The FTSE

[I'm no cynic but...]

This is only a general observation of how markets work, but supply and demand is the controlling force behind market fluctuations.

A long time ago I was stuck behind a screen watching these fluctuations and trying to assess whether any move was a sign of things to come or whether these fluctuations were just random noise. A few I got right but many others I got wrong.
I still got out ahead, well ahead, but for the effort involved I may as well have just stuck it all away in a bank account and reinvested the interest. I didn't but when the banking crisis hit home, interest became very minimal and so I reassessed my position and instead of going for individual stocks I just invested in a few ETFs with the occasional investment that might have risen more slowly than the others in my portfolio.
The logic that I used was simply market forces that were evident through life itself. By this I mean the incessant rise in world population and the reduction in the availability of land to both house and feed this population.
The only way to see how the world is shaping up to this from an investment view is to watch how commodities and those things necessary to life are affected by these global forces. Shortages of those things of necessity will mean higher prices as demand will exceed supply.
Some will profit from it but I from my own point of view I feel rather uncomfortable with it and, as an aging person I've gone as far as I can. I just hope that you younger folk can profit from what may be lying ahead because for the many who do not realise it or do not care about it, life is going to become very difficult.
Take care folks.

 

[BLS]

This is only a general observation of how markets work, but supply and demand is the controlling force behind market fluctuations.

A long time ago I was stuck behind a screen watching these fluctuations and trying to assess whether any move was a sign of things to come or whether these fluctuations were just random noise. A few I got right but many others I got wrong.
I still got out ahead, well ahead, but for the effort involved I may as well have just stuck it all away in a bank account and reinvested the interest. I didn't but when the banking crisis hit home, interest became very minimal and so I reassessed my position and instead of going for individual stocks I just invested in a few ETFs with the occasional investment that might have risen more slowly than the others in my portfolio.
The logic that I used was simply market forces that were evident through life itself. By this I mean the incessant rise in world population and the reduction in the availability of land to both house and feed this population.
The only way to see how the world is shaping up to this from an investment view is to watch how commodities and those things necessary to life are affected by these global forces. Shortages of those things of necessity will mean higher prices as demand will exceed supply.
Some will profit from it but I from my own point of view I feel rather uncomfortable with it and, as an aging person I've gone as far as I can. I just hope that you younger folk can profit from what may be lying ahead because for the many who do not realise it or do not care about it, life is going to become very difficult.
Take care folks.

I have a sum i would like to invest mate,could you explain what ETFs are and how they work,thanks in advance

 

[Damocles]

I have a sum i would like to invest mate,could you explain what ETFs are and how they work,thanks in advance

I don't know what he's doing with his life now, but this is something I'd probably ask @SWP's back. He used to work in that sector.

 

[SWP's back]

I have a sum i would like to invest mate,could you explain what ETFs are and how they work,thanks in advance

Exchange Traded Funds mate. Basically you pick an index (FTSE 100 or S&P500 etc), invest your money and it’s a very low cost (in terms of management change) way of investing in an index as a whole.

So £100k in the FTSE100 would mean your money is invested in the 100 largest companies (based on market capitalisation) traded on the U.K. stock exchange.

Pros: low cost, investing in a large number of companies (depending on the index).

Cons: usually end up 100% equity based (rather than having some less volatile assets such as fixed income/government bonds etc) and can be very volatile.

Can’t go wrong with them if you invest and hold for ten years plus really although that’s easier said than done if the market drops 35% in six months.

As always, seek good independent advice before doing anything and the above isn’t that.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I have a sum i would like to invest mate,could you explain what ETFs are and how they work,thanks in advance

ETFs don’t ONLY track large indices. They can be used for sectors, such as finance, energy, healthcare, semiconductors, etc…, if you have a particular interest or desire to invest in those at any particular time.

However, that also carries a little extra risk, as it’s not nearly as diversified as a market index, merely “diversifying” your money across the entire sector rather than one stock in that sector.

One can use a number of ETFs to broadly diversify one’s portfolio, while also adding other sector ETFs that might focus on something you feel might be a more timely investment.

In short, they can be viewed as mutual funds that can be traded like stocks, with you able to buy and sell them any time the market is open, as opposed to at the end of the market day.

For more info from my brokerage:

Charles Schwab

 

[BLS]

ETFs don’t ONLY track large indices. They can be used for sectors, such as finance, energy, healthcare, semiconductors, etc…, if you have a particular interest or desire to
Invest in those at any particular time. However, that also carries a little extra risk, as it’s not nearly as diversified as a market index, merely “diversifying” your money across the entire sector rather that one stock in that sector.

One can use a number of ETFs to broadly diversify one’s portfolio, while also adding other sector ETFs that might focus on something you feel might be a more timely investment.

In short, they can be viewed as mutual funds that can be traded like stocks, with you able to buy and sell them any time the market is open, as opposed to at the end of the market day.

For more info from my brokerage:

Charles Schwab

Cheers that's giving me plenty to chew on before any decisions are made

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

Cheers that's giving me plenty to chew on before any decisions are made

You've had a good response to your ETF question and they are all relevant. The only thing I can add to this is an explanation of why management charges are lower with ETFs than with other fund management charges, that being is that ETFs are computer managed and do not add or delete components of the tracked index. The whole exercise behind ETFs is track the index without human interference and for this reason there is no manager to take his slice of any gains. The onus is at the door of the investor who will buy or sell as he or she wishes. Another reason to be happy about is that you get a consistent strategy without a manager getting sacked for poor results, something that happens all to frequently. You may be in a managed fund but in receipt of a letter which says that the fund is seeking a change of strategy from one that is outdated. Codeword for the fund is losing out to rival fund companies and losing investors, something that happens all too often.

 

[M18CTID]

I see NIO is starting to recover a fair bit. About time too as I'm balls deep and currently massively in the red. Long-term predictions for the stock are good following a positive second-quarter earnings report last week. Deliveries of new vehicles hit a new high and the loss per share was better than expected. On the flip side, it's expected that costs will go up next year with a roll-out of more service centres, delivery hubs, and battery-swap stations.

 

[The Black Shed]

I see NIO is starting to recover a fair bit. About time too as I'm balls deep and currently massively in the red. Long-term predictions for the stock are good following a positive second-quarter earnings report last week. Deliveries of new vehicles hit a new high and the loss per share was better than expected. On the flip side, it's expected that costs will go up next year with a roll-out of more service centres, delivery hubs, and battery-swap stations.

Any rumours time wise for rolling out in the UK? That ES8 looks lovely and I'd definitely consider it against an Kia EV9.

 

[M18CTID]

Any rumours time wise for rolling out in the UK? That ES8 looks lovely and I'd definitely consider it against an Kia EV9.

Looking like sometime next year according to this: https://www.electrifying.com/blog/article/nio-to-launch-three-brands-in-uk-from-2025
I’m not sure the model you’re looking at will be part of the initial roll out though, and it seems there are issues around where to locate the battery-swap stations so still some hurdles to overcome. For me, the battery-swap stations are a huge game-changer when it comes to EVs. 3 minutes to change a battery as opposed to several hours to charge one is far more practical.