hi bro,

i m just starting to look into us stocks.

on nyse, is s&p500 code spx or something else? can't seem to find it.

found spy which is spdr s&p500, closed 200.60, right?

besides the popular ones on nasdaq, what are some of the big and mid cap caps on nyse that i can take a look at?

just getting started, any pointer will be useful. thanks!

thanks.

been googling n reading a bit...

i notice on my nyse trading platform that many etf's have high volumes. spy seems by far, the top volume. i can see many also listed as top volume etf's on this list.
http://www.barchart.com/etf/vleaders.php

this list of 10 "top" large cap etf's, with spy at #5, mdy not on it. seems some are very low vol traded. i seem to see the"top" ones are 100% usa equities.
http://money.usnews.com/funds/etfs/rankings/large-cap-funds

can i ask:
.. is it correct to say etf's are popular for reason of diversification, like unit trusts only that etfs are tradeable any time, in usd?
.. etf's investment and trading - any major difference compared to individual stocks?
.. what is spdr? i notice many etfs have this attached to it
.. for etf's, how is dividend treated given a basket of equities?
.. given the dive in gold, oil, commodity prices in the last yr or so, wud it be correct to say gold, oil and emerging markets etf's generally did badly in the same period?

just starting, so any comment appreciated incl yr own experience with any of these counters , thanks again.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Dec 13 2014, 06:58 PM

thanks, appreciate it. will read up.

sign of further decline for crude. wti now below usd55.

the oil rout is not over yet...

hi bro,

been checking up a bit.. like to get yr comments if u dun mind.

i m not trading but just like to put some money in etf's given the outlook of the usd's strength.

other than the recently mentioned appl, baba, tsla, spy and mdy, do you think these are reasonable ones to consider:

voo - s&p etf
ivv - s&P etf
xle - energy etf... consider if n when the energy sector stabilizes

is it correct to say the several s&p etf's are just from diff companies, slight diff in basket composition but basically the same except for daily volume, i.e. liquidity?

appreciate any comment, thanks.

thanks much for comments.

now checking some details with broker. may be buying first counter this week.

i made my 2 maiden us purchases just now.

as i do not hv realtime subscription, i used yahoo fin for real time data, place orders on cimb itrade. yahoofin data is pretty realtime as i can see it when done at the correct time on itrade which is realtime for orders processing. overall, worked fine. actually using a tiny atom netbook to do this while waiting for new pc to arrive.

first time, quite pleased with it.

bought spy n xle (becos crude jumped 4%). in tens of shares, not thousands.

now, will see if crude rebound holds and how usd-rm will work out in the coming months...

thanks.

i bought early into the rally, finished good. so, it was a good start for me.

planning to add a bit more next few days if conditions favorable.

one thing i noticed... for a usd200 stock, prices in increment of 1 cent can swing from 200.30 to 200.02 to 199.64 within 20 secs!

i only saw all of them moved up as oil moved up, hit the sack soon after.

but think u r right - xle has oil corps, oil services, other energy, upstream n downstream... so it's probably more "connected" to overall S&P than just crude price.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Dec 18 2014, 01:08 PM

yes, u r right on this. i watched closely last night.
as crude stalled n even declined, hal, rig, xom, slb turned red.
xle did turn red briefly but can see it paced with spy well.
well, all ends well, though!

thanks for yr help again. my first purchases looking fine at this time.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Dec 19 2014, 10:49 AM

i had been wanting to do that for some months now, since the time when aapl went below 100.

well, last week's oil price crash presented an opportunity i could not resist.

there's always a first time for anything, go for it!

am actually looking to buy aapl n msft. if n when oil firms, will get some slb n rig.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Dec 20 2014, 07:21 PM

min usd30.. what bank..? higher then than cimb itrade's usd25.
hope yr % is not higher than 0.4%.
anyway, if not trading much, minor effect...

i m on same thing: rm-sgd-usd. i find the rates reasonable.
what i do with say, sgd dividends, i leave it in trust acc for not more than a qtr, accumulate enough to buy more when price is acceptable.
come jan 2015, sgx going board lot 100 which will make things easier.
plan is to do same for usd, no reason to think rm will strengthen bigtime for "decades"; reverse may come true, though.


this oil story... after many saying it'll go as low as usd40 some weeks ago, now i start to read some reports making the case for usd64-65 avg for 2015. well, who knows.... but we do have an interesting opportunity now... to buy or to keep watching...?

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Dec 23 2014, 12:34 AM

i like to think that the selling was a bit overdone like it always happen; good probability it will recover 10-15% soon and hover there for some time. the case of oil can't be like gold which never recovered, maybe not for 10 yrs!

anyway, i have a passion for oil having worked in that industry for some years a long time ago. so, just bought bits of slb and oih for old time sake.

will look for opportunity to buy some aapl n msft. with that, i'll be happy just to sit back for a while.

good nite.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Dec 23 2014, 01:10 AM

firstly, i m more interested in etf's, already got some spy.
secondly, the recent oil slump provides an entry opportunity for energy stocks.
small purchases only...

i hope so!

reading cbnc, bloomberg n watching the screen for the last 3 hrs or so gave me the feeling that the fine gdp figures n low oil price will be a bonanza for spenders in usa. maybe not so much here with a weak rm , but people will spend on tech, right?!

certainly toppish, but i went ahead n got some aapl and qqq (nasdaq etf). msft was just hard for me to swallow, gave up.

i have completed the purchases for my small portfolio of s&p-energy-tech for this first round, will just see what happens next.



for us stock starters, i'll say the yahoo finance real time streams are good, reliable, if u do not subscribe to paid streams. i use that with cimb itrade.

lastly, i can see how it can sap yr energy if u stay up late every night to trade. i m already exhausted after a few late nights. exciting? oh yes, much more so than bursa or sgx!

good nite...

graveyard shift factory hand or bigtime int'l fund manager?

i m scared to "play" us stocks:
.. my brokerage fees are too high using local ib platform.
.. to get much lower fees, u need to open usd acc somewhere outside msia, i believe.
.. us markets are far more volatile that bursa, so u gotta be prepared to stay up late in the night(s).

my prime reason to move some funds from bursa to us stocks is primarily the issue of the weak-n-continue-to weaken rm.
think about it - crude n commodities prices hammered n not recovering any time soon, all categories of debts soaring, skeletons in the 1mdb and other closets; increasing unfavorableness for foreign investors, no viable big economic plans and do-nothing-gomen... how likely will rm strengthen? i think nil.

xle is holding well. spy, qqq, appl almost back to all time highs!

yr end closing...

let's hope markets close with a nice finish tonite... and usd continues to run away!

existing holdings, think good chance as us economy looks strong, usd getting stronger.
crude... should see bottom "soon".


but... how to buy more with rm? now...3.5145.