Roughly, how much do DJIA, S&P500, and NASDAQ shares cost?

Question

I am interested in investing a small amount of money in stock but i don't want to invest in companies that always drop. I want to eventually turn the small amount of money into a large amount of money without setting up investment plans.

Answer 1

You can not but shares directly in those, but you can buy shares in index funds that track those indeces. Here are some of them.

DIA tracks the DJIA cost $136.61 per share 5 year average annual return 7.85%

SPY and IVV track the S&P 500 cost $154.08 and $154.21
5 year average annual return 8.45% and 8.47%. Note IVV has a slightly lower expense ratio.

QQQQ tracks the NASDQ 100 index costs $47.77 per share. 5 year average annual return 8.06%.

Besides those three there are about 470 some odd others you can choose from that track other indeces, some quite esoteric (probably not the correct word but the only one I can think of)

For example CVY with the name Claymore/Zacks Yield Hog Index whatever that means. Sells for $28.50 and has only been in business since last September.

Now if you open an account at Sharebuilder.com, you can invest, I think, any amount you wish into any of those. You do not have to buy a complete share. You could invest $50 at a time. But be aware that the commission will be steep.

Here is a link to all the available index funds at your becken call.

http://www.etfconnect.com/select/FindAFund.aspx

Answer 2

Dear Businessman,
I would suggest investing first in a simple book that explains the different forms of "Stock Shares".

{Common, preferred, index funds, etcetera}

Shares of stock are small amounts of ownership of the company that has offered the stock shares for sale.
The reason the company has offered the shares in the first place is to raise money. If the company makes money over a period of time, investors want to buy more shares, raising the price {The value of your stock goes up}

If the company doesn't do well shareholders try to sell off their shares, which lowers the share price.

In rare cases you may be able to buy shares of your local bank or a local firm without the help of a stock broker, however whenever money is involved there is a famous old saying called,"Caveat Emptor" which is Roman/Latin for let the buyer beware.

Answer 3

Wow... just imagine. You want to invest in "safe" stocks and make a ton of money. Sounds great;

A. Small surprise..... that's what everyone wants.
B. Risk = Reward. Safe = Low Reward.

To answer part "B" of your question;
You can buy "ETF's" for each index. It would cost around $5.00 - $25.00 (or more, depends on broker) to buy shares.

NOTE: If you bought NASDAQ shares back in early 2000 you'd have less than 60% of what you had originally invested.

You need to read a couple of good books before you get into a financial train wreck.

In investing.... ignorance is not an excuse.