Look at Berkshire Hathaway's website (Warren Buffett is the chiarman), and get some idea about diversification... I don't think it's a good time to invest in SNP 500 or any of them... it's gonna go down for another month, and you never know, it might not ever come back up...
Also, not a good time to invest in energy stocks, coz usually when the cycle goes down, energy and steel companies do awfully bad and it takes a long time for them to come back up. If you are into holding it for 5-10 years down the line, I'd say: go ahead and invest in some Chinese manufacturing companies; also look into some Indian stocks: TATA motors is doing good, and it will do so for some time. Buy FORD motors shares because it is selling off it's European subsidiaries of Jaguar and Land Rovers (which will of course be in a huge premium)...
Just thought I'd help a brother/sister out.

Keep tuning in...

Hi kukpaboy,

it is very smart of you to be thinking about investing as you are getting outta school. you're already a step ahead of your peers in that sense. $500 a month is a great start but rather than investing every month, i would advice buying every 3 months. the longer gap between your purchases is going to give you some real time experience as well as cut down on your broker fees.

wait till at least next tuesday's fed meeting before you buy anything. for long term play i personally like tech and biotech companies right now along with few china plays.

good luck to you!!

I have been hearing a lot about China only till the olympics.. that makes me nervous about buying any chinese over here. You might be buying the top and selling the bottom. Just be careful on that advice. If you are in for a long haul go for the big names such as P&G, Coke, GE and you won't be disappointed... just a thought...

kukpaboy!
I don't want to pull ur leg, but if your mathematics is that poor, you won't do good in stocks.
" MAT currently trading at around $23 .... just 5 months ago it was at $30..

so if u BUY $10,000 worth right now and assuming price goes back up to $30.. your profit = $70,000 "

You will only make around $3043 minus brokerage fees, not $70,000 !!!

well if you are planning to invest $500 a month for long term. It might be a suitalble for you to invest in mutual funds. Consider some funds such as Dodge and Cox , Matthew with international exposure. Exclude india and china for now they are over priced. Look for Thailand , Koreas which have more solid fundamentals.

yea..yea....your room mate...what a baloney!
...market timing is a sure-fire way to blow up your money.

I agree with wit's end. Trend is your friend. Looking for bottom and tops are better left for professionals.

On market timing and Economics.

The amount of funds you have mentioned will not suffice to this strategy. And what are your cyclical pays, the cyclical plays have mostly been bought a month ago. I don't recommend you follow that strategy.

One last note >> don't follow the so called analysts on magazines, they are analysts because they could never make money.

Tip if you really want to play the strategy # this is one way to do it.

1.Open a brokerage account and get approved for option level I.

2.Buy atleast 100 stocks of high dividend paying stock such as Walmart, City group, Microsoft.
3. Sell higher strike calls agains them to generate income.

This is how a buy and hold strategies can be sustained for long period of time.

Is it good idea to buy a house in NYC and refinance it later on in order to earn some dollars?
Is it good time to buy house?
I think the real state business will boom again, what do you guys guess?

Bhai, read few books on Investing before you actually invest. I suggest the following:

Rule # 1 - by Phil Town
Real Money - by Jim Cramer
Stock Investing for Dummies (you're no dummy)
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

And check out financial websites like MorningStar.com and, if you have time, watch CNBC.