Buying Stock

[Deleted]

I have never bought stock (other than one IPO and via mutual funds). Got it in my head that maybe I should set up an account and try my hand at this. So I visited different sites, but they all seem to provide a lot of "fluff" and not really tell me just how it all works. (A tutorial for dummies would work well on these websites.)

I am guessing that I can open an account, put some money in it (can I do this by check?), and do trades on-line, but none of the sites I visited explains all this.

Can you give me the basics?

[kadee79]

ezzie, I watched the markets for years tracking certain stocks that had some meaning to me in one way or another...like the place I worked, stores I shopped, etc.
There is soooooo much to learn that no one can give you a quick way to do it.
I have a couple of suggestions though...look at all the on-line brokers home sites and see which one fits you best. Some charge fees, some don't...look for those. If you have more questions about certain ones...call them, most have 800 #s.

I do mine entirely by check and all my trades are done on-line for 6.95 ea. If I need a broker it costs me much more, like around $30 per trade. I sold some foreign stock I had which was a special deal...that required a broker & cost me $75. So look at all of these things before you decide.
THEN you can send monies to set up an account.

My other suggestion is to look around in your area for a stock club. You might also go to your public library & get the book "The Beardstown Ladies" and read that. It will give you a few pointers. I belonged to a "women's" stock club for awhile. It is a teaching/learning/guest speakers type of thing & some of them assign projects and have homework. We met once a month and all of our "dues" went into stock purchases. I did have to "buy in" which was only $300 in my case since the club had just formed. We made money & learned a LOT!

There is also a thread on this board with suggestions for reading materials.
Since I'm not "into it" that deeply, I don't devote time to reading all the materials. I do, however, pay attention to what is happening around me & read both national & local news daily. Once you learn what to notice you will start seeing clues as to how things "might" be going.
When I said I pay attention to what is happening around me I'm talking about how many houses I see for sale, what price range those houses might be in, what the farmers are planting, how their crops look (I live rural), the prices in my grocery stores...lots of things like that.

Someone else here may pop in & give you more pointers. Read them all & then decide which ones might fit you best.
Have fun but also be careful!

You could also check to see if your local trade school or jr. college has any classes pertaining to stocks, stock brokers, etc. You might find one of those very educational.

[Deleted]

Thank you wxyz. I will check out Schwab. I would like to open an account with a firm that has an office nearby, even though I would trade on-line. No particular reason for this, it's more like a security blanket feeling.

Thanks kadee. I am checking out stock clubs.

[Driftr]

Jul 11, 2012 10:15:55 GMT -5 @ezzie said:

Thank you wxyz. I will check out Schwab. I would like to open an account with a firm that has an office nearby, even though I would trade on-line. No particular reason for this, it's more like a security blanket feeling.

Thanks kadee. I am checking out stock clubs.

My personal opinion is to wait to make the first purchase until the fee you pay is less than .5% of the purchase.

[Deleted]

Driftr: I did the math; what you suggested seems wise to me.

[gambler]

if you go over to the day traders thread they have a chat room set up and you can request the information to get into it. they also have a live feed that explains trade and why. as you are a novices I would highly recommend listen only when they are actively trading and ask question when they are slow or post your questions on one of the threads. i have a penny thread going and there is a dividend thread and a stock pick of the week thread on investing and beyond board. I believe any of us will try to answer any questions you might have

[beenherebefore]

Investopedia.com is a good resource for beginning investors. They have some on line brokerage comparisons, which you may find helpful.

www.investopedia.com/active-trading/compare/discount-brokers.aspx#axzz1zZDd3YRz

[Deleted]

Ezzie, you could join the IBB ongoing Simulator. Virtual Dollors in a virtual Portfolio any mistakes there won't cost you any real cash.

[clarkrl2]

Jul 11, 2012 17:40:55 GMT -5 beenherebefore said:

Investopedia.com is a good resource for beginning investors. They have some on line brokerage comparisons, which you may find helpful.

www.investopedia.com/active-trading/compare/discount-brokers.aspx#axzz1zZDd3YRz

When I started I learned a lot from Investopedia.com and Morningstar.com. I think it's helpful to subscribe to websites or magazines until you learn the basics. I have subscribed to but no longer use: www.aaii.com, Money Magazine, Kiplinger's magazine, Barron's print version
The subscriptions are relatively low cost and you can discontinue the subscription when you feel like you are no longer getting a value from them.

I mean no disrespect to gambler but I do not think a day trading thread or a penny stock thread is a good starting point for a beginner.

[safeharbor37]

I wouldn't recommend Schwab for a small investor. They will hit you with too many fees. I have my big account with them which is large enough that the fees are waived, but I think the minimum for that is $100,000. [correction: I haven't checked on Swab fee structure for a while so it might be wise to check it out in case my info is out of date.]
There are a lot of deep discount brokers, but I opened a small account with Scottrade when Schwab was charging $29.95/trade to get the $7/trade and $500 minimum balance for no fee. That's what I'd recommend for a beginner. They actually have more offices than Schwab, but don't offer full service [you'd have to pay for full service at Schwab, but they do give more service than Scottrade for nothing too].
The thing to do is open an account, start to trade and learn with money you don't need right away and could survive if you lost it all. Baby steps and read boards like this one as well as free web sites. Just don't risk more than you can afford. Confidence comes with time [and some hard experience ~ you will lose a few bets].
My personal opinion is that the market is overbought and it's not a really good time to jump in. There will always be some good buys and some stocks are a good buy anytime, but be careful.

[Deleted]

Thanks, all. Safeharbor: I will take a look at the fee structures; this certainly won't be a $100,000 account! And it won't be $$ that I can't live without or plan on for retirement. In fact, I won't open an account until I have saved up some extra money.

[bimetalaupt]

Jul 16, 2012 9:20:29 GMT -5 @ezzie said:

Thanks, all. Safeharbor: I will take a look at the fee structures; this certainly won't be a $100,000 account! And it won't be $$ that I can't live without or plan on for retirement. In fact, I won't open an account until I have saved up some extra money.

Ezzie,
In fact you do not need to put a penny to do it on paper first. Try Rovo's weekly stock contest and check out your local library for Value line or S&P..

If you chose Chuck ( Schwab) he has free trades on his own ETF's... Also If you hold off until you understand the risk of the Stock market you may find Oct is the Best Month to buy!!(on average).

Also Bonds are hot in a Depression...The market is saying things are worst in the EU then YOU hear so things that are 100% American have loWer risk.. REIT and Electric Power are hot not.. Russell 2000 ( small Caps) do have a lot more risk and return BUT BUYING AT THE BOTTOM IS A GREAT GAME TO WIN WITH!!.. Bonds move in the opposite direction of stocks.. You may want to read my Post on this subject ' on the Expert 50/50 system of risk reduction.

Best of luck,
BiMetalAuPt

[bimetalaupt]

One more thing.. Most Traders lose money...I had a friend that got me looking at the Trading school that taught you how to make money trading S&P Mini Futures.. He was not making money but I had spent the same amount of time working a second job.. I bought high yield bonds funds in a second retirement fund. In the end I had more money then he had left..

He asked all in the lab who was making money.. None of them had. OK bonds have been great but the point is he was spending some 20 hours working on it and I spent about the same amount of time working in a small hospital and keep a lot of the extra money in the account that I have yet to start collecting on.. I will get my first draw in 2016.

It is all about the value of time in money...

BiMetalAuPt

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Jul 16, 2012 10:08:14 GMT -5 @wxyz said:

Remember, there is a HUGE difference between "investing" and "trading".

Couldn't agree more. If these people on wall street were investors not traders......

It's like this, JMO, this is why you always end up seeing those massive layoffs at wall street firms..

Jul 16, 2012 19:33:37 GMT -5 bimetalaupt said:

One more thing.. Most Traders lose money...I had a friend that got me looking at the Trading school that taught you how to make money trading S&P Mini Futures.. He was not making money but I had spent the same amount of time working a second job.. I bought high yield bonds funds in a second retirement fund. In the end I had more money then he had left..

He asked all in the lab who was making money.. None of them had. OK bonds have been great but the point is he was spending some 20 hours working on it and I spent about the same amount of time working in a small hospital and keep a lot of the extra money in the account that I have yet to start collecting on.. I will get my first draw in 2016.

It is all about the value of time in money...

BiMetalAuPt

extra money in the account that I have yet to start collecting on.. I will get my first draw in 2016.

Kind of like a decent annuity? Protected value growth in the market, with bonuses, as long as you leave the money alone until you're at the set age?

[bimetalaupt]

Kind of like a decent annuity? Protected value growth in the market, with bonuses, as long as you leave the money alone until you're at the set age?

But is is fun to see your fun and play money do better then your very serious Retirement funds.
Well it has produced over 10% return over the last 38 years.. Made more on the 1999 run up then I made working.. It was good to invest about what your extra money was..


BiMetalAuPt

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

LOL, I had fun this year showing my DW that are real serious retirement funds, being nothing but boring and conservative, kicks the crap out of trying to trade the market.. ;D

This is what I was talking about...

This is what we have in Canada, the salesman will tell you that it's a great "fund". I say it's a great annuity that I will plunk some money in and forget about because...

www.manulifegifselect.ca/incomeplus/

Income bonus – to increase guaranteed payments
IncomePlus provides an annual five per cent income bonus available in any year no withdrawals are taken.

Hello! Add that to the 5-8% average over the next 30 years, doing nothing but having this linked to an index fund..

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Oh ya...