Scared of Shares?

Well, given the current economic climate, you'd be right to be scared of shares. Many people have been burnt recently, but I know the lure of big bucks can be very strong.

What I have done, over this year, is to pick two stocks, and follow them, in the newspaper, through the ups and downs of their progress. It has been a good thing. I had got very excited about a particular company when they launched their prospectus, and I wanted to jump on board.

I didn't have the requisite cash available, so I couldn't buy. But I decided to keep an eye on their progress to see what I was missing out on.

What I was missing out on, after ten months or so of following them, is a bit of excitement when their prices went up and up and up, and then distress when the price plummetted! So, my lesson has been learnt - this is not the way to quick cash, unless you truly do have the ability to see into the future, which most of us don't have.

With the late October 2008 crash, those stocks crashed too, down almost as low as they've ever been.

The other stocks I've been following have been a different story. This company has been there for many years, and they are still above where they were six months ago when I started watching them. If I'd bought into that one, I still be happy, even with the crash.

But I still don't have the spare cash to try it out, and I'll continue keeping an eye on the two and smile at the results.

I hope people out there are doing OK. These are interesting times, and there is a Chinee curse that makes sense - 'May you live in Interesting Times'