Ottawa, thanks for the info. I'm just actually in the middle of reading Investing for Canadians for Dummies and it has given me some very good info (still don't know what a bear market is though haha). So you wouldn't suggest TDW as a brokerage? I've looked at a few and obviously I want to save as much money as I can when it comes to the fees etc. Also let it be known I don't have large amounts of money i'm going to be pouring in to stocks, I just want to try my hand and see if i'm any good as another form of investing.

Thanks again!

Monty,

Maybe we don't see eye to eye here, but considering this is being written from the pub right now, let me expand on where I was going tomorrow, ok.

O.C.

ottawa_chap...
you're calling this a bear market? the stocks are up and down 400+ points in the last few weeks.. i call that a crazy market... it's pretty volatile.

I think that will scare the crap out of most junior investors...

the thing i worry about is the fact that many investors use debt to buy stocks. if the stock goes down like it has in the last few weeks, aren't there going to be alot of margin calls.. margin calls will force investors to sell thus driving prices down even further.. this seems to be an automated process..

that scares me, as it's automated and has nothing to do with the quality of a company or its stock value.

Freshjive, with respect to TDW as a brokerage firm, I have an account with them but rarely use it any more due to their commission rates. I still have some equities in there, hence why the account remains open. What I do like about their services has to do with their online charting services. I'm able to configure multiple profiles that can be saved and later viewed on different PC's.

Today I use TradeFreedom for my TSFA account as transactions with them is ~$10.00/per trade. Their charting services, well, there are none. Comes down to you get what you pay for, but other then that they've been pretty decent for me.

Before you go dropping funds into any equity though, keep in mind we are in a bear market cycle right now. Myself, I still watch a few of them and am still buying here and there. Quick Example: T.HOU is an ETF that has been taking a beating due to the price of oil declining. Right now it's floating below $5.00/share, which in my opinion is a good deal if your time horizon is 6-12 months for a decent return on investment. My guess is that it'll be back up to $7.00/share or higher within that time frame, as oil can't stay this low forever - especially with the winter approaching.

That said, just make sure you do your own research on whatever company you're thinking about investing into ahead of time. Get to understand the company, know what affects it's business (i.e: cash flow), and see if it's a stable company. Speculative investments carry more risk then say a company like Hudson Bay that's been around for some time but perhaps just experiencing a drop in price due to market conditions. Again, one's time horizon for R.O.I. plays a large factor in determining what's the right investment for one to make.

I don't consider myself an expert on the subject by any means. God knows I've lost my fair share of funds due to being over optimistic, but throughout those lessons, I've also found ways to reduce the risk by following the advise I just gave you here.

Not sure if there is a "Stock market for Dummies" type of book on the market, but if you were to pick up something like that and read it before making your first investment, my guess is that it would cover a lot of key info that you would be well advised to be armed with.

That's my quick two cents on the subject. Good Luck!

O.C.

Oh me jeez... I just stay away from these things.

Stocks and me just don't get along.. I'd rather keep my money in the bank earning 1% interest

Hi there

The last few weeks ive been reading up on stocks and it's something I want to try out. I've picked out the brokerage I want to use (TD waterhouse) and i'd really like to find someone to pick their brain with a few questions I have. Is there anyone that uses TD waterhouse? Anyone willing to be annoyed by a newbie investor? Lemme know :)