Online share dealing (motley fool)

[Swafe]

hey

just wondered if anyone uses them? ive just signed up for an account, with an idea of starting doing some online deals, having a dabble to see what happens

ive gone for the share builder, which offers trades for 1.50 a pop, does anyone use it and is it any good?

or do you recommend other ones?

im a bit of a fish out of water, never done this before so should be quiet interesting but im not really too sure what im doing yet :eek: :doh:

[gunner]

Depends on how much you will be investing, what stocks you will be investing in and other factors.

I use TD Waterhouse, and it is a very good service for my needs (reliable for important transactions, the ability to purchase a number of stocks and bonds etc.)

[Swafe]

i had a look at that, but trades seem to be about 12 quid each? im not sure why trades with this one after 1.50 as they have another account where they are 10 quid each?

is it something to do with buying smaller amounts or something? im not looking to invest too much at the moment, just a little bit to see how it works and how i do, then maybe more if all goes well, i imagined that anyway which is why i signed up to it not td waterhouse

[gunner]

Sometimes trades are that cheap when they purchase for you in a group buy type situation. Basically, this means it is not executed when you want, only when they have enough people to make the purchase.

TDW are £12.50 a trade.

[AWaite]

Isn't a bit ironic that the Motley Fool has always encouraged a long-term investment strategy (e.g. an index tracker), yet are now promoting very high-risk trading like this?

"The Gardners are famous for their view that, for the majority of people who have little time to keep track of stocks, the best investment strategy is to "Buy an index fund."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Motley_Fool

[Swafe]

ahh i see, that would make sense

dont suppose you have any idea how they work? could i sell them at any time or is it a similar situation they sell so many at a time and split the fees?

[gunner]

I would imagine for that price, it would be the same for buying and selling, you might be able to sell for a 'premium' fee when you like, but I do not know.

[cjanderson]

is the halifax share builder isn't it?

so not isaable (if thats important)

and it buys them all at the same time each day, ratehr than you watch the price and press buy when you like the price.

the fool has many different share strategies - i follow the "buy 16 shares and hold for ever and get dividends" strategy - high yield portfolio. loads of active boards on day trading and tips.

But for most people, unless you take an interest, a tracker fund is the best idea.

[andog]

i've got a sharebuilder account - it's as cjanderson says - you have 4 'days' / 'slots' per month where you choose for your transaction to take place (i'm not sure of the exact time in the day these transactions take place however)...

so basically, you can't be very re-active to the market (which is fine for me - i go for long term tips and then tend to forget about them - sometimes stupidly hoping and assuming they will grow (curse ye neteller!!!!) ;) :D )

[Swafe]

is the halifax share builder isn't it?

so not isaable (if thats important)

and it buys them all at the same time each day, ratehr than you watch the price and press buy when you like the price.

the fool has many different share strategies - i follow the "buy 16 shares and hold for ever and get dividends" strategy - high yield portfolio. loads of active boards on day trading and tips.

But for most people, unless you take an interest, a tracker fund is the best idea.

hows it working out for you cj? maybe im a little bit silly, a tracker with a few of their selected investments probably is a better idea as they clearly know more about the markets than me but id like it to be in my hands a little bit more if i can

ive bought 2 stocks now, only put 200 on each but obviously gonna buy a few more and put maybe just 1000 to start with and see how they do, they do just buy them when they have enough people, my buy date was the 5th of nov, so i knew they would buy them then, but they dont tell you what time, i thought they might have just bought them at the open of trading at 9, but from looking at the price i paid per share it was done about 3-4pm, when they were at their highest for the day, typical :D

[cjanderson]

i have 6 shares now i think, probably lost 40% of their value :D

well i did pick Lloyds :lol: and dixons. But M&S has done very well so far.

I try not to look, they pay dividends so capital value isn't such an importance to me.

Need to buy 2 more shares this year, not picked them yet. maybe ladbrooks?

(i already have trackers from many past years share isas so i have the tracker side covered)

[Swafe]

i was looking at ladbrokes myself, seem reasonable cheap, infact very cheap from the p/e & previous highs but was put off when i googled an article about them being in quiet a bit of debt (billion or so) and that they were thinking of a takeover of 888 (which would lower the shareprice of them) so i went for some 888 shares, i doubt theyll ever be taken over but seemed a better bet for me than ladbrokes, altho the shares seem a bit more exspensive