How can I invest in stocks? Do I just open an account with a trading company? I don't want a broker.?
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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.
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You would send money or some sort of equity to the online company. They would hold it like a bank.  You get on line and log in with a password to gain access to your account where you can instruct the brokerage firm to buy or sell the stocks you instruct them to.
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Stock is ownership in a company. You buy shares of a company. Let's say Company A is worth $30.00 per share. You can buy however many shares at that price. Each day, the value of that share fluctuates (goes up or down).\n\nIdeally, you want to buy the shares at a low (cheap) and sell at a high (expensive).\n\nYou can earn the most money by investing in stocks, compared to bonds and money markets. (You can also lose a lot, so be careful.)
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Congratulations on getting started. It’ll help you more than you know! \n\nYour first dollars should be spent on getting educated on investing. You don't have to train to trade them professionally, but we are talking about your future here. So the more you learn, the more it'll help you! So let's start there.\n\nYou ask a very broad question, so be prepared for a pretty long answer. Just take it in chunks!\n\n\nHow to invest depends on what you already know. We'll assume that you're beginning since you say you're new to this!\n\nA good primer is How to Make Money in Stocks by William O'Neil. You can get it cheap just about anywhere. It’s widely available new or used.\n\nAnother good one is one of Jim Cramer's books like Real Money (he’s got a few). \n\nBut books will only get you so far. At some point, you'll also want to get at least a little training. There are some great education companies if you want to make the investment. Investools.com or optionetics.com are both very good companies as is tmitchell.com\n\nFor free, you can start by visiting thestreet.com and investopedia.com. That'll get you a pretty good primer so at least you'll understand what the markets are and what a stock is, etc. \n\nIf you get a chance, watch Mad Money on CNBC. Don't trade any of his picks until you track many of them over time. Just use the show to get you to understand some basics and get a feel for the market itself.\n\nNext, subscribe to something like Investorsbusiness daily or something like that that can help you identify good stocks.\n\nOnce you understand stocks, go to 888options.com. It's a website that'll help you understand options (what they do, how they work, etc). You don't need to trade them, but the more you know, the more you'll see how options can really be the safest way to invest (once you're educated).\n\nFor discipline (which is crucial to successful trading), probably Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas or Mastering the Trade by John Carter\n\nI know that’s a LOT to absorb. Just take it one step at a time for now. Start with a book or two to give you an idea of where to begin. Take your time, and let it seep in. \n\nAs you get up to speed, you should papertrade to practice (highly recommended). This should help reduce your losses in the beginning as you get used to buying/selling.\n\nYou can practice for free on almost any reputable broker site (optionsxpress, scottrade, thinkorswim, etc). And yes, you can definitely deal easily online.\n\nStart slow, then as you figure things out, you can buy more shares.\n\nCongrats again on getting started. If you have any questions, please let me know. \n\nHope this helps!
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From a registered stock broker \nOnline. In India, many banks ofer you trading services to the extent of the balnce in your account.\n\nConsult a financil advisor when you buy shares, cross check whether the co. is worth inveting into or not
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So first u get a borkerage firm preferably a low cost one, depends on how much u wanna pay and what kinda of cust service , i personally like SCOTTRADE good mix of cheap and good cust servce. after u established an account u start trading. there are 3 kind of stocks: regular, OTC (over the counter) and pink sheets (please refer to the link for difference). they are all listed on exchanges (NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX..etc) the most imp thing is to know what ur getting into before u buy or sell because not only will theat mean a gain or a loss but everytime you perform a transaction (buy or sell) the brokarage firm take a commission ( scottrade=7 $),,ands theere is a lot more I suggest u read as musch as u can
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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
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If you want to save some real money, contact the Investors page of every company you are interested in investing.  Many companies today have what is called a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP or DRiP).  Moreover, many ALSO have a a "Direct Purchase Plan" through which you can purchase your very first share of stock, completely circumventing the need for a brokerage account.  The fees are much lower e.g. $1 per DRP trade instead of $19.99 a trade at Etrade. \n\nSimply buy stocks of companies you do business with.  I've involved myself in the employee stock purchase plan of every company I've worked for and invested in many others that have DRPs.\n\nExamples: Bank America, McDonald's, Merck, Pepsico, Proctor & Gamble, Regions Financial, Scana Corp, Outback steakhouse, etc.
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To run a business, money is required. If you start a company, you can approach investors and sell them shares of your company (subject to your fulfilling various rules regulations and conditions specified per law). These shares are called stock. The platform that allows you to legally trade in these shares is a stock-exchange, where anyone eligible can buy shares through a broker or sub-broker who against a small commission trades the stock that you want to buy or sell.\n\nAs far as how to invest is concerned, it is advisable that you start by investing in good equity Mutual Funds. Test the waters, do some study of the various companies if you can, or consult a financial adviser. (I am one, You can email me your contacts and if I can, I'll get back to you)\n\nHowever, don't invest all your money in one asset class alone, spread it across various other classes such as Post Office Savings Schemes, Bank Fixed Deposits, Real Estate, Insurance, Government Bonds, and directly equity once you are confident that you understand the market. Each and every person has his or her own financial needs and hence specifically defining the amount to be invested would be difficult unless the your current status is known.\n\nTaxation is another important aspect that needs looking into. Please do include your taxation liabilities in your financial planing otherwise you could end up with a lot of trouble with the taxman.
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Open a brokerage account.\n\nTop 3 Answerer in Business & Finance. (Vote for me)
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Congradulations, you have decided to enter the markets at an ideal point in the equities cycle. The only drawback being it may lead you to believe trading is easier than it actually is.\n\nThe best place to start is by opening an account with an online broker. This requires a minium deposit/balance of $500 to trade. Scottrade is one of the few that offer low commissions, no inactivity fees, and pays interest on your account balance. With around $2000 in your account you can even write checks from it.\n\nAs far as learning, go to your library and borrow books and videos (a cheap resource many books/videos on this subject are around $100 each). Also watch TV business news (NBR on PBS or CNBC). Current stock market guru Jim Cramer(CNBC's Mad Money host) has an insitefull book "Real Money" not that this is all you'll need to know but its a very good start for a beginner.\n\nWishing you the best of good buys!\n\np.s. if you choose Scottrade tell'em account number 81739872 sent you, I'll get some free trades, you'll get the continued benefit of my experience, just email me.
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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.
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With brokerage fees so low, why do you care?\n\nYou want a "discount" broker, or online broker, rather than a "full service" broker, which gives advice. A broker is the last person you want to ask for advice. You just need a licensed broker to do a transaction for you.\n\nOr, you might try selling the shares back to the company direct.
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Technically, it is extremely simple with today's information era to invest or trade stocks and shares. You simply need to open a trading account, fund that account, buy a stock and sell it later at a higher price for a profit. Simple?\n\nYou can sign up for an online trading account with http://www.sharekhan.com\n\nWell, that simplicity is exactly the sheep skin that hides the wolf beneath. That is exactly the expressway to wasting a lot of money.\n\nInvesting or trading the stock markets never start from opening a trading account... it starts from adequate investment and trading knowledge. There are quite a number of things you need to learn before you can even start thinking of the stock markets ...\n\n1. You need to understand how the stock market works and what it is exactly about.\n\n2. You need to know what are the different styles of trading in stocks and shares. \n\n3. You need to read about why so many people lose their shirts in the stock markets so that you can avoid their mistakes and also decide if this is a risk you want to take.\n\nFor all these issues and more, you can read about them from some of the articles that I wrote at http://www.mastersoequity.com/articles.htm\n\nAfter you are adequately armed with the basic concepts and ideas, you need to know how to find profitable stocks to trade or invest in. You can do that the easy way by subscribing to stock pick services (example http://www.stockpickmaster.com ) or you can learn to use charting tools and softwares to find stocks with parameters that you can pre-define. (example http://www.metastock.com ) \n\nAll in all, investment and trading is a lifelong education and non stop learning. No one is ever done learning and catching up with changes in the markets. \n\nIf you want a reliable, sure fire method to trade the indian market, please go to http://stocklab-india.mastersoequity.com . There, you will also get to read about why most beginners in the share market lose all their money and how to prevent that from happening to you. \n\n\nHope these information helps.
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if you want to know how to invest... go to yahoo! finance\n\nif you want to know what to invest... ask an investment broker \n\nif you want to invest... best online site so far that I know of is scottrade.com
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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.
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I know that you'd prefer not to go with a broker, as you intend to let ti sit for a few years, but it really is your best bet to go with a discount broker.  Scottrade will let you purchase unlimited shares of the stock for $7 and charges no monthly fees, even if you never make another trade again.  With no monthly fees, there really is no reason not to use a broker.  ShareBuilder offers the same thing for $4, but only if you sign up for their automatic Tuesday investments.\n\nBoth of these options are acutally cheaper than buying the stock directly from the company's share transfer agent.