Whodi, Goods et. al. help a newbie?

[gobucky]

Hey guys, I was turned on to this site by an associate and had a few questions.

First of all, you guys are doing great! I am 43 and most of my money is in 401K's and a brokerage account with your average diverse portfolio in Mutual Funds and EFT's. I also own a fair amount of MO & KFT because my wife has worked there for 19 years. MO kept me afloat during the last crash and our KFT holdings are due to the spinoff (unfortunately) but she also gets restricted stock with a 3 year vesting period (starting 4 years ago) because of her position.

I'm leaning to hold these.

The questions:
Are you guys margining these plays?
My Smith Barney account won't let me short so who should I go thru?
How much should I start with and what should I consider as far as losses?
Any ideas on MO and KFT?

Thanks guys, and I appreciate any feedback!!!!!!!!!!!!

[whodi]

I just read your post, I am on my way out for a few hours. When I get back, I will try to answer these questions for you to the best of my knowledge and experience.

[gobucky]

Thanks whodi, was told you were helpful. Thanks in advance!!!!

[Goods]

Don't know much about MO or Kraft but from what I understand, they are stable stocks during a market dump, which I think will happen soon unless things stablize. Both pay decent dividends as well. I don't see anything that would change in the near future. I like MO more than KFT at a glance.

I'm confused about what you want to do exactly. Are you looking to begin trading short term or investing long term, with you making the picks?
As far as what broker to use and what to start with, it depends on what you want to do and how much work you intend to put into it. If you do a little research but still want advice, you can use a Morgan Stanley or Merrill Lynch, etc. If you want to do it on your own, there's a hundred online brokers to use. I use Scottrade right now, which I like but has some flaws. Other guys here can give there opinions on what they use. Keep in mind that federal regulation requires pattern day traders using a margin account maintain a $25,000 minimum. A pattern day trader is someone who makes 4 or more day trades in a 5 day period(opening and closing a position the same day).

Once I know more about what you want to do, I can hopefully steer you in the right direction. Whodi is the resident market genius here and I'm following his lead as best I can.

[Trossi3389]

Welcome to the forum gobucky !!

These guys are great in here !!

[whodi]

GOODS hit on a lot of points I was going to bring up. Not sure what your intentions are to do in the stock market. I really don't have much opinion on MO and KFT, they seem stable for long term holds. If you are looking to do long term holds, I would still definitely not put my money with a company that doesn't allow shorts. You want to be able to maximize your gains whether the market is going up or down. If you love a stock and think it is going to drop in the long term, then you definitely want to be able to short the stock and not be handcuffed. Goods brought up some good firms to go with. If you are looking to do a little trading yourself. I personally trade through www.interactivebrokers.com As far as how much you should start with, that depends on your finances, so only you can answer that question. You want to put as much money in the market that you can and be willing to risk that money without putting yourself in any financial constraints. Just like when I am gambling, I only gamble with money I am willing to lose, so you don't want to let emotion get in the way or you will be eatin alive my friend and stressing out. Once you figure out what you want to do, I can help you more but you have to figure that out 1st and then we can go from there.

[gobucky]

Thanks guys! My long term stuff I am going to sit on but I've got about $50K in cash that I'm trying to decide what to do with. As you said, the market is unstable right now.

I'm in the mortgage business in Chicago and slow isn't the word right now so I'm looking to get more educated in making the money I have work for me. I have some free time I need to fill up.

[Dr. Jack]

Welcome Bucky

[Goods]

Hope things turn around for you working mortgages. I know my house has dropped value and this state's in trouble, couldn't move right now if I wanted to.
Like Whodi says, if you have a weak stomach for losses, the stress will take years off your life. I'm starting to look like Mr Burns at the ripe old age of 35.

Grab a book or two from Amazon and see if stocks are for you. InteractiveBrokers.com has a demo site you can use to paper trade while you learn.

[gobucky]

Good advice Goods. I used to use Valueline and was pretty damn good at buying. Not so good at timing the sells though and of course got killed in the tech crash. MO treated me well though. My biggest concern is lack of time to research which is why I moved my long term stuff to Smith Barney.

I'll be following you guys and definitely learn a bunch!