Where Can I Learn About Individual Stocks?

Question

I am tired of my mutual funds. I am sure I can do better than these guys. Any advice? Thanks.

Answer 1

How to invest depends on what you already know. We'll assume that you're beginning.

A good primer is How to Make Money in Stocks by William O'Neil. You can get it cheap just about anywhere. It’s widely available new or used.

Another good one is one of Jim Cramer's books.

But books will only get you so far. At some point, you'll also want to get at least a little training. There are some great education companies if you want to make the investment. Investools.com or optionetics.com are both very good companies as is tmitchell.com

For free, you can start by visiting thestreet.com. That'll get you a pretty good primer so at least you'll understand what the markets are and what a stock is, etc. If you get a chance, watch Mad Money on CNBC. Don't trade any of his picks. Just use the show to get you to understand some basics and get a feel for the market itself.

Next, subscribe to something like investorsbusiness daily or something like that that can help you identify good stocks.

Do a quick search (at the top of the page) on ROTH IRAs. You’ll want to put some money in there.

Once you understand stocks, go to 888options.com. It's a website that'll help you understand options (what they do, how they work, etc). You don't need to trade them, but the more you know, the more you'll see how options can really be the safest way to invest (once you're educated).

As you get more advanced, you might want a technical analysis book like Murphy's Visual Investor or A Technical Analysis Course by Meyer.

If it's discipline (which is crucial to successful trading), probably Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas or Mastering the Trade by John Carter

I know that’s a LOT to absorb. Just take it one step at a time for now. Start slow, then as you figure things out, move out of mutual funds into ETFs and/or stocks.

Congrats again on getting started. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

If you want to be profitable in individual stocks, you must have a strategy and an methodology to indicate when to buy and sell.

Investors Business Daily advocates a strategy of buying fundamentally sound companies when they show some upward momentum. They also teach a strategy for taking profits, and cutting losers.
Much of their content is free on the website, but the individual stock rating require a paid subscription.

If this sort of strategy is not appropriate for you, that fine. There are others, like value investing, position trading and swing trading all of which can be very successful.

What ever you do, do NO buy hot stocks you hear about in the news without a clear plan for entry and exit points. Buying and selling on gut feeling or emotion will eat your capital.

Answer 3

When you buy an individual stock you are buying a piece of that company. So start by imagining yourself as a very wealthy investor who is buying the whole business, the same way as if you were buying, say, a car or a house.

First, think about whether you understand what the business does. You wouldn't buy a car without knowing whether it works, and how fast it can go.

Second. ask yourself why you like the business you are thinking of buying. Is the company making profits? If not, why not. Will it be profitable in future? Is it paying you a share of its profits as dividend? Try to write down a couple of reasons why you would like owning the whole business. Then, think of what could go wrong with it, and whether you would still like being the owner of it when things go pear-shaped. Just like when buying a house, it is better to go for one you like living with, rather than buying an ugly wreck in the hope of making a turn by selling it on to a "greater fool" - you might get stuck with it.

Third, look at how much the whole business is valued by the stock market. This is the "Market Capitalization", or M/Cap. You can work this out by multiplying the price per share by the total number of shares issued. (you can get this number from the annual report or from SEC filings on-line). Don't forget to take account of cash and debt in the business when valuing the whole business. How much would you pay for a house with a Market Value of $200,000 if at the same time you would have to assume a $190,000 mortgage? You wouldn't buy a house, however nice, if you thought it was overvalued. So compare the value of the business you are thinking of investing in to that of others in its sector.

Once you have found a couple of businesses you'd like to own , you are ready to think about buying shares in each of them. Think about diversifying, If you could buy ten houses, would you want each of them to be on the San Andreas fault line? Diversification is your bottom line insurance: it is one of the reasons why mutual funds are usually regarded as safer than individual shares.

Answer 4

Mutual Funds are a sham. Individual stocks are more risky, but if you buy enough from different sectors, you can reach an adequate level of diversification.

I use simple stuff...Yahoo! finance, E*Trade, Fidelity online. I've done well, no complaints.

Good Luck :-)

Answer 5

such extremely some sturdy books are accessible contained in the marketplace. earlier start up reading books, watch CNBC, ET like inventory procuring and promoting television channels for some days. you'll comprehend some worry-free terminologies. study finance information paper and magazines. in case you get self belief, start up with a small quantity. do no longer borrow and purchase stocks. initially make investments only in usual stocks, at the same time as the index is low.

Answer 6

Don't be too sure. If you can buy and hold good quality stocks and a few speculations with good prospects, you may be able to. Fidelity has a treasure trove of research material.

Answer 7

These are some good sources to learn about the market and the key individual sectors.

http://winners-and-losers.com/

http://biotech-news.org/

http://energy-markets.org/

http://gold-news.org/

http://mining-profits.org/

http://ethanol.v33.org/

http://tech-stocks.org/

http://airlines.v33.org/

Answer 8

Try these links perhaps you will get more info there


http://www.lofinance.blogspot.com

Answer 9

Survey says...............Motley Fool!