Which is the best app for someone who doesn’t know anything about investing?

[i4value]

There are 2 aspects of investing

• Which stocks
  
• Executing the transaction
  

There is of course a number of related questions to the first aspect eg how much to buy, when to buy, how to mitigate risk.

No app is able to help you answer these questions properly. To do so, you need to learn how to invest.

Once you have learned how to invest, then comes the execution part. This is when you look for the appropriate app.

There are several investing styles eg technical, fundamental, quant, etc Most apps are good for one particular style.

Asking which app when you don’t know anything about investing is like asking which calculator to buy to enable you to be a good mathematician. There is no calculator that can teach you how to translate a problem into a mathematical equation. Of course, once you have this, then a calculator is useful.

So don’t put the cart before the horse. Learn how to invest first and then looking for the appropriate app is the simplest.

[soros]

For learning when to buy, I suggest you buy a $29 book by Adam Khoo called " Winning the game of stocks " or borrow from your public lkibrary and follow his method. The book is not difficult to read

He recommends buying when the "share price is in uptrend" and after the 50 Day shareprice has risen above the 150 day shareprice and both shareprices are sloping upwards..

[i4value]

This sounds more like momentum trading than value investing

[mslee888]

i think Adam calls it value momentum investing.

[soros]

Value investing is based on buying shares at below the net asset value but applying such system to buy and hold has not worked for me. I am still looking for a successful way to win big.

Adam is well known as a very successful investor in Singapore , so he must be using better judgement and timing in his decision making. It must beneficial to know his criteria for choosing stocks and timing when to enter the stock.

[i4value]

There are many investing styles - technical, short-term fundamentals, long-term fundamentals, etc. Each has its concepts and behavioural requirements. You have to choose one that fits you based on your interest, risk tolerance and other demographics.

I have tried trading with technical - charts, trendlines, indicators, you name it - but I could not make it work. I keep seeing things that turned out to be wrong. But value investing worked for me.

[karlmarx]

It is true that there are many ways to make money.

Whatever method that can be found on the 'let me teach you how to make money from financial markets' market exists because someone has used those methods and made big money from it. But as you will have on multiple ocassions, just because something worked for someone doesn't mean it will work for you.

Here's an example. Both LTCM and Ren Tech used quant models and big data to generate trading ideas and employed massive leverage. But why did one eventually blow up while the other has done so well for so long? Probably one has built a better model, and fed it with better data, than the other.

So whatever your game of choice is, you just have to be sure you are well-equipped to do it better than the rest in the same game.

[i4value]

I think quant is a different ball game. It is not something for the retail investors. As a retain investor, you only have 2 options - stock picking or following some index.

Then when stock picking you have the choice of following fundamentals or technical. I think many are attracted by technical because it seems so easy.

When you follow some index funds you still have to know a bit as there are different types - value, growth, factor investing, etc.

[specuvestor]

Hi Karlmarx! Good to see your post!

Just to side track that Rentech's Medallion is an Enigma... the open fund run by Rentech actually didn't do as well which they explained it by saying it's different strategy

Just some simple maths:

"Since 1988, his flagship Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66% before charging hefty investor fees—39% after fees—racking up trading gains of more than $100 billion. No one in the investment world comes close. Warren Buffett, George Soros, Peter Lynch, Steve Cohen, and Ray Dalio all fall short."
— ‘The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution’ by Gregory Zuckerman 2019

Let's just conservatively say he made this $100b and withdrew the capital. Every year they made money but 2020 alone they made whopping 76% ie $76b. Simplistically their current perf fee of 44% would have netted them conservatively $77.4b past 30 years. And I'm being very conservative without including any capital. I'm not sure I heard of many ultra-rich RenTech employees except the big man himself. But at this compounded rate the big man would be the richest guy on earth within 10 years conservatively.

Let's see. I wouldn't invest in such scheme unless I get a 44% payout of the profit every year as well

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Technologies
https://www.efinancialcareers.sg/news/fi...chnologies

It is true that there are many ways to make money.

Whatever method that can be found on the 'let me teach you how to make money from financial markets' market exists because someone has used those methods and made big money from it. But as you will have on multiple ocassions, just because something worked for someone doesn't mean it will work for you.

Here's an example. Both LTCM and Ren Tech used quant models and big data to generate trading ideas and employed massive leverage. But why did one eventually blow up while the other has done so well for so long? Probably one has built a better model, and fed it with better data, than the other.

So whatever your game of choice is, you just have to be sure you are well-equipped to do it better than the rest in the same game.

[i4value]

Despite the millions of entrepreneurs, there is only one Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. Not every one can be lucky or that good. So it is with investing. At the end of the day, there is no great secret about what to do generally - you either read the crowd (sentiments drive) or read the business (fundamentals).

The devil is in the details. And I think the successful quants do it well. So are the successful traders and fundamental investor. Moral of the story - you have to find your niche.