Yes, index funds certainly aren't a bad idea for those who don't have the time, temperament, or aptitude to pick their own investments - particularly when they have a limited amount of money and want to avoid much in the way of expenses. Personally, I prefer to pick my own stocks, bonds, etc with the majority of my money, and to also invest some of my money (mainly retirement accounts) with the world's best money managers. Besides putting a little in mutual funds, I also own stocks such as BRK.B and IEP.
I personally don't use index funds. But I do see them as a great opportunity for those who don't want to spend a lot of time managing their investments. Doesn't really get more simple than index funds and in the long run they should do ok.
Looking at NASDAQ.com, NFLX at least has income, but too rich for me. At first glace at the numbers, RCPT has no earnings and little data to draw upon. Comments on Seeking Alpha are over the map. The answer to your question depends upon your age, other responsibilities and risk tolerance. At my age, retired, neither one for my portfolio.
I'm not sure if you can relate to my post but over here, the best investment would be stocks of the top 3 banks. The financial market has been stable for many decades and there's no indication that it will slide down. Just recently, I had been granted shares of stocks of our company, the number 1 universal bank in our country. However, those shares have a holding period so I cannot sell them right now. The value of the shares is equivalent to $5,000 for the first tranche. They said there will be another tranche next year.
Banks are certainly not bad choices. I do own one bank myself and I'm happy with it so far. I do consider them a bit riskier than most of the other "buy and hold forever" types that I have but once again, diversification is the answer.
>>NFLX or RCPT Looking at Netflix the stock - seems due for a correction, the price is way over the board for the earnings they bring. As a company, I do like several of their own productions but the stock is overvalued imo. RCPT is in the red but has great potential to grow - analysts price target at $267. It might be a gamble worth taking if you are into risks with biotech.
Receptos just got bought out by Celgene. I own small amounts of quite a few biotechs - mostly call and put options, as well as some long stock positions in relatively small amounts here and there. They are very volatile - you can make or lose a fortune in a very short time span. I recently sold what little Netflix I had left back when it was around $530 a couple of months ago. I bought into it below $80 in late 2012.
RCPT is up 11% today on the news and 5% yesterday - wish I had followed my own advice Biotech are very risky indeed, I currently hold $VNDA - entered at ~$10 ~2 months ago. Wish I took an exit at $13, but its still not that bad at $12 . Took a 5% loss last month on $BDSI - I got in too early.
Your strategy is right one when you have a high preference for current income. Investing in value stocks can accomplish the goal of earning constantly increasing dividends. Value stock provides increasing dividends return.
