This thread is a counterpart to the one on HOW to invest in shares. This one is about which shares to buy and why, and I'm suggesting that this is where the tips go, the useful links to market analysis, the trends we see and so on...

The How to invest in shares thread is here: HOW to invest in shares.

Same rules apply - ARRSE, its owners and members aren't regulated by the FSA. They aren't regulated by anybody really, and some of them aren't even sentient. Some of the posters here may be sockpuppets for corporations such as RBS, Enron, Lehman Brothers etc etc. Take all posts with a pinch of salt, separate the wheat from the chaff yourselves and remember the glaringly obvious fact that the value of most investments can go down as well as up. If you can hold that last rule in your head you are probably already ahead of the game.

So - Facebook shares eh? General consensus is not with a bargepole. Because (and to summarise this thread)...

It's overvalued - 100bn? Really?
The IPO is a fraction of the value of the company so no real shareholder power.
It's another bubble - remember MySpace? Lastminute.com?
The CEO can't decide whether he runs a corporation or social experiment - hint, don't invest in the latter thinking it is the former.
I doubt the emergence of meaningful dividends for some time as Zuckerberg is also hinting he will invest heavily in data centres.

So... who to invest in... and why? In your own time...

Value stocks, companies with lots of cash and a strong balance sheet, here are my current favorites (stolen from my employers buy list):

BHP
Cap Gemini
Caterpillar
Danone
Deutsche Post
Fedex
Freeport McMoran Copper
Johnson Controls
Komatsu
L'oreal
Luxottica
Potash
Syngenta
GOLD (physical, don't go for that ETF shit)

Originally Posted by viceroy

Value stocks, companies with lots of cash and a strong balance sheet, here are my current favorites (stolen from my employers buy list):

BHP
Cap Gemini
Caterpillar
Danone
Deutsche Post
Fedex
Freeport McMoran Copper
Johnson Controls
Komatsu
L'oreal
Luxottica
Potash
Syngenta
GOLD (physical, don't go for that ETF shit)

I'll have a wonder through that one at the weekend, thanks. L'oreal seems like an interesting 'wildcard.'

Kenmare Resources - their ticker is KMR. Links here:

Home - Kenmare Resources plc
Summary | Interactive Investor
Kenmare Resources plc: LON:KMR quotes & news - Google Finance
The Share Centre Blog » Share tip of the week


Their operations centre around the Moma Mine, located in Mozambique. They mine ilmenite (component of titanium) and zircon, both of which are in massive demand by the emergent economies of China and India. Prospects for Q3 and Q4 2012 are promising with some analysts forecasting 90p by Xmas 2012. Wish I'd bought back when they were 30.3p in Nov 11; benefits of hindsight and all that.....!!!

I don't have any shares...yet...have been looking, but have no idea about it all.....and it makes me nervous as at the end of the day, it is just gambling.


Anyhoo...my mates tell me that RRL (Range Resources) are a good bet.

Just a word of caution lads (& lasses). We are in for a choppy 2012 and this is not the time to buy shares and kick back and wait for dividends to flow in. While stocks are not historically very expensive (S&P is currently around 15 times earning), they are by no means cheap. Cash king, holds true now more than ever.

Originally Posted by viceroy

Value stocks, companies with lots of cash and a strong balance sheet, here are my current favorites (stolen from my employers buy list):

BHP
Cap Gemini
Caterpillar
Danone
Deutsche Post
Fedex
Freeport McMoran Copper
Johnson Controls
Komatsu
L'oreal
Luxottica
Potash
Syngenta
GOLD (physical, don't go for that ETF shit)

So UK's only worthwhile stock is a management consultancy firm? Thats depressing (especially if you've ever been subject to said management consultants...)...

Originally Posted by Cabana

I don't have any shares...yet...have been looking, but have no idea about it all.....and it makes me nervous as at the end of the day, it is just gambling.


Anyhoo...my mates tell me that RRL (Range Resources) are a good bet.

Yes Cabana, you are right, it is effectively gambling - hence the very wise advice of "Don't invest money that you cannot afford to tear up and walk away from"

Chas

Originally Posted by 4(T)

So UK's only worthwhile stock is a management consultancy firm? Thats depressing (especially if you've ever been subject to said management consultants...)...

BHP? It should be said that we are not UK based, so we have no bias either way...

[QUOTE=viceroy;4208339]Value stocks, companies with lots of cash and a strong balance sheet, here are my current favorites (stolen from my employers buy list):

BHP
Cap Gemini
Caterpillar
Danone
Deutsche Post
Fedex
Freeport McMoran Copper
Johnson Controls
Komatsu
L'oreal
Luxottica
Potash
Syngenta
GOLD (physical, don't go for that ETF shit)[/QUOTE]

Why?? most of the finance/shares magazines I've read seem to reccomend ETF's as an easy way to buy into gold without the problems of holding it physically (security, insurance etc). The ETF price is directly linked to the gold price and will therefore always reflect any rise drop in price.....and yes...I did buy them! (ETC's, but same thing really).