If you know how to play a bear market, smart investing in put options for stocks guaranteed to fall (I'm looking at you, Yahoo and Starbucks) in the next few weeks can win you easy money. But for the optimists out there, a well-diversified index fund is the way to go. The market always recovers - always has, always will. Technology improves and production increases (simplified, I know, but generally truthful).
i) Real stuff - Oil, Uranium, Natural Gas, Coal, Corn, Wheat, Rice, Soy, Gold, Platinum, Silver, Aluminium, Copper, Zinc, Iron Ore - buy the commodities themselves, or buy the companies that mine them cheaply, and are able to replace their reserves faster than they deplete them. Asia and India's 2.5 billion people are getting richer and will be demanding more of this stuff.
ii) Stuff that rich people (Americans and Europeans) make better than poor people (Chinese, Indians, Brazilians, Mexicans, etc.) (I mean the co's that make the stuff) Aircraft and aerospace parts, arms, any precision manufactured product, nuclear reactors, turbines, etc. (just check out the trade figures and buy the sectors where exports are rising.) The world economy is doing not too badly actually, good skills coupled with a weak dollar means that sectors where america has a comparative advantage will do very well.
iii) Water. Companies that make water or deploy water infrastructure. Global supplies of fresh water are at all time lowes (and even America's infrastructrure will die if not overhauled- watch those water rates/municipal taxes go up) At least buy a hedge against that.
iv) Energy (see point i) but particularly alternative energy Wind and Solar.
v) Buy the leading stocks (finance, brewing, telecoms, media) in oil exporting countries - Middle East, Africa, Canada, who have capacity to sustain or increase exports.
First you have to define "best". Is it the safest place or the place with the highest rate of return or is it the greenest or what? My Elders taught me, the 'best' place to invest is always "in yourself". If you're in a job, get more training; if you're in business, put the money into it. I've always followed that advice and it has never failed me.
Money can be made (or at least losses avoided) even in "bad" economic conditions. You just have to be creative. There are actually some sectors that are doing surprisingly well....look at things like alternative investments, commodities, metals etc....follow the pros. Buffet is rolling heavy in cash right now to avoid heavier losses.
Best place to put your money is getting out of debt especially credit card debt. The credit card companies are the next ones to get hit in this downturn and they are going to do what ever it takes to make a profit. That includes raising fees and interest rates and since there is no one to stop them they are going to raise interest rates to whatever they want too. The sooner one is debt free the easier it will be to ride out this downturn.
The best place is in starting new businesses, specifically businesses that take advantage of web 2.0 and the momentum of the word-of-mouth. It's a good time to create useful services that satisfy needs where customers feel they are really paying for what they get.
Lots Of great ideas Here,Carels Idea also ,In the sense that is one of the things i have done,I Used money I was not willing to risk on the market or anywhere else and stopped the Money bleeding,Paid off all debt,,Paid off My home Mortgage ,as With the interest I was paying out there ,,And am now Debt free,And i have more and more Money coming in To feel more comfortable taking more risk on ,During slim times.Its kind of hard not to feel a bit of a pinch with fuel costs going up so high,in a short time.Sometimes its good to get a bit of a Pinch to let you know just how Vundurable you really are in a Bussines world,and Touch back with that reality Base.lol I always like my security,So I seem to protect my Funds quickly if i feel a threat,Sometimes i think a little too quickly,While it saves me,it costs me also,Then again I always have felt the safeist place for my Money was in my pocket.
Well here is my unique situation involves Real estate now,We all know the funk that is plaugeing the realestate market in general now Randulo,My problem is i have been waiting to get in as values in the cocoa Beach,cape canaveral area are falling like rocks ,in the year 2010,the rest of the bottom of the barrel will fall out and they will be shakeing that barrel as that is when the space shuttle program shuts down for good 2010,Having lived in this area as a small child growing up,I do remember when the apollo program shut down in the 70,s and we all darn near starved,and working at McDonalds was a good job ,all the enginneers thought so.,well the cape is supposed to be down for 5-7 years total about the same as last time.Nice homes on tropical trail were 20,000,people were walking away right and left to go where they could get work.,Same thing is coming,just how bad and how low will the property go? thats the question,Im waiting for now,forclosures are now common and signs are going up regularly,I hear daily of people loseing there homes to the bank as the 15,000 at the cape loseing jobs,you also have sea ray boats shutting down slowly,Boston whaler shutting down,and another large company today is shutting down ,the falling dominoe effect has started so,so slowly,if you wait till the end of the game ,be prepared to leave with just your shirt and if your lucky your trousers,we as boys always wondered why they built all there huge highways and no one ever drove on them,I guess this is when the carpet baggers pick up there tool bags and move back up north from an old southern gentlemans point of view,who has worked here hard all his life but never offered a job out there,its way to clickish,and if your just a good old southern boy the so very smart yankee boys come down and hire around the locals,I know very few actual local boys i grew up with that work out there usually its someones buddy,cousin or neighbor,who can fish well or has a great boat.now thats workin at the cape lol.it will be good to have my old life back for a little while,buy a little more land and kick back and watch the cycle go by again.Hand me that Budwieser Dear,and put a little bait on my hook ,you all have a good time.Jim Persinger
14 Total
July 7, 2008 at 11:28am by Brendan Collins
If you know how to play a bear market, smart investing in put options for stocks guaranteed to fall (I'm looking at you, Yahoo and Starbucks) in the next few weeks can win you easy money. But for the optimists out there, a well-diversified index fund is the way to go. The market always recovers - always has, always will. Technology improves and production increases (simplified, I know, but generally truthful).
July 7, 2008 at 12:11pm by Afam Edozie
i) Real stuff - Oil, Uranium, Natural Gas, Coal, Corn, Wheat, Rice, Soy, Gold, Platinum, Silver, Aluminium, Copper, Zinc, Iron Ore - buy the commodities themselves, or buy the companies that mine them cheaply, and are able to replace their reserves faster than they deplete them. Asia and India's 2.5 billion people are getting richer and will be demanding more of this stuff.
ii) Stuff that rich people (Americans and Europeans) make better than poor people (Chinese, Indians, Brazilians, Mexicans, etc.) (I mean the co's that make the stuff) Aircraft and aerospace parts, arms, any precision manufactured product, nuclear reactors, turbines, etc. (just check out the trade figures and buy the sectors where exports are rising.) The world economy is doing not too badly actually, good skills coupled with a weak dollar means that sectors where america has a comparative advantage will do very well.
iii) Water. Companies that make water or deploy water infrastructure. Global supplies of fresh water are at all time lowes (and even America's infrastructrure will die if not overhauled- watch those water rates/municipal taxes go up) At least buy a hedge against that.
iv) Energy (see point i) but particularly alternative energy Wind and Solar.
v) Buy the leading stocks (finance, brewing, telecoms, media) in oil exporting countries - Middle East, Africa, Canada, who have capacity to sustain or increase exports.
My two pennies (www.smartinvestorafrica.com). Happy Hunting
July 7, 2008 at 12:42pm by Carel Two-Eagle
First you have to define "best". Is it the safest place or the place with the highest rate of return or is it the greenest or what? My Elders taught me, the 'best' place to invest is always "in yourself". If you're in a job, get more training; if you're in business, put the money into it. I've always followed that advice and it has never failed me.
July 7, 2008 at 3:44pm by Maurice Tawil
when you don't understand what is going on, or when the future looks so blured, stay on the sidelines, ready with cash to seize opportunities
July 7, 2008 at 4:49pm by Michael Daehn
Real estate and blue chip companies with good managers- they'll both be around a long time, but they are on sale right now.
July 7, 2008 at 4:53pm by Spencer LaCouture
Money can be made (or at least losses avoided) even in "bad" economic conditions. You just have to be creative. There are actually some sectors that are doing surprisingly well....look at things like alternative investments, commodities, metals etc....follow the pros. Buffet is rolling heavy in cash right now to avoid heavier losses.
July 7, 2008 at 7:32pm by Josef Grosch
Best place to put your money is getting out of debt especially credit card debt. The credit card companies are the next ones to get hit in this downturn and they are going to do what ever it takes to make a profit. That includes raising fees and interest rates and since there is no one to stop them they are going to raise interest rates to whatever they want too. The sooner one is debt free the easier it will be to ride out this downturn.
July 7, 2008 at 9:19pm by Edward Sussman
@carel Love your advice.
July 7, 2008 at 9:44pm by Lance Shields
The best place is in starting new businesses, specifically businesses that take advantage of web 2.0 and the momentum of the word-of-mouth. It's a good time to create useful services that satisfy needs where customers feel they are really paying for what they get.
July 8, 2008 at 1:20am by james persinger
Lots Of great ideas Here,Carels Idea also ,In the sense that is one of the things i have done,I Used money I was not willing to risk on the market or anywhere else and stopped the Money bleeding,Paid off all debt,,Paid off My home Mortgage ,as With the interest I was paying out there ,,And am now Debt free,And i have more and more Money coming in To feel more comfortable taking more risk on ,During slim times.Its kind of hard not to feel a bit of a pinch with fuel costs going up so high,in a short time.Sometimes its good to get a bit of a Pinch to let you know just how Vundurable you really are in a Bussines world,and Touch back with that reality Base.lol I always like my security,So I seem to protect my Funds quickly if i feel a threat,Sometimes i think a little too quickly,While it saves me,it costs me also,Then again I always have felt the safeist place for my Money was in my pocket.
July 8, 2008 at 2:58am by randulo randulos
long term: real estate
short term: oil companies
mid term: live well!
July 8, 2008 at 3:49am by james persinger
Well here is my unique situation involves Real estate now,We all know the funk that is plaugeing the realestate market in general now Randulo,My problem is i have been waiting to get in as values in the cocoa Beach,cape canaveral area are falling like rocks ,in the year 2010,the rest of the bottom of the barrel will fall out and they will be shakeing that barrel as that is when the space shuttle program shuts down for good 2010,Having lived in this area as a small child growing up,I do remember when the apollo program shut down in the 70,s and we all darn near starved,and working at McDonalds was a good job ,all the enginneers thought so.,well the cape is supposed to be down for 5-7 years total about the same as last time.Nice homes on tropical trail were 20,000,people were walking away right and left to go where they could get work.,Same thing is coming,just how bad and how low will the property go? thats the question,Im waiting for now,forclosures are now common and signs are going up regularly,I hear daily of people loseing there homes to the bank as the 15,000 at the cape loseing jobs,you also have sea ray boats shutting down slowly,Boston whaler shutting down,and another large company today is shutting down ,the falling dominoe effect has started so,so slowly,if you wait till the end of the game ,be prepared to leave with just your shirt and if your lucky your trousers,we as boys always wondered why they built all there huge highways and no one ever drove on them,I guess this is when the carpet baggers pick up there tool bags and move back up north from an old southern gentlemans point of view,who has worked here hard all his life but never offered a job out there,its way to clickish,and if your just a good old southern boy the so very smart yankee boys come down and hire around the locals,I know very few actual local boys i grew up with that work out there usually its someones buddy,cousin or neighbor,who can fish well or has a great boat.now thats workin at the cape lol.it will be good to have my old life back for a little while,buy a little more land and kick back and watch the cycle go by again.Hand me that Budwieser Dear,and put a little bait on my hook ,you all have a good time.Jim Persinger
July 8, 2008 at 11:31am by Ray Myers
Under your mattress. It costs more to drive to the savings bank to deposit your meager savings than the return on that savings!
July 10, 2008 at 12:35am by Adam Barton
Tax free municipal bonds.