Do you think "green technology" is a good investment?

yes, when no one else has figured that out yet.

If you are the last to figure it out, you are buying the top of the bubble.

may the devil take the hindmost

@DrMC What does that mean exactly? Remember your talking to a 19 year old who does not know crap about these things lol ;)

It depends on how well the company is run. Like when tech startups were exploding and many were failing, you have to know something about the product and then you have to be able to evaluate the business plan.

Oh.

I like the low cost internet trading companies.

Pile up some cash, and send a check – to the house of your choice: scottrade, others. (make an account first of course)

You will need to know the future. I prefer direct witchcraft, while others work hard and study the market.

you might want to explore www.clearstation.com. I learned a butt-load about markets and reading charts there.

Remember, beginning traders generally suck and make big mi$take$. Don’t use margin.

Don’t use a single stock.

Diversification means NOT putting your eggs in one basket.

Don’t follow fads. You will generally be the hindmost as hinted at above.

Trading can be addictive fun, and you can even lose your shirt as a bonus. Do not do options, or anything other than stocks initially. Do not attempt to use the market as anything other than a gambling house, until you sharpen your teeth.

Keep a job, save wisely. This is play money.

If you have big money, you can afford an adviser and need one.

If you are poor like me, then make plan$.

Remember, the world economy will collapse and we will all be dead shortly, so this is all just for fun, make millions. It doesn’t matter.

How do you buy a particular stock? –
– say you have 5000 in td ameritrade. You wake up one morning and decide you will get rich buying tulip stock . com. (tulip is a joke comparing a certain stock to the Amsterdam tulip bubble several hundred years ago).

In the web page you open the “buy” window – buy – 100 shares tulip.com – then voila.

It says to you – “you just got pwned with 100 shares of tulip at more than you wanted to spend. hahah sucka”

Just kidding. It will confirm.

Then the next day if the price goes up 100% you sell your shares the same way and you have more money to use in the gambling hall.

so much fun, and it’s even legal.

A lot of accounts need a minimum of 500$ to 1000$. trades cost 7–14 per transaction. Many of the houses will give you advice etc, but you will need to learn.

A mutual fund is a good start. You could pick a fund with a “green” philosophy – but I surely would diversify.

You should learn about dollar cost averaging. If you put the same number of dollars in every month come hell or high water, you will buy more shares when the price is lower (same dollars buys more shares) – actually this beats the stats of most other methods for beginners, and a lot of “experts” too (like myself).

Market timing and mania prediction is such destructive fun. You have to like storms and bad weather, blood and shrapnell to be into it. It’s not for the faint of heart.

So things I should keep in mind/key points

- Low cost internet trading site
– Expect to lose money and don’t count on this money
– Need $500—$1000 to start
– Diversify my stock
– Research companies, study the market
– Learn dollar cost averaging
– Don’t Follow Fads

Is it also true gold is always a good investment?

There will be winners and losers, so if you invest, it’s always a good idea to diversify the portfolio so that if one or two of the companies you chose perform poorly, the others will still pay out enough for you to pocket a handy profit. But the winners probably will not be US companies.

Research what Germany is doing. They are fast approaching the point where 20% of their electrical power will be generated by wind energy. China Inc. has invested $100 billion in green technology development. They intend to be the suppliers to the rest of the world. There is no question this is where the future of energy production is heading. The question is who will win the race. With all the conservatives in the USA now, we’re still mulling around the starting line long after the starting gun went off.

Several major fossil-fuel industries here in the US reversed course on cap-and-trade this week and decided to end their lobbying efforts against it and instead press Washington to institute it. They have become convinced that the carbon market will generate the investment capital needed to tap the growing green energy market. So there is a glimmer of hope. But investing in this area, particularly if you bet on US companies exclusively, is fraught with risk.

@ETpro Yes, thats what I thought to an extent that all the signs sooner or later point this direction with energy so why not invest now was my ideal. I can’t believe I was not even thinking about other countries doh.

So I should spread my “green” investment over companies that are investing in green technology basically so if one tanks than the others will float I still leave with something?

@Steve_A Exactly, and companies operating in Europe, Asia and Africa as well as in the USA.

@ETpro I hate to say this but I find it sad my own country seems to be the weakest link here or is it just me?

@Steve_A I find it sad too.

If it’s indeed Green and not simply riding the wave.

@phoebusg you mean it might possibly be just a fad?

@Steve_A, you might want to play around on www.weseed.com for a bit. It’s a great way to learn about the stock market.

I think green technology stocks are an excellent idea for long term growth. You might want to look at a green technology mutual fund.

@PandoraBoxx Alright, I just made an account , do you do this too?

waiting for the confirmation code to come EDIT: I got starting with a 1,000 since thats apprentice and about what I would actually start with hah! :)

Google share is $533 dollars thats the real price too??

PS I am making sure I diversify, and I am finding some solar based companies did anyone see that on that WM the CEO went in and did changes to the company first hand?

Yes, and my daughters play, too. You can increase your money that you have.

Yes, $533 is the real price for Google. Google Finance is a great tool as well to follow stocks and do research.

@PandoraBoxx So all these companies and prices are based off real stats then right?

I guess Google is worth 533 though at this rate…imagine when they are finally OK with China?

Thats cool you have your family play too.

Yes, they are based off real stats. www.fool.com has a lot of information about stocks and strategies, and about learning how to research a company. There’s a certain amount of math that can go into picking a stock and predicting performance or determining if the price is a good value. For example the P/E ratio looks at the price of the stock compared to the earnings. Debt to equity ratio is an indicator of how volatile a stock price could be.

@PandoraBoxx Are you going to buy Toyota? I bought some after reading this from fool.com

http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2010/02/12/is-toyota-on-sale.aspx?source=ihpsitth0000001

One good strategy that’s alway pushed is “go with what you know.” In other words, if there is a brand that you really like in something, odds are other people do, too, and sales will be good.

The other thing is to think about what items people need to have, and look at that segment. For example, everyone buys a mattress. What companies among mattress makers has the most sales? Which among the mattress makers is the best investment. You can figure all this out by understanding what the math is that you should be looking at in order to evaluate a stock.

People often make money on a stock by purchasing it when it is initially offered for sale, initial public offerings (IPOs). These can be found listed on Hoover’s. Using the Google example, their IPO was $85, and has never traded below $95.

@PandoraBoxx Thanks I will look into that for sure.

I believe I will start reading back on a book I had for stock market investing by Jason Kelly.

As well as start the Level 1 learning they have on weseed.com

Everyone wins by going “green!”

Rather than trying to suss out yourself which companies and kinds of green technologies will catch on, I would look to invest in mututal funds that are focussed on green technology. The fund directors will have much greater knowledge than you of which companies are likely to succeed. I think with that strategy you should be able to make money. I use a broker for investing even though it costs more, but you can probably find green focussed mutual funds through an online trader.

@Steve_A thinking green is a necessity, but many will abuse even that in the face of their own destruction.

It’s is fairly basic…most if not all “green” technology or green anything costs a lot more to produce than it’s fossil fuel counterpart. So until gas reaches $7—$8 per gallon it is a loosing proposition and no venture capital will be pumped into serious R&D until that happens. Plus trying to speculate as to what will be the dominate and accepted source of Green is in it’s infancy and full of up front costs that will have to be recouped before any profits are generated. It is hurry up and wait time.

To add to what @Cruiser said, don’t make huge bets with your own money on any kind of technology, company or market sector that depends for its success on political subsidy—without being very mindful of the politics behind that.

For example, I wouldn’t make any huge investment in US ethanol production right now because of its huge reliance on subsidy to make it commercially viable. When a large scale method of producing ethanol is proven that can produce the fuel from formerly “useless” agricultural and other biomass stocks—such as corn stalks, switchgrass and algae, for example, that have no food value and are therefore essentially valueless to the rest of the market—and can do that for less than the cost to deliver an equivalent quantity of gasoline or diesel fuel, then I’ll jump in with both feet.

Until then, I’m not betting much cash on subsidized ethanol production, for example, since the subsidy can be withdrawn without much notice, and the bottom will fall out of your investment.

In general, in investing, stick to the things that you do know, and avoid stories and hype from people who are selling anything to do with investing. You can make money in any technology—if you understand it, and understand the companies involved in it. If you don’t understand your market and your companies, then making money will be more a matter of luck.

@Steve_A the stock prices are based on recent trades. If suddenly no one buys- the price drops and vice versa. The price moves until a seller or buyer is found.

Do you know what a famous painting is worth?

What the market will bare. – there is no “real” valuation – it’s just what people think it is worth – which is based on prediction of future performance.

You may want to read up on the efficient market hypothesis or theory. Based on the idea that valuations are correct because the market efficiently responds to information and underlying value.

The market is heavily inefficient, and there is a science and art to targeting both efficient and inefficient valuations. The idea of a fad versus real company value you have grasped is dead on. Don’t however trust prices.

Learn techniques of valuation, and also learn technical analysis (reading charts). Understand macroeconomics (why certain gov practices will run us into the ground)

Green is just a niche, that is a good idea fundamentally, but it’s only one market niche – you need to be broader, and don’t be scammed by a bubble.