How to start investing in stock???

Question

I want to start investing money into something. but little quantities! i know nothing at all about investing in stock, can you explain more please, how is ot done? where do i start? how do i make money? please tell me everything you know about this!!! who do i contact to start? what will i be investing in?

Answer 1

I HIGHLY recommend that you first go to your bank and ask if they have an online discount brokerage. If they do, then set one up. It doesn't cost anything or not much. Then keep asking people which stocks to buy. Maybe even do some "fake" buying and selling first, to see if you are making the best decisions. By fake buying, I mean, just write down what you would buy with the money you have, but don't actually buy it, just record it. Then track it to see how good you would have done if you had actually used your real money.

If you ever need any help in selecting stocks, write me and I'll tell you what I am studying at that time. I trade stocks for a living and have done pretty well at it so far. (5 years).

Answer 2

Even though you'd have to pay a fee, I would recommend going through a broker. I have all of my investments through Morgan Stanley.

How it's done is simple. You tell your broker what you want to buy, and they buy it with your money. Pick a company that is bound to be around for a while, and just let it sit. Companies like stable financial institutions (banks) and pharmaceuticals are pretty safe. Some technologies (Apple, IBM, etc) are also good ones.

You would probably need a lot to start. It's not worth buying just 1 or 2 shares if you're going through someone that will charge you a fee. So, put your money into an interest bearing account. If you choose a company whose stock is at 50 (for example), try to get at least $5,000 saved up so you can buy 100 shares instead of just buying 10 shares. The investment is a lot of money, but the return will be amazing.

You "make" money technically by selling, but I would recommend leaving your money in stocks for as long as possible so it will continue to grow. Using the above example, if you invested $5000 (100 shares at $50 each), you could technically sell once the stock hits 51, and make a $100 profit. You can also wait until it's at $60 per share, and make a $1000 profit ($60 per share x 100 shares = $6,000 value). Obviously, the bigger the difference, the better.

I personally have a number of stock market investments, and could easily sell now and have a profit. But, 10 years from now, that profit would be much greater.

Hope that helps!

Answer 3

Stock investing cannot be explained in a quick Q&A >

Start reading yahoo finance and use the Investing Ed 101 section and glossary .
Start making up hypothetical portfolios of stocks you think are good after doing the study and reading the columnists .

When you feel ready , you will need about $5000 to open a brokerage account .
I recommend Schwab because you can do trading on-line but they also have regular offices in case you want to see a live person or have an account issue .

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Answer 4

We assume that you are in Chicago.

To start investing, you should contact your own banker -- virtually every bank in Chicago offers a Certified Financial (also called Investment) Advisor to assist its clients.

(1) First, ask for your banker's qualifications and (especially) licenses. Many (most?) commercial banks today require their financial advisors to hold a series of licenses to advise with respect to securities and other investments.

Find a banker whom you trust and can relate to. Don't feel bad about checking out (interviewing) several bankers and getting their references, before making a decision on which banker to trust.

Why do we not recommend that you start with a stock broker? We have two reasons:

(a) A stock broker makes money only if when you buy and sell, and you do not yet know enough about what or when to buy or sell; and

(b) You do not yet have enough money to entrust to a stock broker because:

(i) If you have _lots_ of money, then you should not entrust it with a stock broker yet, because you do not yet have enough of a knowledge base, so you should keep your money in extremely safe investments through your bank; and

(ii) If you do _not_ have lots of money, then your stock broker would not want to spend much time on your investments or educating you.

Therefore, we recommend that you not rely at this point on a stock broker but on your banker.

(2) Secondly, when you've found a banker to trust, ask your banker for references to local seminars for beginning investors. Alternatively, if you are more comfortable with self-study, ask for references to website and books that will help you get started.

(3) Third, RESIST THE URGE TO JUMP IN! Don't do it!

Yes, you should start a savings program, but you yourself should not even think about managing your savings at this point. (You wouldn't entrust your money to someone with your level of knowledge, so don't entrust it to yourself.) Instead . . .

(4) Fourth, begin to save and invest under the management and guidance of a trusted advisor.

(5) Fifth, ask lots and lots of questions -- ask your banker, your friends, and Yahoo!Answer. Learn about PE ratio's, blue chips, options, puts and hundreds of other areas that are important to investments.

You will learn that you can make money in investments, whether or not the market goes up or down. To understand how this can happen requires the background information referred to above.

Good luck!!

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

I highly recommend this for you and everyone else. This is especially true for younger people. The link below is where I by my stocks on line. I chose Sharebuilders because it is easy and its fee's are lower then any I have found on the Internet or through brokers. Sharebuilders lets you commit what you can afford and does not have minimums. This allows you to start small. There are no penalties for not investing for a few months (INACTIVITY FEES), I personally change my investment amount quite often depending on what I can afford.

https://www.sharebuilder.com/

Answer 6

A good place to start learning about investing is http://www.top10traders.com - you can create a "practice" portfolio for free - each month the site ranks the best performing investors.

Answer 7

Hello,

There is a good tutorial about stocks on Investopedia.com's website, Here is the link:

http://www.investopedia.com/university/stocks/

I hope this helps.

Michael Weiss
The Editor
The Mutual Fund Investor
http://www.mutualfundinvestor.net

Answer 8

Open a brokerage account at Zecco and I will help you for FREE. (I am a Portfolio Manager)