Thats what I was looking for, thank you. Have a few hundred bucks just sitting in my portfolio and not being used to buy stock, so I need to add a couple more growers even if its only a hundred shares.

The way I see this one is that they have $2/shr cash on the bal sheet. Now that they've stopped the bleeding of users....they are stabilizing and maybe a candy crush or words with friends away from big things! Certainly not a slam dunk, but there is fair amount of opportunity there.

See, here's where we disagree. I'd rather not be long zynga. I have no problems making an options bet on their earnings. But there's a million different ways to invest and zynga doesn't hit the metrics I need to own it. That's why this is fun. Everybody has their own system.

Nick,

another one I like long term for growth potential is PBPB. Potbelly's Sandwich Works. This company started here in Chicago. One of it's first stores is literally down my elevator and across the street from me. You need to have a good stomach to buy this one at around 100x eps! But in my eyes, if I go out to lunch here in the city there are two resteraunts that have lines out the door day in and day out. Not just when new, but for years since they went in. Those two are Potbelly's and Chipotle! Now.... go look at a chart and see how many locations Chipotle has opened crossed the country and look at it's incredible stock chart! Potbelly currently has a fraction of the locations around the country. They are a real hit with the hipster crowd here in Chicagoland and do great business here. If they grow 1/2 as much as Chipotle did you will make a lot of money with this stock.

I don't think I'd have a huge position in it long term either. But this is one of those Higher risk long term growth opportunities I would hold on to. We are talking $400 for 100 shares. If that's a small portion of your portfolio I like ZNGA as turnaround growth play. I've done this over the years with Smith and Wesson and RiteAid. Both of which paid off enormously after about 5 years. Trust me...I've lost too! But I like to take portion of my portfolio, do some homework, and bet on companies that may grow in the future. That's the portion of a portfolio things like this are good for. And at $4/share you can do this with a small amount of risk. But your ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! ......different strokes! :) :tiphat:

Not to mention, the "Wreck" on Multi-grain with everything + hot peppers is DELICIOUS. They just opened one behind my work. I frequent that place. I will definitely add it to the watch list or purchase a couple.

Appreciate the feedback - Purchased 80 shares of ZNGA for a total unit cost of 4.07 - so we will see if it has any more play or continues to grow. Even if I can squeeze $100+ outta the deal, Ill be happy.

Thank you

I can see PBPB being a good growth stock. They have been opening lots of locations up in the Illinois area. And you're right, there are always long lines during lunch time. :tup:

wow I just read all 14 pages and my mind is :icon14:. Lot of good info guys. I have no experience in investing what so ever, but am very interested. So I started looking around trying to gain some knowledege and was wondering, lets say for a first time investor. Would a company like Microsoft be too big of a company to start with? Their currently at 35.73 and my idea was with the release of their new system next month that their sales would sky rocket a long with Sony. Is my idea completely crazy? or does it make sense? Im gonna try to get some better insight from a pro but just thought I would ask.

What do you want your money to do? How much of a loss can you stomach? What's your time horizon? How much volatility day to day are you comfortable with?

Well from what i've been reading there are short term investments like "penny" stocks and mid to longer term investments. I was thinking of starting small so I can get a feel for things so I was thinking on smaller short term. Im not looking to make this a full time job, maybe just a way to earn a little extra income. I understand it's a bit of gamble. I have some money saved, but I'm not willing to put it all on the line, is that what you meant?

Exactly. If you're not comfortable with the idea of losing every bit of your money, stay away from penny stocks. You can have plenty of short term investments that aren't penny stocks. Figure out how much of your money you're comfortable with losing. That's going to determine what kinds of stock to buy. If you're ok with the possiblility of losing a lot of it in exchange for the potential of higher returns, buy small and mid cap growth stocks. If you don't feel comfortable with a big loss and are ok with lower returns than the more aggressive stocks, buy large cap stocks with a healthy dividend.

ZNGA not being too cooperative after the Seeking Alpha reports....HACKS! LOL

Ok I see what your saying. I think I would be ok with lower returns at first but a higher chance at success. If i were to start off and take a big loss, that may discourage me from future investing.

Another thing to consider is how long until you need the money. What looks good for a quarter or two may not be a good performer over a five year period.

And if you plan on being an investor, eventually you'll take some losses. Some of them will be your fault, some of them will be bad timing, and some of them will be "**** happens".

Is there a difference between trading and investing? Could you elaborate a bit on that. I'm not exactly looking for an over night turn around. I understand it could take some time but 5 years seems more like a long term thing to me. Like I said I know its a bit of a gamble, plus being green sometimes you gotta learn the hard way.

Traders are looking to buy something mis-priced and sell it quickly. You can make some money that way, but it's closer to gambling than investing. If you're always trying to hit a home run, you'll strike out a lot. If you're trying to build up a portfolio, buy things and hold them. It'll take time. Honestly, five years is just starting to be considered long-term.

Just so you know, I'm a buy-and-hold guy for the most part. There's a lot of guys in this thread that fall more on the side of short term trading. There's a lot of different viewpoints on this stuff, and none of us are right all the time.

Ok, well thanks for the insight, I got a lot to learn. I know there's site like e-trader and such but are there other places I could gain info maybe even professional help?

Professional help made me sound like i need a shrink lol

There's plenty of professionals who will help you. It's not free, though. We're whores, not sluts. :rofl2:

I threw up a pretty good breakdown for a young person's portfolio in this thread. I can't recommend any individual security, but others can. If I were you, I'd go over to investopedia and read until my eyes bleed. Investopedia - Educating the world about finance

They are pretty good source for beginners :tup: Lots of information there to read about and also Investopedia can provide more education on risk/reward.

Will do thanks again

Made some good money on FNMA today, I went ahead and sold all 4400 shares. I was tempted to buy AAPl, glad I didn't. Everything looks so overvalued in the market. I'll sit and wait for what makes sense to make a move next. Maybe go b*lls out if there is a decent pullback with FNMA and hold for short term. In the meanwhile, the $40k in my brokerage will just sit till there is good opportunity.

I've thought the whole market has been overvalued all year, but it keeps on creeping on up. I'd love to see a 5-10% pullback. It would make me feel better about the whole thing.

Agreed. Good chance that this stretch extends as the Fed keeps pumping money further - thx to shutdown. Either ways correction is coming sooner or later. :tup:

Yep. As long as the free money flows, nothing's gonna change. I'm more afraid of fixed income at this point than equities. I'd be exchanging any bond funds I held with shorter duration funds if I still held any.

agreed, better long term bonds at this point. TIPS in portfolio?

Huh? I dont want anything long term at the moment. I want to be as short as possible. Did I read your comment wrong?

I made some money on TIPS, but I got out of fixed income completely and went 100% equities.

Right!! you read right I typed long when I was thinking short. :tup:

That's what I figured. Long term fixed income right now sounds like a great way to lose money.

Nov. 5th.
 

In a week I'll know if it's a car I'm getting or a crypt :eek:

If you're in any way serious about ending your life if your investment doesn't pan out (after you refuse to take some profits out and protect yourself) you need to talk to someone. If you ever have thoughts like that, you're investing so far outside your capacity for risk that it's incredibly unhealthy.

Thanks but I'll just will have a great lose of money. Only when I'm no longer able to drag race and Viagra no longer works will I seriously consider that. :tup:

If you lose money it's because you volunteered to. You have the opportunity to take your original investment out and leave the gains you've already made in to see if they go further. If you do this right, you have none of your own money at risk. Being greedy has a good chance of getting you killed (financially). Have you never heard the old saying "pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered"?

I'm done trying to convince you of this. If you lose any money in this deal, it is because you are being greedy and making it an all-or-nothing bet when it doesn't have to be. If a client of mine was set on doing something like this after being advised repeatedly not to sabotage themselves, I'd most likely part ways with the client. To that end, I'll stop trying to talk some sense into you. Hopefully your bet pans out, but you're playing with fire. If I were your broker, I would want you to sell out your initial investment and buy a pile of stocks that pay dividends. If your bet pans out with the remainder left in, then you sell and buy more growth. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're too old to be speculating. You don't have the years left to replace the lost funds.

You are 1,000% right. Thanks for the sensible advice. Some guys from a car shop described me as a cross between Steve Buscemi & Chritopher Walken. Most of the time I know the right thing to do or to say, but I don't. All my life I lived on the edge & several times came near seeing hell. The latest was on 4/5/13. I was taken to a hospital with serious head trauma. I woke up a week later with brain bleeding, nerve damage & the right side of my body was paralyzed. Couldn't hold a pen or move my right leg/toe. I'm o.k now. Just luck is why I'm still here. Don't believe in god or anything. If there was a hell, that would be my choice. Just cause it would be fun. Where I live there are gang/drug dealer neighborhoods close by. I sometimes take a walk at midnight into them just to raise my pulse. :icon14: I can't help it!!! Thanks again & have a good night.

One last point- if you win big on this one, go find a financial planner and invest half of your winnings conservatively according to his advice. Since you're a gambler by nature, hire somebody to protect you from yourself. You're keeping half to invest as you see fit, so you'll still get to have fun. You're just making sure you don't die broke.

Great advise and wisdom as always Chuck. ^

-Andre, be careful brother!! Wild MAN! :tup:

That said....Most successfull people will tell you they risked everything several times to get to where they are. lol :stirthepot::stirthepot:

Some even failed and lost everything multiple times.! :)

Absolutely true. ;)

Now go ask them if they would do it the same way if they had it to do over again. ;)

I was just stirring up trouble. :tiphat: lol. It's obviously not for everyone. :)

I'm just messing with you. You're right, the amount of successful people who have gone broke and made it back is very long.