How Can You Start Trading Stocks as a Beginner?

[bmed90]

What are some good websites to use for looking up stocks? I've heard of websites like hot penny stocks.com...what are some good ones out there? Also, what does one have to do in order to be able to buy and sell stocks. Do you set up a brokerage account? Do you do it through your bank? I just want to be able to buy and sell stocks or "shares" on my own terms. How would I go about doing that? I bank with suntrust. Whats up

 

[fss]

You need to be more specific. What does "looking up stocks" mean? Do you know the symbol, or are you wanting advice on what to buy?

You can set up a brokerage account either with your bank (if they offer it) or through a third party.

Honestly though, you should think about your financial goals very carefully before jumping into buying and selling stocks. Short sales usually even out in the long run. You would almost certainly be better served by investing in a mutual fund and letting a professional do the dirty work.

 

[bmed90]

No, I do not know what you mean by the symbol. Also, I'm not looking for advice on what to buy. As far as looking up stocks goes, I just mean looking up a company to see where they stand in the stock market. I just want to know how to make it possible for me to be able to buy stocks and sell them. I guess this is what you reffered to as "short sales" which is what I am interested in. How hard could it be?

 

[fss]

If you do not even nkow what a stock symbol is I suggest you start looking through the search results for "Beginning investing in the stock market" in your favorite search engine.

 

[bmed90]

I know what a Stock symbol is now. Simply put, its what you type into the search bar to find the specific company you are looking for. For example, the stock market symbol for johnson and johnson is JNJ, which is what I would type in the search bar to look up the quote...(quote) is that the correct way to use that word? Anyways, are brokerage accounts expensive?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Take your time. Investing is complicated and a losing game for the average person. You really have to know your stuff to best the average mutual fund on a repeatable basis. I would take a year to study before investing a dime. Playing the market is not just a matter of making guesses and throwing your money on the table. You have to know how to evaluate the state of a company. It's a lot of work.

It is good to start by making virtual [pretend] investments and see how you do.

 

[bmed90]

"Playing the market is not just a matter of making guesses and throwing your money on the table"...of course its not and I see where you are coming from. The way I see it, just be smart and you will be ok. I am not about to go buy stock in coca-cola just because I like coca-cola... I would buy stock in a company that I knew was going to boom in the future. Ideally, you would want to buy low and sell high just like anything else in the buiseness world. I wouldn't invest in a company without knowing its potential and other key factors such as mergers, new products, new projects, new promising technology etc...anyways my question still remains, what would be the cheapest way to open up my own brokerage account where I can do all this on my own terms.

 

[KrisOhn]

Investing is a risky business. I plan to begin investing at the beginning of next term, at the end of August. But to plan for this, I recently got RBC to open up a Direct Investment account for me, so I can handle my investments. I have also been reading about investing and investment strategies for the last 8 months and have taken a few basic economics classes so I can make the best out of my money.

I really recommend against jumping into this too fast. Investing is a little more involved than just being smart.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Bmed, let me give you some advice from Will Rogers. Buy a good stock, and when it goes up, sell it. If it doesn't go up, don't buy it.

 

[jobyts]

Once upon a time a man told a small village, “I will buy monkeys for $10 each.”

Since there were many monkeys in the forest, the villagers caught them and sold them to the man.

As the supply of monkeys diminished, the villagers’ efforts slowed, so the man offered them $20 each.

They renewed their efforts but the supply of monkeys diminished further, so he increased his price to $25.

Soon no one could even find a monkey in the forest.

The man increased his price to $50, but announced, “Since I must go to the city on business, I authorize my assistant to buy monkeys on my behalf.”

As soon as his boss was gone, the assistant told the villagers, “My boss has collected lots of monkeys. I’ll sell them to you for $35 and then, when he returns, you can sell them to him for $50.”

The villagers rounded up all the money they could and bought as many monkeys as possible. Then they had monkeys everywhere…

… but they never saw the man or his assistant again.

And now you understand the workings of the stock market!

 

[jtbell]

You really have to know your stuff to best the average mutual fund on a repeatable basis. I would take a year to study before investing a dime.

I'd modify that a bit: while you're studying, take that dime (or whatever amount you have available to invest) and put it in an "index fund": a mutual fund that is designed to track one of the broad stock-market indexes such as the S&P 500. Pick one of the major investment houses (Vanguard, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price) and look for such a fund that doesn't charge any commissions on trades (purchases or sales), i.e. a "no-load" fund. When you feel you're ready to try picking individual stocks, you can open an individual trading account with the same company, or elsewhere, and transfer some of the money from the mutual fund.