I have a thousand dollars to invest freely...what is the smart thing to do with it?

Question

My stock is bombing in sharebuilder...I want to actually get a RETURN on something and see some progress, but I dont want my money tied up for a year- or five. What to do?

Answer 1

The stock market is not in the greatest of health nowadays.  The subprime crises, high oil price, homes crashing in value, unemployment, inflation, and lousy government at all levels - the picture in the US is pretty bad.

To weather the storm, choose a money market account or CD - but then you're earning such a low interest rate, you are actually losing buying power.  but if you put it into stocks, and the market collapses - not only do you earn nothing, but you lose principal as well.

So, a good question is - does one have a CD at 3%, or buy stocks and risk a 10% loss?  The final loss with stocks is 13%, which takes into account the 3% one would have earned if one had not invested in stocks.

Answer 2

Try this web site.  You can invest in other people, in their business enterprises and home improvements.