Where to get share trading recommendations and advice?

I know it is fobidden to discuss individual shares on AAM, but can anyone recommend a website/serice that makes share trading recommendations? I've just sold all my shares I had in my Employee Purchase Plan in my company as they do not have a good outlook for the future, and I am looking to reinvest.

Are there any reputable analysts that make a few recommendations on short/medium term buys? I'm sure that coming into the new year they will have their 'picks' and I'd like to be able to review a few analysts opinions and see what I think my money will be best spent. It's probably wise not to put all my eggs in one basket, but I've only got about 4k so I do not want to split it up too much.

Lots of inveting houses rate each stock on Sell, Hold, Buy & Strong Buy - is there anywhere that colates all this information centrally? I remember a few years ago there was a guy who wrote a column in the Sunday Times Magazine and his predictions were extremely good, anyone know of someone similar? Basically I don't have the time or expertise to evaluate the market myself, but I'd like a few recommendations to point me in the right direction and go from there.

All advice appreciated
Thanks
Colly

Have you read the posting guideline which includes two possible outlets for that sort of info?



Bear in mind that no stock tipper can predict the future.

Thanks Clubman, I hadn't seen that - I'll give www.sharewatch.com and www.fool.co.uk a look. Anyone know any other reputable sites.

If I was to rephraze my question a little, I'll ask: For the people on AAM that are active stock investors - how do you make your decisions on what to buy? Do you purely make your own guesses as to what you think will bring the best returns, or is there anywhere you belive gives good advice?

Colly. To be quite honest I don't think it's a good idea choosing shares based on website/newspaper tipsters. Having said that, every morning I read a summarised version of the "newspaper roundup" mainly to hear about M & A activity or other bits and pieces of information that might add some information to what I already know. It is also useful to read the daily company news to see information on annual results, interim results, dividend information, company share buybacks, and the most important news of all the company trading statement and outlook.
There are dozens of sites out there that can give you information. As I only deal with the U.K. market I can only recommend U.K. sites. P.M. me and I will give you a couple of useful sites to get you started.

It's quite daunting trying to make decisions on the future of a company by yourself and then putting your hard earned money on the line with it.

I'd much perfer to see what the pro's put their money on and then see what I agree with.

How does everyone else make decisions on what share to buy?

Why not consider investing via a low charges index tracker tracking an index that fits with your preferred risk/reward profile?

to be honest Clubman's suggestion is probably the most prudent one to follow. 4k is not really enough money to play individual names. go for a tracker and then begin to educate yourself. search this site for a list of investment books to read. also try to keep abrest of what is happening not just in the corporate world but in the wider economy too. try to run a paper portfolio for a period of time too.

For the people on AAM that are active stock investors - how do you make your decisions on what to buy? Do you purely make your own guesses as to what you think will bring the best returns, or is there anywhere you belive gives good advice?

You mentioned you had 4000 euro - TBH, you can't be actively investing/trading with that amount - is too small. Could get more bang for you buck with leveraged trading (spread betting/futures etc) but that's not advisable if you're starting out.

I would not go near newspapers or the likes for tips. Anyone who relies on the likes will lose money. Tips are a bad idea in general. Devise your own strategy - relying on someone elses won't work. Even if you're getting good tips, they may not suit your personality, you begin second guessing and chaos reigns.

If you don't fancy the work or uncertainty involved, stick your money in an index fund/ETF and watch it compound. Nothing wrong with that. Can always come back to the idea of active investing etc, when you have more money and experience.

charttrader said:

you can't be actively investing/trading with that amount - is too small.

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You should also consider if you should be "actively" trading at all in the first place and if, perhaps, a buy and hold medium/long term strategy would be more appropriate. Rememver that actively trading arguably involves more risk of buying high and selling low as well as losing money on transaction charges (and also having to deal with the hassle of CGT on each disposal). Basically what sort of investment strategy and asset mix is most appropriate really depends on why you are investing the money (e.g. towards what goal(s) and over what timeframe(s)).

cman is right, index fund.

think about it, it's in no tipsters interest to tell you whats going up, unless they want to manipulte the market to take profit and get out and need "fools" to sell to.

spread bet if you think you know your stuf...no tax or cgt.

etf to follow an index.

and mutual funds are similar to etf except preferable tax treatment.

or you could always put it into property, its worked for ppl so far.

I would agree with the advise above by Clubman that an index fund is a good way of investing. However in answer to the orginal question, over the years I have found Phoenix magazine a good source of share recommendations. Not every issue will contain recommendations of shares to buy.

colly said:

how do you make your decisions on what to buy? Do you purely make your own guesses as to what you think will bring the best returns, or is there anywhere you belive gives good advice?

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I use fundamental analysis.
You know that page in the business section of the Irish Times, or the Markets section of the Sunday Business Post, the page with the statistics of Irish Shares?
Well, I did up a spreadsheet a few years ago with all that info. I update it every so often with the latest share price, company earnings, etc. That way I'll get the up-to-date eps, p/e, peg, dy, etc. From this I can get a good comparison of a sector. So if I decide to buy a financial stock, I can compare AIB, BoI, Anglo, IFG and ILP. Starting with the p/e, see what stock is the best value for money, ie the share that's cheap relative to the others. Compare the other stats, see what's seems cheapest.
Also, keep an eye on the papers or stock tips from the the various brokers (http://www.rte.ie/business/brokerreports.html) for indicators.

Moderator note: discussion of specific share performance removed.

Thanks guys, index funds look very interesting I'm going to look into them firther. Anyone have any tips on where to start?

www.cramersez.com

This looks like a very imtersting site (ignore the terrible design) - its based on the predicitons of James Cramer - the host of a CNBC show called Mad Money - this is more the sort of thing I'm talking about.

noel 2006 said:

I would agree with the advise above by Clubman that an index fund is a good way of investing. However in answer to the orginal question, over the years I have found Phoenix magazine a good source of share recommendations. Not every issue will contain recommendations of shares to buy.

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I also find The Pheonix very good.

As others have stated the one worry I would have with OP investing e4,000 is that it is only enough to invest in one or two shares. There is a fair chance that the share s/he will buy will crash and burn, especially if you are looking for growth, and they will be left with nothing.

I'd consider a tracker.

WWW.III.CO.UK is a useful site where individual UK shares are discussed. Be very careful about anything you read from an anonomous poster. Yahoo is good for discussing US stocks. Both have free registration


Murt

colly said:

www.cramersez.com

This looks like a very imtersting site (ignore the terrible design) - its based on the predicitons of James Cramer - the host of a CNBC show called Mad Money - this is more the sort of thing I'm talking about.

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Avoid like the plague. Have you ever seen Mad Money? Type his name into YouTube and you'll be confronted by some pathetic spectacles indeed (Cramer blowing whistles, screaming 'buy', 'sell', animations of bulls and bears etc). It's a joke. Unfotunately, it's very popular and his stock picks tend to appreciate substantially as soon as he announces them. After Joe Public has driven up the price, the short sellers get shorting and the price drops again. Academic research has been done on Cramer's show, showing the daft fluctuations and heightened level of short interest in the immediate aftermath.

Other sites exist monitoring his picks. Last time I checked, they were losing money.

There are hundreds of stock-tipping sites out there. They're a great way of losing money. Someone once said that tips are for waiters - he was right. See [broken link removed]

Those of you not bothered enough to click that link - it was the same Jim Cramer who uttered those words...

charttrader said:

Avoid like the plague. Have you ever seen Mad Money?

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Couldn't agree more. I'd heard about "Mr. Boo-yah" but never caught his show before until I was in the US recently and had occasion to check it out. Staggering beyond belief.

Speaking as one who has done so in the past, acting on tips always leads to the worst of investment behaviour - buying at peaks, momentum chasing etc. Worse again, you won't have the discipline or long term faith in the stock to hang on during rough patches (or alternately sell when you should).

At least if you make your own decisions you will only have yourself to blame in the end, rather than a perma-bull like Jim Cramer.

I had heard that Mad Money had a lower than 40% success rate with its predictions. To be honest, almost any mass medium that pushes stock/sector recommendations is best avoided - by the time RTE/CNN/CNBC etc tell you what to buy it is too late.

For me there is only one financial publication worth reading - that is the FT. You could do worse than read the weekend FT every saturday (it is a good paper in addition to the financial coverage). They occasionally tip stocks but what they do best is provide the individual investor with an ongoing education in stock market & share valuation.

To be honest, if you only have €4k by the time you find out about anything from the traditional sources it will be too late.

I follow Cramer's advice. Yes, he does have quite the antics on his tv show, however look past that and you find someone who knows what he is doing. I have been investing following his "buy" calls for sometime. I have had many more winners than losers. I use the www.cramersez.com site as well. Not sure about design or anything else, but it is informative and am glad to see that I am not the only one who goes there.