Hello i am going to invest in the stock market next year in order ot diversify my portfolio can anyone here help me with a few queries .

Thank you

What type of info do you need?

I think you need to be a bit more specific.

well i have done some research into it i would just like to email a few questions to you to clear up some queries.

Do you work in this field

Yes, I do. I am a professional investor and fund manager. My expertise is in the field of trades and short-term investments as well as technical analysis.

Feel free to post your questions here and I will try to answer them.

I would find it easier to email you so i can easily print it out for my own research and learning . I hope you do not object

Let's answer your questions here that way any other forum memeber who may have the same question can find an anwer in this thread.

You can select the text and copy it into a word document or txt file and print it out. It's really easy.

Another benefit to answer your question in the forum is if I don't have an answer another member may be able to help answer your question.

ok here are my questions .

Equations to research shares i will use are EPS , PE ratio , Earning yield , Enterprise Value , Dividend cover , gross profit margin . Are these enough.

With regard to convertible bonds would you convert when a predicted jump in share price may take place.

How much is it extra for a uk based investor to invest in usa and asian stock and commodity markets.

What exactly is property investment trusts how do they work and what is the tax angle.

Do you get a share certificate when you buy shares to show you own particular shares.

In financial listings what is last xd , are dividends represented as percentges.

are binary bets and spread betting for a commerical investor.

Thank you

I answer your questions in the order you asked them:

1. That really depends on your investment strategy. There is no right or wrong. Personally, I don't use any of those and I definately recommend investors not to put to much focus on EPS and completely disregard P/E Ratios. P/E Ratios are the most common and widely used tool to indicate if a company is cheap but I think they offer no good indication at all and shold be disregarded. They may be the most popular inidcator but did you ever wonder why over 75% of fund managers underperform?

Once again it depends on your investment strategy. Seem to me that you put most weight towards earnings. I think that strategy is not smart and geared towards failure but that is my own opinion and up to the individual investor.

Would I recommend it?

Not at all but that may work for you. There is no right or wrong strategy just a good and bad strategy. My opinion about the strategy that you seem to follow is that it is a bad one.

2. I am not a bond investor and can't answer that question for you.

3. That depends on your broker. As far as the U.S. is concerned there should be no additional charges, the only thing that you may experience is that your transaction costs will be in U.S. dollars and not in sterling. If you are charged more then you may want to consider to change your broker.

Asia may be a bit more difficult to get into for individual retail investors as many markets in Asia have restrictions on direct foreign investment in their country. You can find Asian companies which have a dual listing in either the U.K. or the U.S. and may be able to get in that way, one strategy which I do not favor but once again that is personal preference. How much access you get into Asian markets also depends on the broker you choose.

Commodity markets means that you want to trade derivatves and that once agian is dependent on your broker but many (if not all borkers) should be able to give you at least limited access to commodity markets.

In general your location is not important but the broker that you choose.

4. A poperty investment trust (To my knowledge they are the same as REITs, just a different name but I may be wrong about that one) is a trust which focuses on the aquisition and management of income property which also included non-residential properties. They are traded on major stock exchanges, are very liquid, pay out their earnings in dividends to investors and don't require a minimum investment. REITs basically don't pay a corporation tax and enjoy this privilege as they pay out most of their earings in dividends. You are required to pay tax on capital gains and dividend which you receive from your REIT.

5. Usually you don't unless you buy directly from the company, then you should receive a share certificate. I think you can request one from your broker as well if you really need one. Ask your broker to make sure but why do you need one? You should be able to obtain one but that won't happen automatically after you purchase shares. You have to request it and I am not 100% sure if you'll get one.

Personally I have never obtained one nor had the need for a share certificate.

6. XD (to my knowledge) stands for ex-dividend which is the final day for which you qualify for the proposed dividend. After the ex-dividend date investors will not qualify for the dividend.

No dividend should be quoted in pence or dollars or whatever the currency of the financial statement is but dividend yields are quoted in percentage.

7. It sounds to me that you just start out and I don't think any derivatives should be an option for you. They are very risky especially for novices and leveraged. You can trade them (depends on your broker) but I would not recommend them if you are not a professional investor or an individual investor with experience.

The returns are way greater and if you know how to trade derivatives then they are great but in your specific scenario and with the investment strategy you seem to follow I would not recommend them at all.

Hope this helps.

Good replies, Triton - thanks for taking the time with that.

Thanks titron for that i was just wondering what methods you use for shares.

I will be using a stock broker who will be on an advisory role so i can bounce of points of view with him.

As the share price goes up the yield will go down so looking at a a historic high yield would you say is misleading on the future of the shares. But then PE goes up as yield goes down i think looking at the accounts , with research in the market plus the ratios to a limited extent and gut feeling is how i will do it and of course with much adivce via the stock broker.

No problem Brian, that's what I am here for.

I am sorry but I can't disclose the strategy and tools that I use for stock analysis purposes. The only thing I can say is that it is very heavily based on technical analysis.

I would strongly recommend against using advice from your broker, but that is an individual choice. I just know too many people who followed broker recommendations and were very unhappy with that.

Keep one two things in mind:

1. Brokers are very likely to push products which will benefit the brokerage more then they will benefit you.

2. Analysts are the worst stock pickers in the markets and most likely your broker will give you recommendations based on their in-house analysts.

Once again it is your choice but I think that you won't do very well in the equity markets. I sure hope that you will and wish you good luck but the odds are strongly against you.

You may want to make some severe adjustments to your planned strategy in order to boost your overall portfolio performance.

I am thinking of many investment strategys . btw what do you think of cameco

What strategies do you have in mind, if you don't mind me asking?

As far as Cameco is concerned, that is actually one of the companies we cover.

In general I like Cameco, their financials are in decent shape and their business may see a strong increase in the coming years due to planned expansions of nuclear power plants on a global level.

If you want to play Cameco for the long-term I do think it is currently over-priced.

I was just wondering is gold the only commodity you can buy at spot price . Does this work by having a declaration via ownership but then the ease of selling it on is easy and has ease of liquidity . Are any of the other precious metal able to be traded in the same way as gold via a spot and not a future.

I was also if you could explain inter / intra market spreads with examples

Thank you for your time

Yes, as far as I know, gold is the only commodity which you can buy at spot price.

Inter-Market Spread:

It is the purchase of a future for one deliver month on one exchange and the sale of the the same future with the same delivery month on a second exchange.

Example:

The purchase of December CBOT Wheat and the sale of December KCBOT Wheat.

Intra-Market Spread:

Is the purchase of a future for one delivery month and the sale of a future with another delivery month on the same exchange.

Example:

The purchase of December CBOT Wheat and the sale of January CBOT Wheat.

thank you i was wondering if you could sell gov bonds before maturity date are you penalised for this . Equally do most large to medium companies have corporate bonds although riskier do they have more liquidity.

Yes, you can sell bonds before they mature. You will have to pay a transaction fee for it but it is possible. There is a secondary bond-market and your broker will sell to the highest bidder.

Yes, many large-cap and mid-cap companies do offer corporate bonds. Liquidity depends on the individual company.

what kind of return can you get for corporate bonds . Also with all the confusion in the housing markets at the mo should one stay clear of property investment trusts.