TH is correct that we cant give advice, that is an ASIC requirement.

Click to expand...

Wahaha - yeah if you want quality advice you have to go to a professional outfit like Storm Financial Group. Everyone on here is far too wreckless to be able to give advice ...

Why didn't someone send him to the same thread of 2 weeks ago.

Note to self...read thread first. :bonk:

rryall said:

Hello all. I am new to the stock market in the last six months or so. I see myself as an "investor" with a long term view (5-10 years) rather than a "trader". In my current portfolio I have:

csl ($32.50)
hvn ($2.18)
flt ($8.36)
bbg ($7.98)
dye ($0.57)
sek ($2.70)
cnp ($0.67)

I learnt a harsh lesson investing in centro (1st investment) without much prior knowledge of the company, instead listening to a "friend". I happy with the way I am progressing from reading books and posts from ASF.

However I think my portfolio is not very diverse. I am looking at other sectors such as banking but I feel there is still more pain ahead for the banks in the next 6 months as more debt is revealed. In the food sector I think WOW is a great company but it is overpriced and WES has too much debt. I am a greenie and thus not looking in the mining sector.

I am getting more and more patient waiting for the right time to purchase "bargain stocks". I dont think timing is everything from an "investors" point of view but it certainly helps.

Would appreciate any advice on other sectors/stocks I should investigate further and my current selections.

Thanks

RRyall

Click to expand...

No Advice disclaimer yadda yadda yadda.

Rryall,

Beyond your statement above that you see yourself as a longer term "Investor" have you thought clearly about what it is that you are trying to achieve?

Have you done so in a way that is measurable?

Without a plan you plan to fail. Without a goal that you can measure, how will you know when you have achieved it?

These are the sorts of things that as a new investor is highly important for you to figure out. Are you trying to achieve...

a) A market level of performance (In which case you should investigate and may benefit from some of the ETF's and Index Funds) [p.s. I'm NOT in favour of managed funds - but that's just me - you will pay for the convenience of having some monkey press the keys to replicate an index]

b) An outperformance of the market (by seeming to use Timing or inefficiencies in the market to your advantage)

c) Use of Gearing strategies to leverage your performance (Are you afaraid of debt? Do you understand the taxation treatment of interest borrowings and franked dividends and their impact on your personal taxation rates?)

d) Use of stop losses to minimize damage to your portfolio

e) use of Options as risk minimisation strategies or additional capital return generators.

You need to think carefully about what kinds of strategies may suit you to achieve your aims and figure out how much risk tolerance you have BEFORE you invest.

Good Luck

Sir O