If you buy individual stocks...

[ilovedolphins]

Do you buy a large quantity at one time or a few more often?  I have about $800 every other week to invest but I can't decide if it would be better to buy $800 at one time or wait until I have a larger amount available. 

[gambler]

I buy penny stocks so i try to buy in 100 share increments, in this way the stocks only has to rise by a penny to cover my broker fee. when i sell i try to cover my purchase cost and broker fees with 1/2 of the amount of shares, example if i bought 400 shares at 2.00 i would sell 200 at minimum of 4.00

[ilovedolphins]

Do you make a lot of profit on penny stocks?  I tried them once and lost so I am hesitant to try again.

[Deleted]

buy 20 shares of coke every other week until you reach the amount you want

then start with GE or another company...there are 75-100 really great dividend paying companies 

i would stick with more tried and true companies that pay dividends rather than penny stocks

your top gain may be lower, but the risk is also much lower

is this money you can afford to lose?

[The Virginian]

Dolphin,

I would first identify stocks I wanted to Invest in - See the Long Term Thread or the Dividend Thread - (Basically we recommend Large Cap Iconic Stocks that pay a Dividend) think - Coca Cola, Exxon Mobile, Intel, Phillip Morris, Verizon, ATT, Large Dow Drug Companies, Proctor & Gamble, MacDonalds, Walmart , Chevron ................ Why ? Because these stocks are the pillars of our economy and are considered the safest, plus they pay you a Dividend to hold onto their stock.

Once you Identify where you want to go then set up initial target amounts to invest - Maybe $2,500 - $3,500 would be good amounts. Have your $800 deposited into your account and when you reach your target place a buy order for your target stock. Since most brokerage houses charge about $9 per trade regardless of how many shares you are buying or selling. This will help to limit your fees. Once you have the shares choose the option of re-Investing your Dividends to accumulate more shares.

[ilovedolphins]

Apr 10, 2013 15:15:57 GMT -5 @gdgyva said:

buy 20 shares of coke every other week until you reach the amount you want

then start with GE or another company...there are 75-100 really great dividend paying companies 

i would stick with more tried and true companies that pay dividends rather than penny stocks

your top gain may be lower, but the risk is also much lower

is this money you can afford to lose?

It is money I am putting into my retirement so I am not sure.  I don't want to lose it but I also want to try and accumulate more wealth then it sitting in a savings account.

[Deleted]

if you dont have the time or energy to do a lot of reading then your choices are limited

1. buy companies you know and trust (coke, ge, pepsi, proctor & gamble)
2. buy a S&P index fund as wxyz recommended


investing in solitary companies is much riskier...but can pay off much better

i would suggest you get advice from someone you trust.....and then do your own research

[Deleted]

Actually, there are roughly 295 - Good, Great & Excellent - Companies that pay Dividends.
To Clarify this point these 295 Companies -
1) Come from and Cover the Entire Scope of the Major Market Sectors
2) Have Trackable, Provable, Undisputable & Consistant Records of Raising/Holding Steady the Dividends they Pay EVEN IN BAD ECONOMIC TIMES.
4) Roughly 25 Of these have paid UNINTERUPPTED Dividends for OVER 75 years - 5 or 6 of these have done this for over 100 Years.
5) All Of these Companies Tend to have a Corporate Culture of leaning towards being Conservative in all aspects of What and how they do things.

Now, the above points are things I Know to be 100% True. I Know this because I personally spent 3 Years reseaching Dividend Stocks, to find the ones that had the Best Histories of Holding Steady/Raising the Dividends - That Had paid a Dividend for a Loooong Time & Paid at least $0.25 Per Share, Per Quarter.

Now, folks Can argue any and all of these points, Folks can say I am Full Of S***..
But, I will Repost the List as it is as of 5 Months ago, and folks can then pick a Stock go to the Company Website and Check the Facts I cite - FOR THEMSELVES...
The One thing I will Say, is that many of these Companies have done Stock Splits, Which have made it appear as though they Dropped the Dividend - But anyone who knows anything Should Know that If a Stock Split Occurs, not only does the Stock Price Drop By The Split amount, but so also does the dividend...
That Point in Mind, Follow the action of the Dividend After the Split (Or Splits). 

[Deleted]

Sector	Symbol	Sector	Symbol	Sector	Symbol
Consumer Cyclical	HAS	Consumer Non-Cyc	HNZ	Utilities	PNW
Consumer Cyclical	GPC	Consumer Non-Cyc	MKC	Utilities	EXC
Consumer Cyclical	SNA	Consumer Non-Cyc	DPS	Utilities	NWE
Consumer Cyclical	NKE	Consumer Non-Cyc	MKC.V	Utilities	AEP
Consumer Cyclical	WHR	Consumer Non-Cyc	RAI	Utilities	PCG
Consumer Cyclical	PII	Consumer Non-Cyc	PEP	Utilities	ATO
Consumer Cyclical	LEG	Consumer Non-Cyc	SJM	Utilities	OKE
Consumer Cyclical	SWK	Consumer Non-Cyc	KFT	Utilities	CHG
Consumer Cyclical	VFC	Capital Goods	CMI	Utilities	BKH
Consumer Non-Cyc	DLX	Capital Goods	FLS	Utilities	NFG
Consumer Non-Cyc	HLF	Capital Goods	WSO	Utilities	UNS
Consumer Non-Cyc	MO	Capital Goods	CAT	Utilities	NEE
Consumer Non-Cyc	VGR	Capital Goods	DE	Technology	CMTL
Consumer Non-Cyc	TAP	Capital Goods	WSO.B	Technology	MCHP
Consumer Non-Cyc	PM	Capital Goods	GWW	Technology	LDR
Consumer Non-Cyc	MJN	Capital Goods	PCL	Technology	EMR
Consumer Non-Cyc	CLX	Capital Goods	SPW	Technology	IBM
Consumer Non-Cyc	LO	Capital Goods	RTN	Technology	PBI
Consumer Non-Cyc	UVV	Capital Goods	ITW	Technology	CBE
Consumer Non-Cyc	CL	Capital Goods	COL	Technology	ETN
Consumer Non-Cyc	K	Capital Goods	UTX	Technology	DBD
Consumer Non-Cyc	PG	Capital Goods	NC	Technology	CPSI
Consumer Non-Cyc	CPB	Capital Goods	GD	Services	ADP
Consumer Non-Cyc	HSY	Capital Goods	LMT	Services	RRD
Consumer Non-Cyc	TUP	Capital Goods	NOC	Services	CNSL
Consumer Non-Cyc	GIS	Capital Goods	LLL	Services	CWH
Consumer Non-Cyc	LANC	Capital Goods	HON	Services	MHP
Consumer Non-Cyc	KO	Capital Goods	DOV	Services	PSA

[Deleted]

Sector	Symbol	Sector	Symbol	Sector	Symbol
Capital Goods	BA	Utilities	TAC	Services	TIF
Capital Goods	MLM	Utilities	FE	Services	VZ
Capital Goods	ROK	Utilities	LG	Services	TWC
Capital Goods	LECO	Utilities	AWR	Services	NHI
Transportation	GMT	Utilities	XEL	Services	SYY
Transportation	TK	Utilities	IDA	Services	WMT
Transportation	CHRW	Utilities	WGL	Services	ELS
Transportation	UPS	Utilities	PPL	Services	BFS
Transportation	NSC	Utilities	DTE	Services	NNN
Transportation	ISH	Utilities	ETR	Services	EPR
Utilities	AVA	Utilities	CWT	Services	MAA
Utilities	CNL	Utilities	ITC	Services	UHT
Utilities	D	Utilities	DGAS	Services	TRI
Utilities	HE	Utilities	WR	Services	PAYX
Utilities	NJR	Utilities	SO	Services	SNH
Utilities	NU	Utilities	GAS	Services	HME
Utilities	PEG	Utilities	WEC	Services	WMK
Utilities	PNY	Utilities	NWN	Services	SSS
Utilities	POM	Utilities	MGEE	Services	DLR
Utilities	SJI	Utilities	SRE	Services	VNO
Utilities	SWX	Utilities	UTL	Services	ARDNA
Utilities	TRP	Utilities	LNT	Services	HIW
Utilities	UGI	Utilities	CPK	Services	WM
Utilities	UIL	Utilities	VVC	Services	FRT
Utilities	POR	Utilities	EIX	Services	CTL
Utilities	SE	Utilities	SCG	Services	R
Utilities	ED	Utilities	OGE	Services	ACC
Utilities	ALE	Utilities	TEG	Services	SHW

[Deleted]

Sector	Symbol	Sector	Symbol
Services	AVB	Basic Materials	IFF
Services	TCO	Basic Materials	MWV
Services	MCD	Basic Materials	SMG
Services	T	Basic Materials	CMP
Services	HCP	Basic Materials	DD
Services	PSB	Basic Materials	EMN
Services	VTR	Basic Materials	GEF
Services	WPO	Basic Materials	GEF-B
Services	STRA	Basic Materials	KMB
Services	HCN	Basic Materials	MON
Services	RYN	Basic Materials	NEU
Healthcare	NHC	Basic Materials	NUE
Healthcare	MSA	Basic Materials	PH
Healthcare	BMY	Basic Materials	PPG
Healthcare	UTMD	Basic Materials	PX
Healthcare	ATRI	Basic Materials	SON
Healthcare	BDX	Basic Materials	SCL
Healthcare	LLY	Basic Materials	WDFC
Healthcare	TFX	Energy	TDW
Healthcare	MRK	Energy	DO
Healthcare	BAX	Energy	RDS.A
Healthcare	JNJ	Energy	RDS.B
Healthcare	ABT	Energy	BP
Healthcare	GSK	Energy	COP
Conglomerates	MMM	Energy	CVX
Basic Materials	APD	Energy	XOM
Utilities	ED	Utilities	OGE
Utilities	ALE	Utilities	TEG

[safeharbor37]

Do you buy a large quantity at one time or a few more often? I have about $800 every other week to invest but I can't decide if it would be better to buy $800 at one time or wait until I have a larger amount available.

When you buy consider transaction fees as a load. If you invest $100 and pay a $7 transaction fee, your load is 7% [$5 = 5%, $12 = 12%, etc.].There is no particular advantage to buying in large blocks unless you're trying to time the market or think that a similar opportunity is not likely to repeat. "Dollar cost averaging" involves making roughly equal investments on a regular schedule, but you can dollar cost average monthly or quarterly as well as weekly or daily.
Making large investments at one time is risky so saving money to invest in large amounts simply increases risk and saves little money, but I like to buy in at least 100 share lots [unless investing in an expensive share like, e.g., AAPL in which case 100 shares would cost $40,000 and could have cost as much as $70,000]. I try to avoid buying at or near 52 week highs [although that can cause missed opportunities].
How much it makes sense to invest depends on how much you have to invest. In your case I'd think that $800 would be enough [$7 = <1% of $800] and you could purchase 50 shares of a <$16 share stock in, e.g. two consecutive two week periods to purchase 100 shares. On the other hand, it's unlikely that you'll want to invest exactly $800 every time since share prices usually make that impractical so it would be preferable to simply invest the $800 with your broker and purchase stocks when the opportunity arises. The important thing is to invest it rather than squandering it on frivolous pursuits.

[ilovedolphins]

I have been thinking that I will invest when I get around $800 - $1000 so I can get them at different prices.  I thought I would hold on to the money throughout the week and buy when the stock is lower than I initially paid for it, if it works out.  And I also thought I might limit the total amount I have invested in each stock to a certain dollar amount.  If I wait until I get a large amount of money I didn't think I would be buying very often and at very different prices so I will try the $800 approach first.

[ilovedolphins]

I have been thinking that I will invest when I get around $800 - $1000 so I can get them at different prices.  I thought I would hold on to the money throughout the week and buy when the stock is lower than I initially paid for it, if it works out.  And I also thought I might limit the total amount I have invested in each stock to a certain dollar amount.  If I wait until I get a large amount of money I didn't think I would be buying very often and at very different prices so I will try the $800 approach first.

[safeharbor37]

ilovedolphins,
You sound reasonable so you'll probably do well if you are careful. You'll make mistakes so try to avoid taking risks you can't afford. Take it slowly and learn as you go. Putting your ideas on this board is also a good idea because you'll not only occasionally get good advice, but you'll also find that your ideas will clarify when you express them to others.  Good luck.