Share Advice & Company Opinions

trader100

Hi everyone, I am very new to shares and so will be investing small amounts. I do not want all my eggs in one basket & so wouldn't want to invest all my money in one company. To start lets say an investment of 200-300 euro.

I have been looking at different companies. I think the banks are not stable and will possibly go lower than they already are! Paddy Power seems like a good one but much too high at the moment! Kerry Group probably won't budge. One that strikes me is Elan. The J&J deal cancels allot of their debt leaving it to stand at 400 million euro. But what caused the debt in the first place? Does anyone here know? And what do you think about an investment in Elan.

I would also like to know what other shares you think would be worth a look.

Thanks in advance for your help, thoughts & opinions!

strmin

My advice is to spend those €200-300 on investing books. After reading all books, open demo account and trade virtual shares. You can't start investing with 200-300, let alone diversify.

pocketdooz

strmin wrote: »

My advice is to spend those €200-300 on investing books. After reading all books, open demo account and trade virtual shares. You can't start investing with 200-300, let alone diversify.

Exactly what strmin said.

trader100

Not even in one company?
Then how much?
And Can you recommend a book? Where can I do a demo?
Thanks

strmin

Must read books:
Benjamin Graham - The Intelligent Investor
Burton G. Malkiel - A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Philip Fisher - Common Stocks And Uncommon Profits
William J. O'Neil - How To Make Money In Stocks
George S. Clason - The Richest Man In Babylon
any Warren Buffett's book

I would not recommend to start investing without at least €5000.

There are plenty of share trading simulators. Just google it.

trader100

Thanks can't seem to find an Irish simulator though.

Time Magazine

trader100 wrote: »

Thanks can't seem to find an Irish simulator though.

Why limit yourself to Irish stocks?

trader100

I could just more familiar with the Irish ones.

In relation to the company Elan, anyone have an opinion?

Time Magazine

trader100 wrote: »

I could just more familiar with the Irish ones.

There's a whole world out there. Limiting yourself to Irish stocks is a bit like limiting yourself to Ireland when it comes to picking a holiday. There are about 100 stocks on the ISEQ, about 3,500 on the Nasdaq.

If you really want to plan for your future, why not look further afield and look for as good a buy as possible?

Edit: sorry if I'm coming across as aggressive OP. Please don't pick it up as me slating you for only looking at Irish shares or for not knowing the ins-and-outs of the Nikkei. And yes, there may well be very good value in Irish shares at the moment.

But my point still stands... if you're looking for some value, why restrict yourself to such a small group of shares in a small country? A bit of research elsewhere may pay serious dividends.

Idu

I agree with the Economist, in fact I'd go further in saying that your relative familiarity with the companies is a hinderance rather than an advantage for someone starting out in shares because you don't give them the same thorough research that you would a company that you've never heard of.

Past success is no guarantee of future success especially relating to Irish stocks as they have benefitted from a miracle boom and that lofty expectation is still very much in the national psyche even though many of them have been exposed as very very poorly run businesses