Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Andres]

Ok, so I just googled the share prices for EA and based on their growth over the past 5 years I want in. The problem is that I have no idea how to do that. What website do I need to go on to buy their shares?

[MagmaMcFry]

Ok, so I just googled the share prices for EA and based on their growth over the past 5 years I want in. The problem is that I have no idea how to do that. What website do I need to go on to buy their shares?

Disclaimer: The future value of shares doesn't really depend on the history of their value. Just as a coin that kept showing heads won't actually have a greater chance to continue showing heads, the growth of stocks is not dependent on previous growth. To actually predict stock value reliably, you need inside information rather than mathematics, and if you don't have inside information, you'll need an automated program and a really fucking fast internet connection so your order arrives first at the stock markets as soon as the inside information becomes outside information. Welcome to economics.
Disclaimer disclaimer: I'm a mathematician, not an economist. Any actual economists may feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

If you still want to buy stocks, I would recommend asking your local bank, they'll have brokers that place orders for you.

[TempAcc]

Yep, you can buy stocks through brokers in banks. But just like Magma said, just because the stocks have been raising in the past years, doesnt exactly mean they'll maintain that trend in the next years. In fact, many stock market brokers tend to watch for stocks that are currently falling and watch for possibilities that something good will happen, and that event will affect them positively, so they buy them while the price is low and sell them off when the price is high.

Keep in mind though, in order to make any significant money with stocks you need a fair bit of money to invest so you can get a bigger return later. The more you invest, the more you'll get later, altough you might end up losing a lot of money as well. It might take several years for the turnover to become profitable.

[Flying Dice]

Also, just saying, but... EA. Never mind the fallacious logic, that's like saying, "Boy, those Koch Brothers sure are doing well, I want to get me some of that."

[Levi]

I use http://www.credentialdirect.com/, but I think it might just be for Canadians.

[Andres]

Thanks for the help, everyone. That's just about everything I needed to know. Actually...there's one more thing. For video game companies, does stock price tend to increase on release of a game, within the weeks before the release of a game, or at the announcement of a game? I'm guessing it's based on the latter seeing as share price is more about "inside information" than random chance, based on what Magma said.

Also, just saying, but... EA. Never mind the fallacious logic, that's like saying, "Boy, those Koch Brothers sure are doing well, I want to get me some of that."

I tried finding other companies to invest in but the only two companies I could easily find out about were Activision and Ubisoft, neither of which are good investments due to Destiny and Assassin's Creed respectively and both of which are on the same moral ground as EA.

fakedit: I just looked up Square Enix and it has high enough variation in its share price that it wouldn't be hard to turn a profit (100 points in two days!), but it also means I could lose a lot of money if it goes down, which may or may not happen soon.

[i2amroy]

Just want to note this, but as many, many professional and amateur stock people have said in many places, don't go into the stock market thinking that you are going to buy and sell to make money. You might as well go to a casino, at least that will give you a better impression of what you are doing. Either buy stocks for the investment purposes, or get involved with someone who does it for a living and can donate all of their time and money to doing so.

Seriously, unless you are someone who has spent years doing this you don't know what the hell you are doing. Even if you think you know what you are doing, you don't know what you are doing. Don't think about playing in the short term, it's virtually identical to you just going to a casino and spending money there. If you are going to get involved in stocks, go for the long term or don't go at all (and ideally go for the long term through an actual company that specializes in investments, since they have both the manpower and the knowledge to ensure that your investments are worthwhile).

[mainiac]

I tried finding other companies to invest in but the only two companies I could easily find out about were Activision and Ubisoft, neither of which are good investments due to Destiny and Assassin's Creed respectively and both of which are on the same moral ground as EA.

Having an asset doesn't make it a good investment because that's something that's already reflected in the price.  Professional investment fund members with far, far more information then you and very expensive tools have calculated the importance of those assets to a level you couldn't ever, ever match.  Dont even try.  There is a multi-billion dollar industry that takes money from people like you who thinks they can guess stocks.  It's exactly like a casino, individual gamblers win or lose but the house always wins.

Thinking you can guess things about stocks when you know nothing can cost you between five and ten percent of your investment per year.  If the market is averaging six percent returns, people who are guessing stocks at home tend to just about break even.  People who are guessing stocks at home and buying and selling frequently (a trade every week) lose money on average even if the market has solid growth.  If the market tanks the active investors can do even worse.  So if you are getting into buying and selling for the fun of it then first calculate ten percent of what you are spending on stocks because that's the money you are basically paying to Wall Street for your game.  After you pay that ten percent you might win or you might lose but only play the game if you think that ten percent is worth the entertainment you get from your gamble.

If you want to invest money then a safe investment with a good return is a stock market index mutual fund.  Look for one with low management fees.  I use the a Vanguard Standard and Poor 500.  I am guessing that you are young in which case I would advise putting all of your investments into such a fund through a tax exempt retirement portfolio.  This will make you far more money then any lucky guess on a video game stock will.