General (main property discussion here) - A bit of light hearted fun

Well as you may have gathered I am thinking of setting up a letting agency. Damn thing is I am stuck, I cannot think of a name. Any suggestions?

Easy Lets.

;o)

Already taken. Sort of

http://www.propertynews.com/search/index.cfm?Fuseaction=propertydetails&PropertyID=161234&showMortgageCalculator=True&CFID=1321914&CFTOKEN=760140

Ok, what about...

Easy-Lets. lol.

Just kidding, a letting agency is a good idea, internet based?

Umm I do want something quick, easy to remember etc. Might just go for my initials or something like that.

Internet based? I do intend to have a website. Might get one under construction while I build up the business. Do not want people realising that I have only one or two properties on the books. Ever thought about it yourself?

No, ive never thought about it.

I just want to be in property and the stock markets.

Good idea, just use your name for it.

Matt

Stock market? Funny I just bought a book about the stock market. I invested a few quid in Halifax and Scottish Power. Try www.comdirect.co.uk

I joined a group who invest in the US stock market on every trading day, seems a good idea, if you have done your homework first.

Do you have a link or is it off line?

The link is......

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/thestockgroup/

They have a chat room where theres over 100 people in it during trading time, and the 2/3 group leaders speak on there mics about exactly what there buying/selling so you can copy there moves etc. You dont have to talk, just listen, you can learn alot.

The guy who runs the group is Frank, his email is: faha@sympatico.ca

If you email him, he will give you a free 2 week trial in the chat room i think, so you can see what goes on, otherwise it costs £50 a month, it filters out time wasters.

If you use an "imaginary" $5000, and you buy the same stocks as the group does, you can see your fake money grow. Its risky though, they do lose money aswel!

Matt

Frank i checked out your link, i dont understand what it is they do?? Do they invest on your behalf, or do you invest at your own will?

I have been following www.etrade.com

Matt

Hi Matt

thanks for that but 50 quid a month seems a lot. I will take a look anyway.

Erm, that site, yes you have to invest yourself. I chose Halifax and made £130 in a few days. Thing about buying shares is, when you buy you immediately lose money due to fees (that site charges £12.50 per transaction) and stamp duty. After selling the shares in Halifax I moved over to Scottish Power, so far I am at -£20 but that should remedy itself soon enough.

Some american sites only charge $5 per transaction, well done on making £130 on a few days!!

Thanks mate.

Have you guys looked into spread betting? You can buy into their markets which mirror the underlying indeces (FTSE, S&P, etc) for no transaction cost (except the bid/offer spread).

I use http://www.cityindex.co.uk (I think the url should work). I've heard good things about http://www.finspreads.co.uk, IG Index and there are others.

You can also take positions on other events (no seats majority in General Election, etc) which is all good fun too. No CGT on earnings either. Of course, you have to remember to look out for the downside if you get the trade wrong (you can lose a lot as well as gain).

Will

Cheers Will!

I will look at the links now! I must admit, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when i hear "betting", but it could be something different lol.

Matt

Thanks Will

Will I take it you have been using the sites yourself, have you had any luck?

Also, any suggestions for the name of my letting agency?

Hi Frank

I don't use them very often - only for fun. I know someone who uses them to trade on the S&P500 (symbol:^SPX if you want to look up the historical returns in yahoo finance) all the time, and he is successful at it.

I would have a strategy first. I don't know how much about this you know, but from an outsiders point of view (you or I who don't work in the city on a trading floor) the most likely way to make money is by trading the "swing" (or momentum trading some call it). Hedge funds and banks generally trade very quickly and often for price anomolies, newsflow, etc. We would struggle to profit from this news as we are too many steps removed. We can however buy into a whole market (^SPX say) as it first starts to move, and expect to add and remove from positions every few days, for example, and hopefully make a profit.

The trick is to know when it's making a move. I'd look into moving average cross-overs - the traders tend to look at these themselves - comparing the MAs of the fibonacci numbers - when they cross buy or sell depending on the direction.

Otherwise you can sign up for more than one account and try to arbitrage - buy from one index and sell the other, if the spreads are completely seperate.

Just remember that you can lose a lot if you aren't careful!

Will

Frank - your agency - after watching Macca last night, it's got to be "Let It Be".

W

LOL, good one Will and thanks for the advice.

Hiya Frank, just wanted to give you my opinion on naming your letting agency after yourself. i dont think this is a good idea. I dont think it would sound very professional and just makes me imagine a bloke sat in his front room! You need a dynamic name that will make people think your a huge company (though may not be) If i think of one I will let you know!

"Let and Forget"

John

Thanks Becci

How about: '10 Ants'

10 Ants Wanted...

hahaha