Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomkat
Which companies have you invested in (or you would if you had spare cash etc), Zar?
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I don't really do long term investing so it wouldn't make sense for me to explain what I have (I tend to trade CFD's on margin which means I pay financing and therefore I don't like to hold on to them for too long)
From the top of my head and for long term investing:
BHP Biliton - Largest diversified mining company. Mining companies have been absolutely hammered recently due to falling commodity prices and slowing demand. This might fall a bit more in volatile conditions but its medium to long term potential is great. (lesser alternatives are RIO Tinto, Xstrata and Vedanta)
Barclays, HSBC or Lloyds - Possibly the safest UK banks now... possibly and with its (Barclays) purchase of Lehmans it has a great future ahead of it (much less competition than before this mess). These will do well in the long term. Edit: A note of caution. These are still moderately risky purchases. Darling (Labour) being the idiot that he is will probably look to help recapitalise the banks (partially nationalise) which would dilute equity for the current shareholders. This could help force the share price down (as evidenced today). However after that has happened they would become good buys.
Tesco - Won't give you massive returns but is likely to be moderately up rather than down into the long term.
India/China - Purchase ETF's (Exchange Trade Funds) to get a broad overview of the index. JII (Investment Trust) for India is a good one or FXC for China. These are likely to be among the better performing indexes into the long term and probably one of the safer options (they're one of the only major countries that are actually guaranteed growth into the next few years). These two countries represent a very decent mix of growth and safety and would probably be my first recommendation to put your money with a view of holding for at least 3-5 years.
Brazil/Russia - Not as safe as the above two into the long term but still good bets. IBZL for Brazil.
Combine the above fourtogether and you can get a BRIC (Brazil Russia India China) etf.
S&P 500 - Good long term bet. US markets are likely to outperform European markets. IUSA (ETF)
I'll think of more later.
Alternatively you can invest in funds and get a fund manager to do the work for you. This is probably better for someone who is new to investing and is (usually) much less risky as you get overall exposure. I'll explain that later too.