2006-10-20 08:37:35 · 10 answers · asked by human_way 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
You don't go to a bank to buy stocks. And a stock broker is only there to take orders and parrot the party line of the brokerage and make cold calls. He's not an analyst, but rather a clerk.
Go to you library and check out some books on investing. If they don't have these, ask the librarian to get them (for free) through the Interlibrary Loan System.
Beginner’s Books on Investing
"Which Is Better, Buy-and-Hold or Market Timing?"
"Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Market Timer
The Beginner's Bible in Technical Analysis is:
Edwards & McGee"Tech. Anal. Of Stock Trends"
Droke, ClifTechnical Analysis Simplified
Kahn, Michael N.Tech. Anal. Plain & Simple
Kamich, Bruce M.How Technical Analysis Works
Lefevre, EdwinReminiscences of a Stock Operator
Lofton, ToddGetting Started in Futures
Lowenstein, RogerBuffet (Warren)-The Making of a Capitalist
O'Neil, William J.How to Make Money in Stocks
Oz, TonyHow to Make Money From Wall Street
Develop a plan, then test your plan on a free simulator at Investopedia.com and when you start making "virtual" money, then you can risk your own.
http://simulator.investopedia.com/home.a...
http://investopedia.com
http://investing.sitesled.com/
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/learnin...
Blogs
http://winners-and-losers.com/
Training & classes
http://bettertrades.com
http://investedcentral.com
ETF news and analysis
http://ETF-World.Org/
Article: Trading is Timing
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/tra...
Stock Charts
Bigcharts.com
http://www.stockTA.com
http://www.stockcharts.com
http://www.incrediblecharts.co...
www.prophet.net
americanbulls.com
Everyone started with nothing. Your potential lies within you. Keep reading, studying, and testing your theories.
You need to do the work first, learn a few terms, read a few books, which you will have to do anyway. Go to the library, and browse through the row upon row of the subject. All of these questions will be answered as soon as you take the first step and read a beginners guide to investing.
Try to determine your time horizon. Short-term, long-term?
Take a look at charting and Technical Analysis for following trends in the markets. Why would you own a stock that is in an obvious decline?
Realize right away there are two sides to the market, not just the upside. What goes up, eventually comes down at least part way.
Learn how to analyze risk, and make this your primary approach, not by compounding profits and erroneously analyzing how much money you can make. For example, most traders don't make any money at all; more than 80% blow out.
Learn about money management techniques, and maybe you'll stick around awhile.
2006-10-20 08:54:04 · answer #1 · answered by dredude52 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Congratulations on getting started. It’ll help you more than you know!
Your first dollars should be spent on getting educated on investing. You don't have to train to trade them professionally, but we are talking about your future here. So the more you learn, the more it'll help you! So let's start there.
You ask a very broad question, so be prepared for a pretty long answer. Just take it in chunks!
How to invest depends on what you already know. We'll assume that you're beginning since you say you've got no clue!
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 (he’s got a few).
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 and investopedia.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 until you track many of them over time. 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.
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).
For 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 with a book or two to give you an idea of where to begin. Take your time, and let it seep in.
As you get up to speed, you should papertrade to practice (highly recommended). This should help reduce your losses in the beginning as you get used to buying/selling.
You can practice for free on almost any reputable broker site (optionsxpress, scottrade, thinkorswim, etc).
Start slow, then as you figure things out, you can buy more shares.
Congrats again on getting started. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Hope this helps!
2006-10-20 10:12:46 · answer #2 · answered by Yada Yada Yada 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's very easy to invest the stock market today than it was in years past. Nowadays, you don't need much money to have a trading account
Today, there are online trading services that you can use. Scottrade is $7 bucks a trade, E-trade and Ameritrade provide trading service for about $4 a trade.
Do your research, before you choose a stock to buy. The best website to me is yahoo.finance.com. It gives the company profile, historical prices, and analyst recommendation.
Because the stock market is bullish, I will go with index stocks cause they basically follow the market (SPY follows the S&P 500, DIA follows the Dow Jones, while QQQQ follows the Nasdaq ticker).
2006-10-20 08:59:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Open an online account by sending in their minimum amount...so check ETrade, Schwab and the others, then put 1/3 in a stock that pays a dividend (like GE or Bristol Myers), then 1/3 in a mutual fund that pays a div every month, like a bond fund (there are lots), and finally 1/3 in a totally speculative stock that might rocket off, like AVII, which rose 30 cents today and is still only $4.37 and is a great little biotech. You'll get steady cash from the dividends, and lots of fun watching the speculative biotech, especially when you sell it high and buy another low! Good luck.
2006-10-20 13:44:56 · answer #4 · answered by Maldives 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dont follow either of these two other answers.
If you are not going to take investing seriously, go to a broker and buy a mutual fund.
If you are going to take it seriously, buy a few books and read them. One book I recomend is by Jim Cramer called:
Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World.
Buy a coupla books and read them and if you think you can grasp the concepts, pick five stocks and follow them and see why they go up and down and read news about them. If you think you can do that and you can make money doing it. Buy some stock through a discount broker.
Or if you want a guy who only makes money selling you stock and will make you buy and sell stock all the time, go to a full service broker who will make you go brokw with all thier fee s.
Good luck!
The book I mentioned is on the link below which goes to amazon.
2006-10-20 09:01:49 · answer #5 · answered by stockmarketwiz21 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Don't! That would the best advise.
If you must.
Have cash, and lots of it.
Then hire a competent broker who can handle the money for you based on the type of risk/return levels you wish to have. Pick one that gets paid only when you make money, and not when they decide to make trades for your account just to cost you fees and services costs.
Your best investment is to put it into Gold. Buy much, and often. It will grow in time, but it nevers loses its value in real money. There are brokers to help with this as well.
Do your research and ask lots of questions, read everything and know what is in the details. Otherwise your investing will cost you much.
Hope you do well.
2006-10-20 08:51:14 · answer #6 · answered by Cabana C 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The only requirement is to have a large enough deposit to open an account at any broker, on-line or otherwise, and viola your able to start investing in the stock market.
Being a good investor, well that's a different story.
2006-10-20 10:24:53 · answer #7 · answered by reallyno 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
making an investment in the inventory marketplace is a great thank you to make money on line. despite if, in case you do no longer understand what you're doing, you may lose extra beneficial than you earn. formerly you start up, study some inventory marketplace fundamentals, like picking the perfect inventory to commerce, timing your get right of entry to and exits from trades, and danger administration.
2016-12-08 18:07:45 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to your local Charles Schwab office with your checkbook, and tell the rep that you'd like to open an account, that you can access through the internet. After your check clears, you'll be able to buy a mutual fund. There are plenty of mutual fund screeners, to help you decide what to buy.
2006-10-20 11:20:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
go to your bank and ask your rep. how to buy stocks or simply call a company in the stck market, ask for their stock broker dept and purchase stock from that company.
2006-10-20 08:41:09 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋