A teen who wants to buy stocks?

Question

Any advice for a teen who wants to buy stocks for the first time? I'm thinking about getting a dividend re-investment plan for Pfizer or getting a S&P 500 index. Also, what happens if I'm interested in investing in a stock that is in Europe? How do I get started and do I need a stock broker?

Answer 1

To answer the last question first, it's best to use ADR's (American Depository Receipts) to invest in overseas companies. To get started, you need money and someone with a seat on the stock exchange which trades the stock you wish to buy. Scottrade is very inexpensive per trade with no other charges. Once the account is set up and money is deposited in your account, you tell them the symbol of the stock you wish to purchase. Stock brokers "help" you pick your stocks but they charge more per trade and often have other fees.

Answer 2

both are ok choices how ever the single stock is far risker than the index. (especially Pfizer). Techinally you do not need a broker (you can invest directly through the company) however for those starting out a broker is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! A good broker can help you understand the market and why commidities (gold, oil etc) are NOT good investment choices right now. Why you need to diversify and show you the trends of individual stocks (like Pfizer). For starting out I would recommend a solid global mutual fund then as your knowlege and risk tolerance improves you can go out for riskier picks like ETF's and ADR's. Always start small invest what you can AFFORD to lose and always get sound advice.

Answer 3

Between your two options I'd recommend buying the S&P 500 index, which you can do easily by purchasing shares in exchange traded funds (mutual funds that are traded on markets like stocks.) Two funds that track the S&P 500 are the SPDR fund (SPY) and the iShares fund (IVV).

I generally would recommend buying ETFs unless you really love investing and can spend a lot of time researching individual companies. Even if it's only a small amount of money you shouldn't have all your cash in one stock.

You should open an online brokerage account (Scottrade works just fine).

Many prominent foreign companies trade on US exchanges as ADRs (for example Sony's ticker symbol is SNE). You can buy or sell them just like US stocks. You can also buy ETFs that track foreign indexes or commodities.

I also might wait a little while to see what happens with the mortgage situation before plunging in. Good luck.

Answer 4

The best advice I can give is read up all you can on the subject before jumping into anything, and these are THE sites to read through:
http://www.fool.com/school/basics/basics.htm
http://www.fool.com/school/13steps/13steps.htm
http://www.fool.com/school/howtovaluestocks.htm
http://caps.fool.com
http://quote.fool.com
http://www.fool.co.uk/school/2006/sch060130.htm (UK version of the above 5)
http://www.investopedia.com
http://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/warrenbuffett/a/aawarrenbio.htm
http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/08/31/buffett/

And to get some practise in, using fantasy money instead of your own (and potentially loosing a fair bit) while you "learn the ropes" check out http://www.simustock.com

To get started, I'd suggest looking into opening an account @ http://www.sharebuilder.com as they're a little bit more "beginner friendly" than most other places, and allow you to buy shares small chunks, so you don't get your fingers too badly burned in the early stages of your stock investing career (and trust me, you will get your fingers burned quite a few times if you leap into doing this without reading up on it).......... and you can also buy shares in fractions with this company, not just whole ones (handy if there's a company you want to invest in, but your budget means you can't afford a whole sale....... like if you wanted to invest in google @ around $450 - $500 a share, but you only have say $20 - $200 available to invest).

Answer 5

You need better advice than you can get here.
First as a teen, Depending on your age you can't buy stock without parents consent.

If you get that, why Pfizer?? why Europe?

If you are starting off, go to your bank, get a no-load, balanced mutual fund. This has a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market instruments. It is low on the risk scale and has low volitility.

Contribute to that fund when you can, and learn all about investing while you make money in that fund, you can branch into other stuff when you get more knowledgable

Answer 6

No you can do it for yourself and you dont need a license or broker. My advice- since i do this for a living- dont buy into anything that in the US stock market or thats bought in American dollars. The economy is going down fast! Look more into gold, silver, uranium, and foreign currencies. They are more long term stocks that are set to keep going up

Answer 7

Open a brokerage account at Zecco and invest in the ETF IVV.

If you want to buy European stocks then you need to open a brokerage account at E*Trade.