Serious Investment Advice Please

[zorro1]

stock market but use tight stop loss. All those that did their cash did not use a stop loss. Have a dabble with around 10 % you may just be lucky enough to catch the bottom wherever that is

[Kharzi]

Anyone offering 6 - 7 % return on a bond now must be suspect. Reminds me of the precipice bonds of ( not too ) old when returns of 12% were ' guaranteed ' but of course it was one's own money being paid out of the original deposit which of course dwindled to 30 - 50 % in 2 - 3 years.

Batten down the hatches and lie on a beach for the next year. Mind you the £ against the euro could be a good buy in the next month or so.

[Naam]

Anyone offering 6 - 7 % return on a bond now must be suspect. Reminds me of the precipice bonds of ( not too ) old when returns of 12% were ' guaranteed ' but of course it was one's own money being paid out of the original deposit which of course dwindled to 30 - 50 % in 2 - 3 years.

i was very happy receiving 13-14% on UK gilts end of the 70s and beginning of the 80s. the Chancellor of the Exchequer paid out twice a year without a single day delay.

there was nothing suspicious about it.

remark: you don't seem to know a lot about the bond market, am i right? my question is rhetoric only!

[Naam]

stock market but use tight stop loss. All those that did their cash did not use a stop loss. Have a dabble with around 10 % you may just be lucky enough to catch the bottom wherever that is

my impression and experience is that our american friends who took a double beating believe in mutual funds IRAs and 401ks. in these cases placing a stop loss is virtually impossible.

[OxfordWill]

keep everything in cash!

[Kharzi]

Anyone offering 6 - 7 % return on a bond now must be suspect. Reminds me of the precipice bonds of ( not too ) old when returns of 12% were ' guaranteed ' but of course it was one's own money being paid out of the original deposit which of course dwindled to 30 - 50 % in 2 - 3 years.

i was very happy receiving 13-14% on UK gilts end of the 70s and beginning of the 80s. the Chancellor of the Exchequer paid out twice a year without a single day delay.

there was nothing suspicious about it.

remark: you don't seem to know a lot about the bond market, am i right? my question is rhetoric only!

Obviously, I was referring to the noughties, you idiot.

[Naam]

Anyone offering 6 - 7 % return on a bond now must be suspect. Reminds me of the precipice bonds of ( not too ) old when returns of 12% were ' guaranteed ' but of course it was one's own money being paid out of the original deposit which of course dwindled to 30 - 50 % in 2 - 3 years.

i was very happy receiving 13-14% on UK gilts end of the 70s and beginning of the 80s. the Chancellor of the Exchequer paid out twice a year without a single day delay.

there was nothing suspicious about it.

remark: you don't seem to know a lot about the bond market, am i right? my question is rhetoric only!

Obviously, I was referring to the noughties, you idiot.

the jury is still out to decide who's the idiot. that you have no idea about investing you have proved already

[Naam]

Thanks for the informative reply Naam! I know nothing of this type of instrument so will have something to research, as I always like to diversify if possible. Just doing a quick search and I came across an EFT that holds debt from 17 emerging markets. Would you give an EFT a yay or a nay? Is there any advantage to hold the debt outright?

http://seekingalpha.com/article/51738-emer...mal-correlation

I would also like to get into EUR as I have funds in CND, Baht and I receive my income in USD, so having some in EUR would be another tick to my diversification score card.

ETFs have the big advantage that an investor can broadly diversify with a minimum of investment VIBE. the critical points are that you have to trust the fund manager and select a fund which is not too big. a big fund is rather sluggish and cannot react in times of a crisis because selling would depress the market even more. look also for fees and past performance (which is of course no guarantee for the future but gives you an overall view).

the list of top holdings of the ETF for which you provided a link is more or less what i was thinking of. but for spreading the risk several different ETFs should be selected. however, that shouldn't be a problem.

[zorro1]

stock market but use tight stop loss. All those that did their cash did not use a stop loss. Have a dabble with around 10 % you may just be lucky enough to catch the bottom wherever that is

my impression and experience is that our american friends who took a double beating believe in mutual funds IRAs and 401ks. in these cases placing a stop loss is virtually impossible.

Agreed they got a double whammy there, however times have changed and DYOR is king these last few months and amazing to read posts from super star analysts and brokers such as Huntley's who were bullish right until the end, they sent millions broke. New motto for 2009 ,Cash and stop loss are king