Play with the ETF's

ETFs are probaby fine for the time being, but eventually they will break down. People will start demanding physical, and paper contracts will go up in smoke.

depends on how much you are making now.

if you are a student just throw it into a 2-3 stocks that you have researched and like. if you are working def look into a roth IRA, ETFs, MFs, etc.

First question that needs to be answered is what are you looking to do with 18k? Are you seeking ways to speculate or do you want to get something that's better than 0.01% interest rate for the next 24 months?

If you are going to speculate, then 18k should be enough for most brokerage to offer some kind of discounted commission or even no commission.

Then you need to consider how much time you have. While I do due diligence for living, I simply do not have enough time to do DD on companies of my personal interest. If you do have time to do research and make certain that the current price is undervalued, then great, go for those companies.

If you say no to both of the questions above, then VTI is your best friend, because unless you are paying attention to your investments, you will wake up one morning to DNDN (Aug 2011) or DMND (Feb 2012) situation.

And one more - don't seek for commission free ETFs. Their horrible bid-ask spread is usually more than sub-$10 commission.

This letter may come to you as a surprise but I really prayed to God to help me choose somebody that will be my true partner. My name is Augusto Nandu Savimbi. I am the first son of Mr. Jonas Savinbi, the leader of the UNITA movement in Angola. May be you know that my father was killed recently in Angola by the Angola Government soldiers and has been buried. Two weeks before he died (May be he know he will die) he called me and showed me a box containing US$ 35 million and some Diamond value about US$18 million. He send the box to a security company overseas in one country in the West, for safe keeping with a false name. He give me the certificate of deposit and the code number. With that I collect the box anytime I want. Now I want because my father is dead and I need the money to take care of my family left behind of about five wives and twenty five children. I am now hiding as the government of Angola look for me to kill and also the former commanders of my father want to get me also. I have to be careful of my movement that is why I need your help to get the box and keep it until I can escape and meet you and you help me invest the money in your country or where it is good.

Or put it all on red.

say whaaaa

If you will need it in 24 months you should put very little in equities. Put around 80% in low risk fixed-income derived ETFs.

Nat gas prices are in the shitter....and going to stay that way for awhile. FSYS or WPRT

Lol

Lol

comment deleted.

On what grounds are you calling gold a bubble? Because your favorite trader on Fast Money thinks so?

Do you realize that total gold holdings by global investors is about 1.5% (1921 - 28%, 1932 - 20%, 1948 - 30%, 1981 -26%)? That seem like a bubble to you? Very few ordinary retail investors have any gold at all, and if they do, it's in the form of paper ETFs. The average joe still has all his retirement money with Edward Jones in a "diversified" portfolio of stocks and bonds.

You need to understand that gold is not becoming more valuable, it's more or less fixed, it just costs more because it reflects the declining purchasing power of the dollar. Simple math. The real bubble is in treasuries and the fiat currency system.

There's your first problem, gold is not a raw material, gold is money.

Yeah I meant % of total global assets held by investors, I added some numbers to my post to give you a better perspective. Gold right now is probably the exact opposite of a bubble.

Yeah I'm a total loon for being skeptical of Bernanke's and Obama's handling of the economy.

Buy Div stocks and sell deep covered calls, easy way to get 10% a year without too much risk.

Slightly less than I've made this decade.

http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/au3650nyb.html

touche

Apple or priceline. Thank me later.

Hey kid......how funny is a 15% return in a couple of minutes. People like you, 20 year old college kids, need to STFU sometimes.

Like I mentioned in my original post, dumbo, "when YELP goes public on Mar 2nd" meaning when they trade on the secondary markets and open to the public.

my 15% return is based on buying and selling TODAY!