Investing in Stock Market????????

Hey guys (and gals)

Im new to forum (it is great, i haven't been this addicted since I was addicted to pricescope.com when I bought my gf's engagement ring last year). I was wondering if any of you guys have experience using Scottrade or E-trade or any of those discount stock brokerage firms. If you do, how do you start using them to buy stocks, how do you do research on stocks to buy and.......would you even want to start or continue buying stocks with the whole Euro trouble thing sending the market on a downward spiral? Thanks,


new kid

 

Where's Paul when you need him?...

 

The stock market is VERY iffy right now.
Don't invest anything you cannot afford to lose.
Best of luck and be carefull.

 

Welcome to TW!

SHAREBUILDER! $4 per trade no monthly fee for the basic plan. $9.95 when you sell. I've been using this site for 4 years. I like sharebuilder, because you don't have to buy whole shares. You can buy in dollar amounts. I recently bought $50 worth of citi bank for me & $50 for my 12 yr old.


Good to read up before investing. Here is a great site to get you started:

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


Stocks I own - ARUN -Aruba networks, RIMM -Blackberry phones, C -Citi bank,HXL - Hexcell, ESV - Ensco.

I have done well on Rimm & Aruba networks.

I wish I had Apple, but it is too expensive. I had Google, but sold it.

 

Best time to invest & hold.

 

I use TD Ameritrade and I think it works just fine. I do all my own research. Just remember buy low, sell high. Sounds pretty easy huh? I try to buy when a time tested company released bad news, that should send the stock down. Not too bad of news, but a bad quarterly earnings or something like that. Then sell when later on good news. I also look at when the stock is trending, at the 1 year, 3 year and 5 year. As well I keep an eye on the 52 week high and the price of the stock currently. You don't want to buy too close to the 52 week high. Anyways, these are some of my practices. Good luck!

 

Exactly...when the market is weak you need to buy MORE shares to share-price average. This is assuming you're investing for the long term and not day-trading. Under these circumstances, you only really have to worry if the company you're invested in goes bankrupt. The market will recover eventually.

That said, no one should look for big returns in the short term (next 5 years or so) because the economy will remain in the shitter for most of that leading to slow growth.

 

Most of them you just deposit a minimum amount and you can start trading with them. Times of trouble are usually the best times to buy solid stocks because you'll get more of them with the same money (buying low). This is especially true if the reason for the stock fall has nothing to do with the stock (external events). Those kinds of things affect almost all stocks and they usually recover.

If you have a 401K, it's best to maximize your input to that first, especially if you get matching contributions (free money). The company I work for matches dollar for dollar up to a certain percentage so you're getting a 100% return even if the stock sits sideways.

Index funds are a good bet too as they try to match the major indexes. That way you don't have all your money tied to one stock. It's hard to continuously beat the Dow Industrial or the S&P 500 indexes year over year.

 

Happy Scottrade user here. They have local offices in most major cities so just take a check down there and open an account. No sending money in the mail or figuring out wire transfers. You can then use their web site for trading stocks, buying mutual funds etc.

Best part...CHEAP. $8 per trade, and NO fees for holding your IRA. Why pay more....all it does is lower your profits. Scottrade.com

For info on WHAT to buy, I like the Motley Fool at www.fool.com. Their emphasis is on teaching you (if you wish) what to look for on your own, so you're not having to trust the latest broker recommendation or hot tip from a neighbor (both recipes for disaster)

 

Man Im having trouble learning how to use this website. Anyways, thanks for all the help and tips : ). I'll be sure not to listen to the neighbor on what the hot stock of the day is! I'm not putting money Im not prepared to lose on stocks. I just want to branch out and invest some cash in different ways other then just leaving it in the bank earning minimal interest (and avoid the temptation of spending : )

 

disclaimer.... i know nothing of stocks and shit. lol

for all you people looking to invest look into the Solar technology. it really is getting big. i work at a glass plant and we recently stated making the bottom lites for solar panels. this shit is booming. google ''First Solar'' $20 to $200 dollars in a year!!

 

I have had a Scottrade account for a little over a year now and love it. The trades are cheap and I have the live stream up while I am at work. I really enjoy keeping up with it and you do not lose such a large percentage of your earnings to your broker.

 

Best advice I have ever received.

 

i use charles schwabb. $9 or $10 dollar trades (cant remember if its $8.99 or $9.99). i like them cause you can do your checking with them and the checking account earns interest, plus you get a debit card you can use at any ATM in the US with no fees. the guys there are also very helpful and call you from time to time just to make sure you're good and dont need any help or advice.

 

it was bad timing for me, i lost tons of money with janus funds. i will never again invest in stock market..i stick with CD, treasury,bonds..something safe

 

i can't stand motley fool. i put them in the same catagory as talking heads. their articles always pop up on yahoo under the news sections, but they never say anything in the article.


if i'm looking for something new to invest in, i run a stock screener to narrow down the field and than read some 10q's and 8k's

 

Those are no more safe than stocks.

Treasury bonds and CDs are a particularly interesting situation right now with the global economy subtly moving away from the US dollar right now.

 

I'll second this recommendation... Been investing a little bit each month for 3-4 years now and I own the stock in the following companies:


AAPL APPLE INC
AGG BARCLAYS AGG BOND FUND ISHARES
BRK B BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CL B NE
CAT CATERPILLAR INC
CCE COCA COLA ENTERPRISES INC
CJHBQ CHAMPION ENTERPRISES INC COM
CP CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD
CVX CHEVRON TEXACO CORP
DTG DOLLAR THRIFTY AUTOMOTIVE GRP
DTV DIRECTTV
F FORD MOTOR COMPANY
FSLR FIRST SOLAR INC COM
JSDA JONES SODA CO
MIR MIRANT CORP
NGS NATURAL GAS SERVICES GROUP
OSK OSHKOSH TRUCK CORP CL B
PLA PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES INC CL B
REP REPSOL YPF SA - SPON ADR
RIMM RESEARCH IN MOTION LTD
SBMRY SABMILLER PLC-SPONS ADR
SPY S&P 500 INDEX SPDR
STI SUNTRUST BKS INC
TSTR TERRESTAR CORP COM
UTX UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORP
XOM EXXON MOBIL CORP


Be sure to get a upgraded plan so you get free trades to save $. Monthly fee is 12 bucks and you get 6 free trades. 6 trades on a free account will cost you 24 bucks (4 per trade) - but because I have an upgraded plan, I save 12 bucks.

And whatever you invest in... Invest in a diverse portfolio... If you buy sunscreen, buy umbrellas too... That way, no matter how many times the weather changes, you are making money. And classic advice: Buy low, sell high - but with stocks plan on holding for several years to get a gain.