Recap on my picks from 5 years ago

So i was going through some of the old blog posts earlier today and I must say I am a little impressed with myself.  Most of these posts were from 2009.  SIRI, Sirius Satellite Radio I said buy when it was just under a dollar and facing delisting from Nasdaq, and that when it surpasses the dollar mark it would take off.  It is at 3.79 and it surpassed the 4 dollar mark a couple months ago.  AZZ, AZZ Incorporated I said was a buy and since that post it is up over 250%.  Ford I couldn't buy enough of at under 4 per share and i estimated 15 per share and it's there now.  Ok, enough tooting my own horn here are a couple for the future.  I am really liking XIN, it just dropped to under 5 dollars.  I think we will see it go to 8, possibly 10 dollars in the next couple years.  NBG, another one I think we will see gradually increasing.  For the long term I wouldn't be surprised to see it go from the 6 dollar range to over 20 dollars possibly more depending on how long you are willing to wait.  I think AZZ is still a good bet, it's continually growing and not afraid to invest in expanding the reach in their market.  SRCE, 1st Source Bank is another one with a bright future.  They have recently seen a boom in the price so I wouldn't buy just yet.  But when the price rebounds to around 28 dollars I would buy and expect it to climb back to 35 dollars or more.  I am going to be looking forward to reviewing this post in a couple years to see if I nailed it too, but relax, I am confident it will be close.  Thanks for reading, and subscribe for future updates.

How to Start Buying Stocks

I thought i would post this for any readers thinking about investing in the stock market but not sure where to start.  There are a few ways to go about it.  You could go and talk to a local investment specialist.  Going this route will give you personalized advice but it is one of the more costly ways to start.  There are many online brokers with excellent information for beginners at a much more affordable price.  Etrade is good, they have reasonable fees and good charts and company information.  My personal favorite is sharebuilder.  At sharebuilder there are no minimums on the purchases and no minimum starting account balance.  So you could literally start with just a few dollars.  Scotttrade is another popular one with great charts and stats.  Some of these sites run ads on this blog if it is something that you may be interested in.  Whichever way you decide to start, don't be afraid to dive in.  It's really not that difficult.  The only advice that holds true to almost any stock is to look at the profit margin and make sure the company is profitable.  Sure there are some stocks that will go up when the company isn't turning a profit but those are more risky and better left to experienced traders.