Shares in Northern Rock

[Duffman]

Sorry - I still fail to see why ignorance (in some cases) merits compensation. I would imagine that few people in this day and age are unaware of some of the risks involved in investing in shares. Here in Ireland especially post eircom, in the UK after their more extensive experience of demutualisations and privatisations and generally post Enron etc. I doubt that there are too many innocents abroad who have absolutely no appreciation of what can happen.

I disagree - I would say that MOST people don't have a clue of the stock market and yet have a lot of their savings indirectly invested in shares through a variety of investments - e.g. pensions. It seems as though the only way to avoid investing in the stock market today is to stick in under your matress.

 

[ClubMan]

I disagree - I would say that MOST people don't have a clue of the stock market

OK - we'll just have to disagree so.

 

[Buffett]

My philosophy is that you should only directly invest in shares with money you can afford to lose.

No disrespect to you but this phase is common from most people when you mention the stock market to them. A lot of people view stocks as a game of roulette or the like and spout out this stupid phrase out of ignorance.

Investing in stocks is not risky if you put in the research and realize that your not buying a stock but buying a share in a business.

 

[Duffman]

No disrespect to you but this phase is common from most people when you mention the stock market to them. A lot of people view stocks as a game of roulette or the like and spout out this stupid phrase out of ignorance.

Investing in stocks is not risky if you put in the research and realize that your not buying a stock but buying a share in a business.

So you've never lost money on the stock market? Whats your secret? To say that investing in stocks is not risky is stretching it a bit. I remember discussions on this board several months ago explaining why Northern Rock is a big company & was a safe bet, either for shares or deposits. I believe the same was also said of Eircom at the time. Bottom line, there are risks involved. Either small risks = small gains/losses OR big risks = big gains/losses. The roulette analogy is not that stupid in fact. If you were to study the stock market, many of the ups & downs in share prices are vastly exaggerated and not at all reflective of the worth of a company.

 

[soy]

Northern Rock is a big company & was a safe bet, either for shares .

I do not recall any such post. Individual shares are not discussed on AAM so such comments would have been deleted.
It is true that many post stated NR was a big company and safe for deposits. However this is still true.

On a final note - purchasing shares in NR in the past 6 months was always a high risk gamble with either big gains/losses the likely outcome.

 

[Duffman]

I do not recall any such post. Individual shares are not discussed on AAM so such comments would have been deleted.
It is true that many post stated NR was a big company and safe for deposits. However this is still true.

You may be right about the discussion of the share price, but I do remember the discussion on how safe NR were as a company - something that has proven to be incorrect so my point is still valid - every share has an element of risk. How many people saw NR being nationalised a few months ago?

On a final note - purchasing shares in NR in the past 6 months was always a high risk gamble with either big gains/losses the likely outcome.

Correct - its people who bought them before that I have some sympathy for - but obviously not everyone agrees.

 

[John Rambo]

You may be right about the discussion of the share price, but I do remember the discussion on how safe NR were as a company - something that has proven to be incorrect so my point is still valid - every share has an element of risk. How many people saw NR being nationalised a few months ago?

Correct - its people who bought them before that I have some sympathy for - but obviously not everyone agrees.

Nobody ever said it was safe to buy shares...the OP bought shares recently which was a huge risk and he/she obviously had done no research as they weren't aware nationalisation was a possibility. The safety discussion you're referring to was the safety of deposits which were protected to a certain level and which are now fully protected.