How much money do you need to start investing in stocks?
139363
Very little. You can start with as little as $10 at www.betterinvesting.org\n\nYou can go directly to a company's "Investor Relations" area and see if they have a direct investment option.\n\nYou can also check out this company that can get you started for $4 plus a commission plus the cost of the stock. www.sharebuilder.com
318425
Money is good for beginners.  But I would recommend to use the library so you can read on other investing magazines.  Yahoo Finance is a good on-line resource.
661299
Buy a diversified series of HIGH QUALITY, LOW EXPENSE mutual funds. One good piece of advice is that especially when just starting out, owning individual stocks is just way too risky. In many cases, it's more akin to gambling than investing. So go with mutual funds, which are much more diversified, and therefore spread the risk among many, many more holdings. The key, of course, is buying quality. So make sure you hit ALL the asset classes, like Large cap stocks, small/mid cap stocks, international stocks, emerging markets stocks, government debt, corporate debt, hi-yield debt, foreign debt, emerging markets debt, real estate, commodities, and precious metals. That's 12 categories right there, so with $1200, you're talking about $100 each. This is called asset allocation, and it's a step beyond simple "diversification", which most idiots think is buying a hardware tech stock AND a software tech stock.\n\nAdd systematically on a monthly basis. That means make sure you put the same amount of money in every month, no matter what. Soon you won't even care what any of the markets are doing. They're up? Great! Some of my investments are worth more. They're down? Great! Now I'm buying quality investments at an "on sale" price.\n\nThen sit back and re-balance each year, back to your original percentages. Again, this is called asset allocation. It's is very important, perhaps the most important thing you can do with your money. The thinking being, what's BEEN hot is more than likely not going to STAY hot. All markets are cyclical. There's hundreds of years of data to back this up. Yet some people still think they can ride the next hot wave. They usually wind up begging on the street for beer money.\n\nNow, this sort of portfolio should average 8-12% per year, so just split the difference and say 10% on average. Will it do 10% EVERY year? Of course not. I'd be surprised if it EVER did EXACTLY 10%. That's an annual average. With that average, your money should double roughly every 7 years.\nSo, if you're starting with $1200 or so like I said in my example, then in 7 years , even if you added no more money, you should have about $2,400\nin 14 years you should have about $4,800\nin 21 years you should have about $9,600\nin 28 years you should have about $19,200\nin 35 years you should have about $38,400\nin 42 years you should have about $76,800\nin 49 years you should have about $153,600\nin 56 years you should have about $307,200\nin 63 years you should have about $614,400\nin 70 years you should have about $1,228,800!\n\nOf course, if you keep adding money in that $100 a month, you'll become a millionaire MUCH sooner. The key is discipline, and sticking in when markets are up OR down. Don't try to time the market--you'll NEVER get it right.\n\nBy the way, here's a handy formula:\n\n$100/month x 12% x 20 years = $100,000.\n\nSo if you need $300,000 in 20 years and have no idea how to get it, just save $300 a month and you're there. If you don't get 12%, you'll wind up with less naturally. But IF you still wind up with $250,000, I'd call that one hell of a failure.\n\nOh, and if you qualify on income limits (generally, if you're a single filer and make under $90,000/yr), and do this all in a Roth IRA? Then every penny will be 100% TAX-FREE. That's a deal that's too good to pass up. That's why I tell anyone who's under 30--if you make under $90,000, and therefore qualify to do a Roth, you'd be a fool not to. Just having the power of youth (and therefore time) on your side is such an advantage, to squander it would be such a waste!\n\nHope this helps!\n--J.
1140743
I dont know what kind of answer you're expecting. I'm New York USA. We have the Nasdaq, S&P 500, New York Stock Exchange and a few others. Stocks go up and down. You would need to learn alot about stocks and how they work before "getting into stocks". \nStock  101. A small company decides they will incorpate their business. When they incorporate they give stocks to other members of the company. These members are then shareholders. Each share has a worth. It could be $0.20 or $20.00 or anything else. As more people buy the cost of shares rise. As more people sell the cost of shares drops. People get ansy about buying stocks. It's like gambling. You don't know if the your shares will go up or down. People study the company and the market. For instance, Someone has designed a machine that will make typing a letter much easier than using a typewriter. With a typewriter you have to press hard on the keyboard. You must buy ribbon. You must buy correctype and if you want a different font you will nead to buy a new daisy wheel or other item in order to change the font. This new machine will prevent more error because it allows you to see the words before they reach the paper, which give you a chance to backspace without using white out or correct type. No wasted ink. Less paper to throw away because less mistakes are made. And hey my machine even has a spell check. The person who invented the machine has already told all his friends. He has an article in the newspaper. Some reporter had an interview with him. He has even written a short book about it and some new other inventions he has lined up. He has a 10 year patent on his machine. Now keep in mind that the manufacturer of the old typewriter has many "shareholders". The manufacturer of the correct type or white out also has share holders. The Ribbon Manufacturer also has shareholder and the manufacturer of the ink for the ribbon also has shareholders. The new typewriter is called a word processor. He going to sell his new word processor to book publishing companies first. Then hes going "Go Public" and have the outside public buy shares. He just announced the new and improved word processor for the home office. Its lighter and more affordable. It will be just a matter of time before the old typewriter is out of business. A smart shareholder would sell his stock once he/she read or heard of this new invention and start buying shares of the manufacturers of the material (sony, toshiba, texas instruments) of the new machine as well as the new machine (brother, panasonic).\nAnother example: You know that there was a tsunami that destroyed the cities where the largest manufacturer (Company A) of computer memory chips were manufactured. You also know that the second largest manufacturer (Company B) of computer memory chips will now become the largest until Company A gets back on its feet. You had shares in Company A. Well you are going to sell those or just expect a major loss but you've thought ahead and borrowed some money and purchased a huge amount of stocks from Company B. Smart move unless you did'nt read that there was another Company A manufacturing plant in another city not affected by the tsunami.\nDepending on how much you want to invest and on what kind of risks to take will determine how you want to invest. High Risk = Stock Broker. Low Risk = Mutual Funds, CD's, Treasury Bonds.\nI would suggest speaking with stock broker. But be very weary, they are bigger snakes than used care salesmen.
53924
Brokerage minimums vary...but Scottrade is $500 to open an account. Check out sharebuilder.com too if you want to buy small chunks..they have plans where you can invest X amount each month into a specific stock.\n\nAlso, some companies allow you to buy stock directly from them. Usually, it's a $250 or so min. Check out the website of a company you are thinking of investing in and look at their investors link. You can also go to www.equiserve.com (they manage direct stock purchase plans for hundreds of companies).\n\nAvoid cheap stocks < $10. They are cheap for a reason and usually of bad quality... Your money is better spent on high quality stocks....especially if it's your first purchase. "expensive" is relative.
546035
Open an online brokerage account with Ameritrade, Scottrade, Tradeking etc and buy shares for say 2000 USD. Sell it after you have gained atleast twice of commission (say 10*2) by looking at ur balances every day. It may go down initially butdon't lose heart on that. It eventually will go up (2min, 2days, 2 years...). Stock investing is basically finding a safe stock which doesnot give you a loss after your waiting period and investing in it. \nTo a beginner like you a safe stock could be EWD
466777
Open an Account on www.ameritrade.com\nNext you wire some money into that new account. This will usually take a couple of days. \nYou are charged per trade. A trade is approx. $12. You can buy as many shares as you like. Usually people buy in lots off 100.
918168
If you live in the U S, you might want to go to the book store and buy "Investing for Dummies".  It will be a big benefit in giving you a head start.  \n\nOne thing that many beginning investors due is to buy shares in one or more mutual funds.  By doing that there is less risk, of making a really bad investment and loosing a lot of money.  Many mutual funds however due have a period of time 30 to 90 days in which they will charge you a redemption fee if you sell the shares. \n\nMany successful investors buy shares with the intention of holding them for a very long period of time.  That way if they have purchased shares in growing companies, the value of their shares grows with the companies and continues to grow without having to pay taxes to the government in the mean time.  \n\nMutual funds unfortunately are required by law to distribute their realized gains annually on which one does have to pay taxes.  But there is a newer form of fund now available called an index fund that has very little realized gains and therefore little in the way of taxes.  \n\nThe minimum amout somewhat varies.  Some brokers will let you open an account with as little as $500.  And some mutual funds have a minimum initial investment of about $500.  Many however are in the $2000 to $2500 range and some even more. \n\nThe kind of shares I would recommend would be shares in companies that have an established record over at least 10 years and that are selling at a reasonable price relative to their earnings and that pay a dividend.
1166517
If you are serious about investing I would talk to a financial adviser first. stocks is a little risky but if you want to take the risk then go for it. Just talk to a professional and get his advice. If you are going to do it yourself make sure you do the research on the company that you want to put the money in. Make sure it is not going to be bust. look into perhaps small cap stocks as they will be good, risky but all investing into stocks are a risky bet. Wish you the luck and hope that whatever you do decide works out for you
1023575
If its a stock - it depends on how much the stock cost.  Say its a $2 per share.  You should buy in 100 share lot minimum so that's $200 plus $10 co mission\n\n\nGrand total:$210.  Owning part of the Capitalist system: Priceless.\n\n\nIf you are looking at mutual finds, I think there are some that have a $300 minimum.  Check a few companies such as Vanguard and Fidelity.
188749
Everyone is different and as a result, different people look at different things before they purchase a stock.\n\nI suggest you get a book or five on stock market investing and start learning as much as you can if you want to become good at it.\n\nAnd by the way, companies that cater to people who invest in the stock market by selling them up-to-date information and analysis charge hefty fees for their services, so I wouldn't plan on doing this without a nice, big nest egg to begin with and a good job to back yourself up when things go against you and you lose some money.
905676
18 is old enough to buy stocks.  The symbol for Target is TGT.  You can use that symbol to check out the stock on Yahoo Finance.  Here is the link.\n\nhttp://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=TGT\n\nAs you can see, it sells for about $57 a share.  There are several ways you can go about buying TGT.  One is to open an on line brokerage account.  Sharebuilder is very inexpensive for buying a small number of shares.  About $4.  You can very likely buy it through your bank.  Give them a call and ask them how much they would charge to buy the number of shares you would like.  \n\nThere are other on line brokers who are also very reasonable.  TDAmeritrade and Scottrade but they both require depositing a minimum amount of money in the account to begin buying stocks.  Your bank most likely will be more expensive but less of a hastle.
387442
In the field of Stock marketing. But you should do a lot of hard work studing and GATHERING data about companies and ecconomical situation of your country. Also it is advisable to attend at the stock market every day preferably accompanied by an expert at least 6 months before you start your own business. Start with some certain amount and don't mix this money with your other expenditure.
495926
Just sell enough shares to cover the amount of money you originally invested.  For instance, if you put $1000.00 in a stock that was $0.50/share when you bought it, you should have around 2000 shares.  If the stock is now $1.00/share and you want to take out your initial investment, just sell 1000 shares.  Your sale should net around $1000.00 or 1000 shares which leaves only the profit invested.  You can then use the original $1000.00 to invest in another stock.
113166
I like Scottrade.  You need only $500 dollar to open an account.  It is perfect for small investors.  You can compared  and see for yourself.\n\nhttp://scottrade.com/frame_brokers.asp
464099
Knowing what the best stocks to invest in is very difficult.  Even the experts frequently make wrong decisions.  However over the long run, stocks average a gain of 10-11% a year.  If you buy a diversified group of stocks and hold out for the long run you will do well.  Most people buy mutual funds, which invest in diversified stocks and bonds.  I like Vanguard.com, although other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA.  Look at these websites:
656560
Buy high quality stocks in companies that you know something about.Start by looking for names in your kitchen cupboard, your garage, your cleaning supplies closet, or on your telephone bill or utility bill.  Go to the reference Dept at your library and read Value Line, Standard & Poors Outlook, and Morningstar. Also look on the Internet;(Quicken.com Zack's Brokerage Reports.com MSN Money.com. Morningstar.com, Best investing Sites.com Market watch.com Businessweek.com, Forbes.com Buy only the ones that won't cause you to lose sleep at night.  If your stocks go down in value, don't worry.  The good ones will come back.But use money that you won't need for 4-5-6 years. You can start buying at any time, although the market seems to be a bit high right now.  Be patient and buy stocks gradually. Look into "DRIPS"(Dividend Reinvestment Programs). It's better than compound interest at the bank