My friend says he should have bought shares of GM last night and he could have...

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Stacey K

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...made a killing today.? He said the GM stock sold for $3.45 this AM and were as high as $4.99/share. If he bought this AM and sold this afternoon, he claims he could hace made a quick $1200. Is it that easy to make $ on playing the stock market? If so why don't we all do it?
 
Yes he could have made that much... if he bought 800 shares, paid no trade fees, and didn't include capital gains tax.

And yes, it is that easy. However, that stock could have just as easily gone down by that same amount, and then he would have lost $1,200. Looking back and saying what you "should have done" is extremely easy... hindsight is 20/20. There's even a term in psychology describing how people can look back and think they knew something all along.

Truth be told, the stock market is a guessing game unless you really devote your time to some in-depth research and/or really expensive valuation software. Your friend COULD have made a quick $1,200... just like I COULD have won the lottery last night if I knew what numbers were going to get picked.
 
yes because of bailout outlook.

speculation. watch if the govt say no to their bailout and watch the stock plunge again

don't touch the stock, you missed the rally.

stick with Ford, you might have a better chance
 
The old adage "hindsight is 20/20" applies here. I have invested in the stock market for about 10 years now and have said the same thing many times.

A stock that has the volatility to be able to move more than 10-15% up OR down in one day has a lot going on and may not be a healthy company. Its really a gamble to buy these stocks and hope they go up (or short them and hope they go down).

"Timing the market" as its called is extremely difficult and is not an exact science. There is a tremendous amount of risk involved and very difficult for a small investor to do after transaction fees for buying and selling ($10 trade fee (each to buy and sell) on a $500 trade makes a much bigger difference than it would on a $5,000 trade).

20% capital gains tax also takes a chunk out if you manage to end up ahead!
 
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