Members with experice buying individual stocks outside TSP

[madd money]

Question: I want to buy ALB or FMC stock considering all the EV mandates coming our way.

I have been wanting to purchase outside individual stocks ( ALB and FMC ) and I thought my fellow members would give me HONEST information on THEIR experiences. So with that said are any of you willing to offer personal insight on this topic. I appreciate any and ALL info shared and I hope I have not duplicated this topic.

[crondanet5]

How many shares are you thinking of purchasing of each company?

[ArrieS]

Question: I want to buy ALB or FMC stock considering all the EV mandates coming our way.

I have been wanting to purchase outside individual stocks ( ALB and FMC ) and I thought my fellow members would give me HONEST information on THEIR experiences. So with that said are any of you willing to offer personal insight on this topic. I appreciate any and ALL info shared and I hope I have not duplicated this topic.

I assume by your name you may watch Jim Crammer. He has plenty to say on it. Do your research and stay on top of your homework. Pick who you think will be the clear winner in the categories you want.

[crondanet5]

Arries what do you think of those two stocks? Would you buy them?

[Winner]

Between ALB and FMC then I pick ALB.

ALB is just break through double top on daily chart https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=alb&ty=c&ta=0&p=d. Now resistance become the support, but I'll wait for it to trade at least three to five days to confirm break through for long term investment (you don't want it like OLED - after break through double top then pulled back 12% within a week). Short term I'll buy then trim (lock in partial profit) and trail.

FMC is near resistance (double top) and it has and open gap below $80 area, which is very high chance for it to pull back and fill https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=FMC&ty=c&ta=0&p=d. For day trade or swing trade then I don't mind to jump in with tight stop lost and get out prior to the resistance area just in case it pull back about 17% to fill the gap.

[crondanet5]

The question remains how many shares will you buy? I like winner's selection and he's right it will go p, then down some just as the Nasdaq.com chart indicates. Are you vigilant to know when to sell? Can you buy enough shares to make the purchase worthwhile? As longtime readers know I like to transact a thousand shares at a time. How many shares can you afford to buy?

[ArrieS]

I would never buy a stock I'm not confident enough to buy without input from someone else.

I realize that maybe of no help to you but that's my only real answer on that.

However, seeking alpha has many articles and opinions to help you make a decision. There maybe nothing on those companies, but I'm sure there is a lot on the topic of profiting from EVs.

[Baywatch]

Question: I want to buy ALB or FMC stock considering all the EV mandates coming our way.

I have been wanting to purchase outside individual stocks ( ALB and FMC ) and I thought my fellow members would give me HONEST information on THEIR experiences. So with that said are any of you willing to offer personal insight on this topic. I appreciate any and ALL info shared and I hope I have not duplicated this topic.

Most of the financial firms have great research resources. I would start there.

[rmcdeepsea]

The question remains how many shares will you buy? I like winner's selection and he's right it will go p, then down some just as the Nasdaq.com chart indicates. Are you vigilant to know when to sell? Can you buy enough shares to make the purchase worthwhile? As longtime readers know I like to transact a thousand shares at a time. How many shares can you afford to buy?

So why an amount of shares and not a total purchase dollar amount? For instance always buying $10,000 worth of a stock to start. Just curious.

[crondanet5]

Simple. The greater the shares the sooner you reach your target gain and you can sell. Share prices go up and go down. Take a look at 5 days of seesawing prices of AND or BTSI. Why hold a stock when it goes down? With at least a thousand shares you can buy low and sell high. Fifty cent increase in price means a $500 gain. Why not sell and buy another thousand shares when the stock turns and starts up again? What is better than sleeping in cash?

[cashworth]

These responses seem geared toward day trading. I took the OP as an idea of long term investing in a sector due to its promising future.
If that's the case, just toss a little money in through the cheapest avenue you can find. Figure out who does the Direct Stock Purchase Plan for those companies and look into the "cost" of ownership. Don't forget to understand the impacts of dividends if they have ever paid them, or plan to start paying them.
Then look back, point, and laugh if you make a bunch of money!

[madd money]

I appreciate everyone's opinion(s) and information on this topic. After reading the replies I feel like I need to get more acquainted with these financial terms and methods. My belief that I have so much to learn has been re-confirmed. ( I will buy a Financial Investing book after this posting)

Yes, I wake to the opening bell, monitor the numbers throughout the day, catch the closing and watch the bald man Crammer when time permits. I follow active FDA clinical trials in but have missed out on some VERY profitable gains after MANY medically FDA approved techniques hit the retailers due to MY procrastination.

I am considering purchasing 5K to 10K in ALB and let it ride until all these manufacture's self-mandated EV goals come to maturity and then adjust accordingly. ( I know - "A fool and his money are soon parted" will come to mind to most

Thanks again for all your thoughts and suggestions. Signed the "Rookie Investor"

[crondanet5]

It's not day trading. It's daily trading. madd you are doing the right thing buying even numbers of shares in a meaningful amount so you can watch your account balance grow. And even amounts of shares seem to sell quicker than odd lots. I still suggest studying charts to determine sell and buy again share prices to maximize your return. just like the seasonal programs do moving your TSP Balance from one fund to another to avoid a loss and keep the balance growing. I suggest you do the same thing with your stock trades.

[skiehawk11]

Day trading is speculation. There is some skill involved, but ultimately it depends a lot on luck. I'm not knocking day (or daily) trading, but if you haven't done it and don't understand technical trading anyone suggesting it to you is setting you up for failure.

There's also fundamental trading. But, that can be just as bad. Most will tell you to look at some sort of ratio to determine if you're getting a "deal". That also is a recipe for failure. Most times, distressed companies are distressed for a reason. If the broad economy is not in a tail spin (think 2000's and 07-09 recession), you need to look at the industry the stock is in. If the macroeconomic conditions suggest that the sector as a whole is experiencing a downturn then it may make sense to look at solid companies that have good marketshare.

For instance, check the industry for ALB. Divide its total revenue averaged over the past 5 years to the average total revenue for the sector/industry. The higher, the better. Next, look at earnings. Specifically look at earnings for continued and discontinued operations. This reflects earnings from what the core business that company is in. Next, look at how efficient the company is at turning debt into equity. Make sure that the company has enough liquidity to cover its debt payments. Debt isn't bad, but not all debt is good.

Basically, the name of the game for individual stocks for long term investing is to buy companies that have a history of solid earnings. If you're lucky, you can buy at fair or below market price. Or you can wait for their price to get there. Fair price is based on a lot of assumptions though so don't let anyone tell you that fair price is a sure thing. That's a whole other topic.

If your goal is to buy a stock in the hopes of selling it at a higher price in a few months to a year, I couldn't help you. I'd recommend talking with members that have had success speculating the price of stocks. Speculating isn't all bad, but you better be darn sure you have the know-how and a gameplan to not get suckered into the short term tantrums of the market.

If you have time, check out Aswath Damodaran's YouTube channel. If you watch and take notes on his financial analysis playlists, you'll be a better analyst than the majority of analysts out there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLvnJL8htRR1T9cbSccaoVw/playlists

[TopNotch]

Simple. The greater the shares the sooner you reach your target gain and you can sell. Share prices go up and go down. Take a look at 5 days of seesawing prices of AND or BTSI. Why hold a stock when it goes down? With at least a thousand shares you can buy low and sell high. Fifty cent increase in price means a $500 gain. Why not sell and buy another thousand shares when the stock turns and starts up again? What is better than sleeping in cash?

Chron - Do you buy your stocks within the first hour that the market opens? Also, do you ever have luck buying at open when pre-market news for a stock is positive and it is showing serious pre-market gains? Thanks.