it all depends what you wanna do. if you want to go the ETF rout, we're talking
about broad market ETF's, SPY, DIA, QQQQ, IWM.

if youre going to go the stock rout, i do agree that you should go with one or
two. if you go with two, id say one has to be a staple (KO, PEP, MO, JNJ, KFT
etc.), then the other can really be anything.

**if** youre going to trade, do so wiht only one stock, its easier to keep track
of if youre just starting.

buying in scale is an ok idea if you have more money, i dont know as if it will
really be all that profitable with 2k.

ive been trading for 7 years, this is the toughest market ive ever seen (long or
short). dont expect to make money when you start in a bear market. it takes
years to usually learn how to do that. take profits when you can, do not
rationalize, its not rational.

i'd buy the ultra financial ETF UYG, it's trading at 8 or 9 and change and could
double easy within six months. buying actual stocks would be a waste of time,
putting it in a savings account is still the safest bet.

Doc dont take just my advice because it shows the most reward.

You ultimately in the end are in charge of your own money. You need to research
and know what to do. I was giving u options.

Others think the world will be over in a month. I think the world keeps
turning. Lots of wide range of views. You have to find your own views and how
to invest within those views

papa doc, if you have never done this before and are looking to double or
qaudruple your money, then i say keep your money. it will get sucked up so fast
you wont even know what hit you.for people that don't know how to RUN INTO a
fire. you will get burned. wait!.chris

Well, I wasn't going to invest any more any time soon. This is less-so a long
term thing, and more-so a "see what I can turn the $2,000 into in this type of
market" thing. I unfortunately do not have the funds to continuously invest
more and more into the market. Does this change your answer?

Just to clarify. I am about diversification and safe investing. This is a
sale. Stocks are at unnatural prices due to hedge funds having to sell. Not
wanting to sell but having to sell. 2,3,4 years from now people will be
thinking why didnt I buy at these prices.

This is just my opinoins and I have my own thesis to where this market will go.


I would agree take the money, divide it into 4 and over 4 months take each
portion and put it into the stock of your choosing.

These arent normal times to try to diversify. These are great prices to be
buying stock at.

Market might go lower, well then you buy lower next month. Spread it out.

Diversify is usually a way to go. But for me...I would put that 2000 into one
stock I know will get me great returns in acouple of years.

Proper investment advice for an individual such as yourself requires more
answers than you have provided. One such question is, are you going to have any
more money coming in right behind it? How much? How soon? Then what? Among other
questions. If you just mean that you won't need it any time soon, and you want
to maximize your returns over several years, I'd put 25% in an intl fund, 25% in
a solid REIT, and 25% split in half between two sector funds that have been
beaten to heck, or just an index fund if you don't want to pick a particular
sector.

buy a couple of books that help you make your own decisions. jim cramer's Real
Money, ken Fisher's only 3 questions that count

so blurpkin...you are saying that I can take my $2,000 and maybe turn it into
$8,000 over the long run by investing in Dryships? Do you disagree with
firesion's assessment to spread out my buys throughout the year and attempt to
diversify that way?

2000 is too small to diversify.

I say you put it into 1 stock that has been beaten.

DRYS over the long run will qaudruple.
FWLT over the long run will triple.
RIG over the long run will double.

To diversify will underperform. By 1 of these put it all in. Work and put more
in other stocks and diversify from there.