how do i invest in the stock market?

Answer 1

it's pretty simple really. here are some basics:

research a company you are interested in, i.e. starbucks, home depot, microsoft, silver star energy, etc...

understand what the company is about, their future growth plans, how profitable it is, and its current assets and liabilities. also understand its capital investments, basically, understand the company inside in out.

next step is to determine which companies seem favorable to you... also ask a financial advisor for their opinions (they will probably charge you for their advice, it's a service which is their job) and pick a couple of the companies that you feel most comfortable investing in.

next, pull some money out of your bank account or wherever you have your securities placed, and send the check to an investment banking firm such as etrade.com or scotttrade.com or ameritrade.com and when your money is in, diversify by putting some money in one company (you will pay whatever the value of the company's stock is multiplied by the number of those shares you bought) and more money in another.

golden rule, it is good to buy a stock when it's low and sell it when it's high (dont buy low all the time. if the company is rapidly growing with excellent earnings/per share, then it will keep growing quarter by quarter as long as the company holds its good image and it's good to buy it wherever it's at).

holding on for the short term is usually more riskier than holding on for the long term because the market is more volitile in the short term and has a typically steady increasing or decreasing line on your investments in the long run. that's why it's good to diversify... to minimize your risks

always remember that A COMPANY'S MAIN GOAL IS TO MAXIMIZE A SHAREHOLDERS WEALTH, NOT ON A COMPANY'S PROFITS!

Answer 2

You'll need to open a brokerage account online. Tradeking and Scottrade are a couple of inexpensive brokers that don't charge you simply for having an account.

I recommend buying mutual funds or exchange traded funds. These allow you to own a little stock in a large number of companies and eliminates the chance of you picking a bad stock. Examples include the SPDR fund (ticker symbol SPY) and the iShares fund (IVV.)

Good luck.

Answer 3

go to vanguard or fidelity and buy some no-load index funds.