I have $5000 to invest. I have a very high risk tolerance for this amount. It can be long term or short term investment. Please suggest something for me. I am still in my 20's

I think I sort of answered you, but then realized that was the trading thread. I think a target fund is appropriate and easy for long term investments. You aren't going to be able to market time it without just blind luck, so go ahead and buy if you are going to hold/add for decades.

Because you might have information that the rest of the world doesn't have.

However, since you're posting in this thread asking the question, you probably don't have any extra information. Thus, index funds are a recurring and frequent recommendation here.

I live in a high COL area in the US and am looking to buy in a low COL area

What do you think the odds are that anyone itt has information the rest of the world doesn't have?

There might be one or two.

Which is a lot less than the number of people itt putting their money in something other than S&P index funds. Hence my point that "efficient markets" should have pretty much all of us investing in nothing but index funds.

Some of us are better off picking and choosing , most are better off letting it invest passively or with one of the few that get the market. So yes , you are essentially right. The market has a lot of pitfalls , including playing with your emotions, inabilities to use mental stop losses . you are up against black box trading , firms with billions in trading buy/sell power. Firms with millions invested in research , informational disadvantages. Its almost foolish to think we can beat the market , it happens , but its not easy.

There's also a concept that markets may be more efficient in the short term than long term. Most people looking to buy XOM right now probably aren't looking to park it and forget it for 5 to 10 years. I just don't see a lot of downside to it seriously underperforming the market, while the upside potential to massively outperform the market seems to be there right now. If you look at history, once oil stocks find a bottom – they usually shoot back up again pretty steeply. Although I should probably at least spread the risk around to other oil stocks – just in case Exxon has another disaster.

But again, my larger point is that "markets are efficient bro" should in reality probably be the reply to 99% of the queries in this thread. But that's no fun.

Its wrong to think that way , there is always a downside to stocks, even if its trading at or near book value. Just because something is down 50% from its high , does not mean it can't go down another 40%

Of course not – but just like with index funds, if you have a long time horizon and you aren't trying to time the market – but you don't see the earth weaning itself off of oil anytime soon – then making a long-term oil play with say 10% of your portfolio doesn't seem too crazy to me

Markets are efficient, except for the historical patterns you've identified, which aren't priced into the market? I recently took decent sized positions in BP, CVX, XOM though, so I hope you're right.

A daytrader might think a stock is undervalued, but still not want to buy it for various reasons. A long term investor only cares about value. I'm not sure it's possible for the market to be perfectly efficient and satisfy both expectations.

Country: canada
Income: = to living expenses
Risk Tolerance: medium
Timeframe for investment: 8-12 years
Debt: None
Current Investments: 800k split 60/40 mutual funds and bonds. own my condo debt free (500k)
Age: 36

Im out of the workforce and have been travelling and doing odd jobs or poker to cover expenses. No wife or kids. I would like to start my own business with $0-250k investment in the next 2 years. not sure what business but i have a lower risk mentality about it. even possibly get a low stress job for lifestyle not $

i would like build my investment portfolio up for 8-12 years then look to be in a position to buy a nice house if/when it suites my life. was thinking when the time comes it would make sense to pull equity from condo (good rental property) and a cash out about 1/3 of investments for a large down payment and taking out a mortgage for the rental condo and balance of the home while keeping about 2/3 invested

i currently have the 60/40 split in mutual funds and bonds (canadian) with a financial advisor. i would like to manage my own money. ive done some reading and interested in doing a lot more research. ray dailos all season theory (mix of stocks, bonds, and commodities)?

if ive had my money in 60/40 for the last 2.5 years and if i decide to pull out is now the best time to do it with the downturn being advantageous for taxes? i have already maxed out my TFSA (tax free savings account) but i havent purchased any RRSP's yet. i think i might be able to offset capital gains tax by purchasing RRSP's but not sure. also i will be claiming $0 personal income this year. my bonds have pretty much been even since i bought them. my point is if i choose to manage my own money i can cash out most or all of the portfolio for very little tax expense (if any) right now

thanks in advance for taking the time to read/respond!

Very well done. I'll let more experienced posters comment, but the above is commendable.

Not familiar with Colorado, but here's 3 ideas worth exploring but all of them might be null.

1. 6 month CD, at hopefully a better rate than savings? Not likely to make a difference.

2. You can put it in something like TLT, and have tight stops on it?

3. Colorado municipal bonds with a tight stop?

So hard in this climate to get basic simple savings returns as far as i know.

Why isn't there plenty of smart money already thinking the same thing?

Maybe their time horizon isn't as long as mine.

I mean it doesn't seem that controversial when someone uses the term "momentum stock" it would seem that if you're willing to stomach another 50% drop in some momentum stock or sector which seems oversold - then there's an opportunity there.

Are you arguing that one stock, or sector, has a different aggregate time horizon than a broad index AND that you know which one?

Are you saying the markets are 100% efficient and we should just shut down this thread and invest in index funds?

Two nutters walk into a thread.

Two neutrinos walk into a bar and say, "Don't pay any attention to us - we're just passing through".

From Canada
Age 24
No debt
Income: ~200k/yr from poker
Risk tolerance: medium

I have around 500k I want to invest. I have 200k in a Canadian HISA that gets 1% (basically my emergency fund and I realize that may be a bit much). I have ~125k in a BMO mutual fund and 30k in a BMO GIC. bought these out of naivety a couple years ago. I have ~32k in a TFSA (maxed) that holds some large cap stock along with some energy (looking for more tech I think).

I have been directed to a small cap hedge fund based in Vancouver that has just started and am thinking about investing. Fees are 2% with 20% incentive bonus, 5% hurdle and high watermark. Early withdrawal fee of 6% 4% and 2% for years 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Does this sound pretty standard?

I am also looking into investing in index funds. Should I just stick to vanguard? And if so, which specifically? If I have 400k, is buying 175k of VTSAX, and spreading the rest out between VSIAX, VFWAX, VEMAX, etc completely nutso? Is this an opportune time to enter the market in the first place regarding the uncertainty related to the world economy? I have no idea. This was quickly written up so bear with me. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I don't get the appeal of hedge funds. I guess its like Tom Sawyer getting everyone to paint the fence, the more you charge the more attractive it looks?
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/index-fun...et-update.html
"Carol Loomis of Fortune has just posted the 6-year update in Fortune of the $1,000,000 index fund vs. hedge fund bet between Warren Buffett and a successful hedge fund manager. The hedge funds were in the lead early on, but started lagging behind last year. Over 2013, the index fund lead widened further. 60% of the way through the 10-year bet (1/1/08 to 12/31/17), the Vanguard S&P 500 index fund backed by Buffett is up by 43.8%. The group of hedge funds hand-picked by Protégé Partners are up by 12.5%, a gap of over 30%.

Will this collection of hand-picked hedge funds be able to outperform a simple, low-cost index fund over the long run? Hedge funds employ the smartest minds but also charge hefty fees of roughly 2% of assets annually + 20% of any gains. At the start of the bet, the past performance of the hedge funds were excellent – from inception in July 2002 through the end of 2007, the Protégé fund gained 95% (after all fees), soundly beating the Vanguard S&P 500 index fund’s 64%. But lots of funds have good performance when looking backwards. It is much harder to pick out winning managers ahead of time (and harder on those managers when everyone is looking)."

2015 Update:
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/hedge-fun...-bet-2015.html

"Through the entire 7-year period that runs through the end of 2014, the S&P 500 index fund is up 63.5%. The hedge fund marker only went up an average of 19.6%. That’s now a gap of over 40%. With three years left, the hedge funds have some serious catching up to do."

The markets are obviously not 100% efficient. LOL

This thread is useful because people have different goals and different tolerances for risk and variance.

Your posts have made it clear that you (along with 90%+ of everyone else in thread) should invest in index funds.

There's a lot of smart money out there.