I am 15 and want to get started in the stock market. can anyone give me any help on understanding and getting into the stock market for the first time. i dont wanna do anything big for awhile, maybe i can start out with a couple hundred dollars. any books that you read that helped would be good to.
2007-07-13 15:29:01 · 8 answers · asked by da_jtac_0 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
Good idea trying to get started.
Maybe you can read the book "Investing for Dummies" by Eric Tyson.
Also, do you also know that many US brokerages, such as Etrade (www.etrade.com) require you to be 18 to open a brokerage account?
https://us.etrade.com/e/t/welcome/generalgen
So what you can do is ask your parents to open an account for you. One example is a Custodial account:
https://us.etrade.com/e/t/welcome/educationcustac
Your parents will control the account until you turn 18 or 21.
However, maybe you can tell your parents to invest for you.
In general, since you are young, you can take a lot more risk. So you can invest in a single stock (but not a penny stock!!) or an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) such as "EEM", which represents the International Emerging Markets such as Taiwan, Korea, China, Mexico, Brazil, India, Russia.
Learn more about investments. You can start reading books such as "Investing for Dummies" by Eric Tyson.
Ideally, get your parents involved. You can research stocks together. A good stock to research would be stocks you already know. Do you like McDonalds? maybe you can invest in "MCD". Do you like Games? Then consider Gamestop (GME). Of course, don't just buy it because you use the product. This is just a starting point. Research the stock!
Also, watch "Mad Money" on CNBC hosted by former hedge fund manager Jim Cramer. Lots of those in Generation Y like him. He may sound a bit crazy on the show, but in reality, he as a very good hedge fund manager before he did the Mad Money show.
Good luck!
(realistic market return: 10% per year over a long time. Of course, you can lose 40% in a year, or gain 40% of a year. If you hold an individual stock, the stock will be more volatile. Don't be surprised if you go on a rollercoaster ride.)
(you can also try mutual funds, if you want, but it sounded like you are interested more in individual stocks. )
2007-07-13 21:11:47 · answer #1 · answered by TechFarm 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is no limit to how much you can lose!!
Remember this fact!
Use some money to learn more about trading.
You'll need to do courses..or you will lose your money...
guaranteed!
Putting money in the market means you need to protect
it from market falls.
If you are seriously prepared to do this, I suggest
you learn how you can protect your stocks with options.
I'll mention some resources that will help you.
2007-07-14 17:37:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would not invest in single stocks, I would invest in Exchange Traded Funds, or Mutual Funds.
A good book that will give you overall financial advice is "The Millionaire Next Door". It is very easy to read.
2007-07-13 15:54:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Learning before betting is the way to go. Fortunately, there are a couple of very good beginning texts which are cheap.
***
"Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom" by Van Tharp, Ph.D.
"The Successful Investor" by William J. O'Neil
***
Both based on solid research over decades. Van Tharp is more generalized -- O'Neil, imho, comes to conclusions and makes rules for reasons he does not explain [other than "my tests show ..."].
GL
2007-07-13 15:39:16 · answer #4 · answered by Spock (rhp) 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ditto with second comment but only certain brokers will allow you to invest at 15 personally I would put it in the online saving banks with no risk and starting at 4.5% a couple of hundred is ok but you really need something like $2,000 to make an impact.
2007-07-13 16:12:03 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You might want to create a "practice" portfolio at http://www.top10traders.com - it's free - each month the site ranks the best-performing investors.
2007-07-14 02:45:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Join:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TradingZoom/
- review the books on the front page and follow the pros for a while. Won't cost you anything.
2007-07-13 16:16:11 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
look at those for dummies books....investing for dummies...mutual funds for dummies...and the best book by far for kids your age is learn to earn by peter lynch...get this book. it is the best history lesson by far...true american hisory
2007-07-14 05:06:57 · answer #8 · answered by zioncanyon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋