I want to invest money in the stock market, but I only want to start with $200.  What website will let me?
101142
Hi Alra,\n  I am assuming that you are here in the USA. If so I would highly recommend DRIPS, Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRPs), if only because of the small amount of cash you have available, you cannot afford to be paying ANY commissions, they will eat through your $200 like a hot knife through butter at room temperature. With DRPS you are buying the stocks directly from the company itself without paying those commissions. I would also suggest that you add a set amount of dollars every month to your holdings. Only pick stocks that you have checked out and believe in, especially those that make products you buy and use and like. Look at this for the long term, gradually your account should increase in value. Then you are able to take some of those profits and trade riskier stocks through a regular trading account. \nGood luck and don't forget to watch Jim Cramer's Mad Money on CNBC    BOOYA
532477
Hoovers.com is really nice, but they have a lot of stuff that you need a subscription for...also look at Value Line and Morningstar, two big names. If you want anything for free, i agree, Yahoo Finance is good (thats what i use, all a**kissing aside), CNNmoney.com and Investors Business Daily are also good starts
222043
Open an account in ameritrade.com and drop me a line.
344986
Nothing could be more simple. First you open an account with a brokerage firm. On line brokers charge very reasonable commissions. You normally have to make a deposit of at least $500. But in my oppinion that is not really enough to begin with. You can purchase stocks on margin, which means you only have to fund 50% of the purchase price and the brokerage firm will lend you the rest, at an interest rate of course. \n\nNext, you pick out a stock you want to buy or sell. You can do either. If you do not own the stock, selling it is called short selling. That means that eventually, you will have to buy it back. You then make your trade and wait for the price to go up or down. At some future time, maybe a few minutes, maybe a few hours, maybe a few days, or weeks, or months, or years, you will decide to sell the stock or repurchase your short position at either a gain or a loss. \n\nIt is that simple. If you hold the stock for at least a year and you have a gain, you will be taxed at a rate of about 1/2 the normal tax rate. On short sales, gains for some odd reason are always taxed at the full rate.
60838
With $200 dollars a month, you might want to sign up for a 401k plan from an online brokerage firm while picking one or two mutual funds.  As long as you consistently deposit the amount of $200 dollars, you should realize a relatively fair or modest return.  It will also reduce your taxable income, saving you money on taxes and increasing your future retirement funds.  \n\nHowever, if you're looking for a higher return investment, allocate it to a money market ING Direct account.  I believe their offering 4.75%, which is a modest return but it offers you greater liquidity.  After a year, you might then swap it into a brokerage account and then invest it in growth stocks that can generate a higher return.
383838
Yes, Scottrade and Ameritrade are probably the best brokers online for you to open an account with.  Be sure to verify that there aren't extra fees for accounts under a certain dollar amount, because if they charge you $25 per month like some brokers do, it won't take long for you to lose all your money in fees.  I think Ameritrade recently eliminated the account minimums, but I'm not entirely sure about that.\n\nI'd also suggest Sharebuilder as a good tool if you're looking to buy in to a few good companies and just hold the shares. \n\nBest of luck to you, and kudos for starting so soon.
897124
If you want to invest in the stock market I would suggest first seeing what the best traders are buying and selling.  Check out http://www.top10traders.com - this is a free site that lets you create a portfolio of stocks with $100,000 in "play" money.  Each day the site ranks the best performing portfolios, so you can see how your picks perform compared to other investors.  You can also read posts on investing from the best traders, as well as share your own investing ideas.\n\nHere are this month's best traders:\n\nhttp://www.top10traders.com/Top10Standings.aspx \n\nMy stock recommendation would be PWI, a stock I own personally.  This is a Canadian Royalty Trust that pays a great dividend.  The stock has sold off recently, so I think the price is good.\n\nGood luck!
720654
Well if you want to invest in something thats cheaper then fractions of a cent, it would have to be free. So what can you invest in online that is free? I dunno, enter every contest you come across. Focus on ones where you can enter once or multiple times a day...and use multiple accounts and/or scripts to cheat the system.
1137120
www.morningstar.com might have some stuff. \nother then that... im a stock retard and i got a D in Econ. when i gratuated haha
398114
There are lots of mutual funds that will take $100 to get you started.  So a search in Yahoo Finance or MSN for funds that start with a min investment of $100.  I have been an investment advisor for over 23 years.
298108
Start investing in the stock market.  I have listed below a link to a really interesting article that can say it much better then I can.  It is a great way to start out with little or no money and not pay big commissions to brokers.\n\nI used this program and have done really well over the last two years.  Started with little money, added little money and learned discipline and a lot about the stock market.  I now teach others to do the same.  \n\nDon't have that $100 bucks to get started?  I bet you do if you just change the way you spend money.  Will include a link to the online broker that I used to start my savings.  I also went ahead and opened a credit card through the Sharebuilder website.  The credit card has a 0% APR on opening transfers and pays you 1% cash back that you can use to purchase Stocks with in your Sharebuilder plan.  If you pay your balance every month (which is the only way that you should use credit), then this is FREE money. \n\nIf you have a Bank of America Checking account they have started a plan that is called "Keep the Change."  With this plan, once you have opened a savings account with $100, they round up all your purchases.  If you buy something for $1.25 with your debit card, they will withdrawal $.75 (rounded up to $2.00) from your checking account and deposit it into your savings account.  After the first three months of doing this, they then will match your money dollar for dollar, 100%.  Then after the first year, they will match your round ups at a 5% rate.  The account only pays .5% APR, but the 100% matching for the first three months is FREE money. \n\nThat is a 100% return on your deposits (round ups) for the first three months.  \n\nIf you don't have a BOA account then try looking online for a good paying Money Market Fund (MMF).  Some have balance requirements, some don't.  The better rates out there as of today are running about 4.25% or higher.  Watch for fees, compounding methods and other charges before you consider purchasing a MMF.  \n\nGood luck and start saving today!  \n\nToo many Americans don't save enough money.  Instead, they look for the lowest payment on that purchase.  You should ask yourself, do I want to pay myself first (saving money) and purchase something for cash or retire with style or do I want to always be in debt paying others interest.  Don't you deserve the interest more then the lender?  I think you do.  \n\nI don't work for any of the above mentioned ways to save.  I do hold accounts (Individual Roth IRA, Individual investing plan, Individual trading account, MMF and a Visa Card through Bank One attained after opening my account with Sharebuilder.) with Sharebuilder.  I have no other interest in Sharebuilder.  I do have a bank account at Bank of America, both checking and savings (opened with $100.00 deposit), but own no stock or other interest in the company.  I am not affiliated with MSN in any way or form and do not own any company stock.  Investments may loose money and in many cases are not FDIC insured.  Any investment should be after careful consideration by the investor before investing.  Your results may very.  (think that covers the Brochure law.)\n\nGood luck and let me know how you do.
730996
in order to open up an account? Look at Scottrade if you want to do your own online trading. It also has a comparison page of different brokerages including starting funds.
1184905
there are two ways that may help you. scott trade which for the minimun amount to open charges just 7.00 a trade if your buying and selling. this way you get real time live trades and information with no brokers. there is also what is known by few as drips. you buy the stock right from the company itself. if you search drips in the net you will come up with a list of many companies selling their stock some require as little as 50 to 100.00 to open a direct stock account with them and that price includes as much stock as you can get depending on its price. you can put so much in each month if you want and you'll get the shares to that amount. each company is differant on how much you start with and how long you have to keep the stock before selling it. its usually 60 to 90 days with some. good hunting!
50871
Go with scottrade. I have an account and you can't beat $7/trade. They also have offices all over the US.\n\nSharebuilder charges about $15.95 for real time trades. They also have a program where you can "dollar cost" average into a stock. Say you want to invest $50/month into Apple, $25/month into ebay, and $10/month into Starbucks. It'll cost you $4/month/"automatic transaction". You can also subscribe to their package deals where they give you 20 automatic transactions for $20. 6 trades/month for $12. The trick though is..you have to invest the same day every month and they execute the trade. You have no control over when (morning/afternoon or time). This is fine if you want to accumulate stock.\n\nI do like eTrade for their interface but their trades are $15 unless you do X trades a month and the price goes down...but for a small investor, it's cheaper to go with the $7 trades at Scottrade
170958
There are really no "better sites" for that. Just pick one of the big names like ameritrade or scottrade. As far as making money, when you short a stock you are betting that the value of the stock will decrease over time. So if you think company x is going to do poorly and you short(sell) them at 10 dollars a share and then later buy them back at 5 dollars a share you will have made 5 dollars a share minus trading costs.
1078658
I use http://www.sharebuilder.com\nThey are easy to use, offer investment facts and education, and are cheap.  I can check my stocks on line at any time for free.\nOne-time trades are only $4 each trade.  (No matter how many shares in the same company)\nUsually the fee is "per trade", not "per transaction".  Many sites do not have maintenance fees.  You would pay taxes only IF you made money off of the investments.  Unless you were HUGELY successful, this would not be much.  You DO have to report the money sitting there.\nThe other fees involve what you do with the money.  If you just keep re-investing the money you make in the same trade, no fees.  If you withdraw $$, there is a fee.
620252
sign up for an etrade account. then you can try to buy in conditional offer. $2000 minimum to open an account.