The FTSE is really strong at the moment but I'm confused if this means it's a bad time to invest or whether it's a good one. I mean, does it mean the market can only fall down now or does it mean the market is in a good growth phase and so worth jumping in with?

maggie9

That's the question indeed - what you're doing is noting risk - after all, the market can go either up or down at any moment.

Certainly the FTSE is in a good growth period at the moment - it didn't seem all that long ago when it finally broke back through the 5000 barrier, and there's a lot of Venture Capital flowing again, especially with online companies - so called Web 2.0 ventures.

Even still, any period of growth is bound to have minor bubbles, so even if you find yourself investing in a growing market, only to see a small fall, it's just as likely to be profit taking.

On saying that, while there is good growth in stocks and the economy at present, issues such as the US deficit are real concerns at the moment, along with potential bubbles in the housing markets of the USA and UK. Any of these can have an adverse effect on the strength of the FTSE, but when you invest in stocks, you have to accept and work with risk, and look to minimise it where reasonably possible.

Hope that helps.

Bull markets can be good to jump into but don't run with the crowd for too long. Sooner or later they'll likely run themselves off a cliff.

The markets are very over-inflated right now in general (high P/Es are just one of many indications of this.) The economy is getting soft, the housing bubble is bursting, interest rates might go up quite significantly in the next six months to combat a US$ slide-off, and any sort of geo-political trouble could send oil sky-high which would tank the markets even quicker. On top of all that, public and private debt is sky-high, deficits are huge, and bankruptcies and defaults are everywhere.

The sharpest traders out there are going to be OK, but if you're inexperienced this is one of the absolute worst times to be entering the equity markets.

Even though I don't listen to my own advice, there is never a time like the present. Even if you invested at the acme of a bubble, if you hold your positions for a while you will still end up ahead in the game.

So there is really not a bad time to jump in. Now where did I put my checkbook?

It really depends what positions you held. Any time you get into the market for the short term, it's a gamble. I'm not saying not to - but you'd better be careful. If you get into the market with good, diversified, quality stocks, then there is almost no bad time but if you're jumping into "trendy" stocks selling at a million times earnings, you can get burned big time.

So what would the safest bet be for someone who ha a bit of cahs to invest and doesnt want to run too high a raisk right away?

Ninikins: What kind of time period are you talking about? 1 year, 3 years, 5 years?

I'd bve interested in say 3 or 5 years but preferably three..any good advice is more than welcome as I'm ready to go really.

This is a tough call. 3 years is still a relatively short period of time as far as stocks go. The market can be up from where it is 3 years from now or it can be down. It all depends how much of a risk you want to take. I myself am a risk taker. But if it would make you sick if your savings went down when you needed it, then you might want to try something a little less risky, like bonds. Sorry for the wishy-washy advice but if I really knew what to tell you, I'd be doing it myself.

For a three year period I wouldn't put anything in equities. I'd be more conservative and go bonds and T bills.

I think we saw the dangers of investing in a strong market recently with the big slides. Now might be a good time though but pick your stocks carefully.

If you use trend analysis to help determine when to make an investment, the best time to invest is when the market starts moving upwards from a bad turn.

If the market is strong it's good to check previous high points in the market and get a feel for when it may likely turn.

I wouldn't however use trend analysis in isolation.

My father and I are both staying out of the market at the moment as it's pretty "shit" is the term we both used to describe it. It's in a minor recession and will pull out eventually. For the moment we are watching and waiting.

I also agree with investing when the market is strong. Sometimes, when the trend is not favorable, then it is best to stop and just observe what happens next. I believe in having 'peak season' for trading and investing.

The markets have tanked somewhat recently - now maybe a far better time to invest in a moment of weakness, as opposed to when strong - immediate risk of shortfalls for anyone who invested when the markets were strong.

There's no way to tell. Things could be going good today and then for the next 6 months they head downhill. However, if you wait, things could continually look good, and then in 10 months when your ready, then things head down down down. The best time to get in is when you have the funds available to do it. No time like now.

The market is really fluctuating. However, it pays to look at the trends and from there, study it for the good time to invest.

I think it just depends on what particular stocks you've researched and are ready to play with. The market doesn't matter - only the ones you are focusing on do.

I agreed that you can still able to invest even with the market not being strong and it is all depend on researching the right stocks.