Speak Your Mind.
- Thread starter oldhermit
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I don't bother to pick individual stocks...I use 2 tracker funds. Both are ticking along nicely. Apparently over the long term they will do just as well (or better) as managed funds especially when fee's are taken into account.
Tracker funds... May I ask, index funds or ETF's?
I'm still trying to learn the difference.
J
jennymae
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I’m proud to be a redneck. Whenever I’m down home Alabama I drive where I want to, parkways , driveways, sidewalks, dirt roads, hollers and everywhere in my pickup truck.
I’m not kidding
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I haven't got any ETF's its just index.. I don't understand ETF's fully so I don't put my money in them. Not that I have a lot of money - that's why i'm careful with what I have and where I put it lol
R
Ruby123
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I’m proud to be a redneck. Whenever I’m down home Alabama I drive where I want to, parkways , driveways, sidewalks, dirt roads, hollers and everywhere in my pickup truck.
What's a holler?
Oh. I love country music. I just Maddie and tae last night there country music duo they are awesome. If you want to hear my story go to my Bible study you will hear all about them https://christianchat.com/miscellaneous/my-bible-study.198801/page-10Unfortunately, country music isn't my jam, but I do love the Southern USA.
I should add that although I found trading to be riskier than I imagined, I still believe in long-term investing with either a well-managed fund with a long track record that consistently outperforms the market or simply investing in index funds such as the S&P 500. History shows that the market indexes as a whole always rise year after year with very few exceptions. Hard to believe that the DOW was below 10,000 just 10 or 12 years ago and it is over 34,000 today.
Index funds can be an ETF. There are ETFs like S&P index coffee tracker funds... you can buy an ETF or something that has high commissions. I'm using an ETN (very similar to an ETF) which uses Treasury notes to base their coffee futures purchasing...so where technically it's a bond fund (hence the ETN designation) it really just buys and sells coffee futures and reflects those. Here in the US I'm personally trading "JO" which is it's ticker symbol. There are others that track gold or something else.
TQQQ is a 3x leveraged ETF fund that tracks the S&P 500. It goes up drastically when the S&P goes up and if you use a discount Brokerage house the buying and selling of it is free. Commission is fixed into the returns. Of course it can tank just like the S&P.
ETF index funds are usually unmanaged by people... meaning a computer program does all the trading.
Yeah...scary isn't it? To me, relying solely upon a computer chip gizmo to manage my life savings is not exactly a good idea. Ever had a computer crash?
Thank you very much for the information... I read articles, but it's much more helpful to have knowledgeable people explain terms and concepts.
High commissions... I was under the impression that one of the appeals of ETF's is that because they are automated and don't rely on human managers (who receive commission or high salaries,) ETF's have fairly low or even no commissions? Or maybe I'm thinking of management fees, which might be classified differently?
Perhaps I am misunderstanding -- just wanted to get some clarification.
I haven't got any ETF's its just index.. I don't understand ETF's fully so I don't put my money in them. Not that I have a lot of money - that's why i'm careful with what I have and where I put it lol
ETFs are just exchange traded funds... you buy and sell them like a stock but they are just mutual funds. And truthfully they usually return a hair better than mutual funds with lower fees and no commissions. I've played with them on occasion when I don't know what to buy and reading the economic indicators have a good idea that the market is going to rise (or fall...they have short trading ETFs too)
And since I've been laid up due to my legs and quarantines...it's kept me busy and out of trouble.
Yes, I've been interested in mutual funds that have a FAANG portfolio (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) because of course, who can afford to buy them individually (with Amazon being over $3200 per share today.)
But of course, an ETF that has a lower maintenance fee and no commission sounds even better.
I think you've mentioned day trading... May I ask, do you have to have any special kind of license or permit to do so?
And is it hard to keep your returns above water when considering any commissions/trading fees, and short-term capital gains taxes?
Also, prayers over you that your legs will get better.
Thanks very much -- it's so nice, and very unique (to me at least,) to have other Christians to talk to and ask honest questions about this without being told how the love of money is the root of all evil and that I'll turn into the camel who can't get through the eye of a needle.
As you have said in other posts, some of us are just trying to support our families.
Every fund has fees...they are referred to as management fees. They don't necessarily have commissions paid to a salesman. How high those fees are is depending upon staffing the fund needs. And ETFs are going to have management fees... someone has to maintain the thing. But it's a lot lower fees than a regular mutual fund. There's no salesman and minimal staff.
If you look at Morningstar they have a lot of research on ETFs...most are by well known investment houses. It's a low cost journal that can really help you understand what you might want to put your money into....they have the worst stock advice...so ignore them on individual stocks. Their stock analysts are pretty much either promoting what an investment bank is paying them to OR degrading a rival stock to ridiculous low levels. But for the ETFs and managed funds they have a reputation to uphold. And they do that fairly competently. Now...not every ETF is unmanaged. Some have higher fees. (Which reduces the returns) But the game is that you expect that a managed ETF with higher fees returns more than an unmanaged fund. (And some do)
It's like how a "for profit" hospital charges lower fees for services than a non-profit hospital does. Plenty of games afoot.
I'm not so concerned about fees as I am returns...I am unconcerned about who makes a nickel so long as I get a dime. In wall street there are no friends...and earnings are the truth that must be told. (Or go to jail for lying)