ive been doing my online banking with nat west a high street bank for a while now and have always noticed that it says that i can open a stocks and shares builder account is it possible to invest small amounts like £10 and under with listed companys like tesco and bp and also bt.. and if i was to do so is it possible i could make a little from doing it as i dont have a clue about it but would like to try and make a little cash elsewhere aswell as my full time job
please help because im clueless at investment
2007-03-05 16:37:14 · 4 answers · asked by grandriverrat2005 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
You can do it cheaper at Halifax through their SHAREBUILDER scheme (£1.50 to buy shares, £5 to sell.... and it also allows you to buy in fractions of shares you can't quite afford instead of whole ones) http://www.halifax.co.uk/sharedealing/sharebuilder.shtml
It also means that you only really need to invest £20 - £120(ish) on shares to get enough shares to break even quickly + be able to sell them again without the commission fee cancelling out any profit, instead of around £500 - £1000 like you would with services charging £10 commission.
As for learning how to invest in Stocks & Shares, these are the sites I can't recommend highly enough:
Motley Fool UK Investment section:
http://www.fool.co.uk/investments/investments.aspx
Article in this section that'll explain everything you need to know to get started:
http://www.fool.co.uk/school/2006/sch060130.htm
Investing terms explained:
http://www.fool.co.uk/specials/2005/specials050124.htm
http://www.investopedia.com
An online fantasy stockmarket game that'll help you practise before coughing up any real money:
http://www.bullbearings.co.uk
Additional reading:
http://www.fool.com/investing.htm (original US version of The Motley Fool Investment section)
http://www.everyinvestor.co.uk
http://quote.fool.co.uk (UK stock quotes for doing your research)
http://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/warrenbuffett/a/aawarrenbio.htm
2007-03-06 12:57:21 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
1) First register with a stock broker. If you do not know any, ask at your bank. 2) Then ask that broker what are his charges. There is no minimum investment, but there is a minimum charge and so investments below say, £1000 or $2000 tend to be rather expensive. Tell the broker you want a certificate a/c, not a nominee a/c. This means the broker will send you a certificate for the shares. 3) As you are an absolute beginner invest in the shares of a good bank, like Bank of America, or Citibank or HSBC. You will have safety and some income, from day one. Good luck
2016-03-16 05:24:02 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can invest small amounts in the markets but the costs involved in doing so make it fairly pointless.
The best thing to do is open something called a spread betting account. With some of these you can place small bets on stocks and if the shareprice goes the way you predicted you can take the profits and re-invest.
The one spreadbetting firm that allows very small bets is
www.finspreads.com
Try this group to start your investing/trading ideas with a low risk 10 or 20 pounds.
Also go to a stock market traders website such as
WWW.ADVFN.COM
there you will fnd information about specific stocks and courses you can go on once you feel that market trading/investing is something you can do.
2007-03-05 16:47:38 · answer #3 · answered by clever investor 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
DO NOT OPEN A SPREAD BETTING ACCOUNT !!!
Not only is it high risk but you can LOOSE YOUR SHIRT.
Spread Betting is for people who have put maximum into their pension, maximum into ISA's and are gains close to the capital Gain limit - have THOUSANDS to spare and are prepared to LOOSE THE LOT and then some (in spread betting you can loose ten or a hundred times your 'bet'.)
As other have mentioned, the charges make direct investment of small amounts pointless - however I believe the Halifax scheme is more like a Savings account - you CAN put in small amounts because the charges effectively zero.
I would say go for it - right now the markets are falling so it's a good idea to get in whist the shares are cheap (be prepared to see the value drop for the next few months)
If you are not happy to watch the value go down before it goes up again, I suggest you open a Cash ISA. You can make monthly contributions up to about £500 per month into this - you get a good rate of interest and do not have to pay any Tax.
2007-03-05 18:33:03 · answer #4 · answered by Steve B 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
£10 purchases of shares in listed companies isn't feasible.
The minimum cost of purchase through even the cheapest online broker is around £10. Then something similar again when you want to sell your shares.
So immediately you would need your £10 investment to grow in to £30 (300% profit/growth) just to just get your money back !!!!
You really have to make slightly bigger investments to make it more feasible. £250+ imo.
This is not financial advice.. if in doubt seek professional financial advice. Also keep in mind this simple rule... buy low / sell high.
2007-03-05 17:15:46 · answer #5 · answered by Narky 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋