stock portfolio

[master terrence]

Now that I have quite a bit of money saved up, I want to invest in stocks. I'm looking to invest only $100 and for any amount of years. I'm 18 BTW, so if $100 seems like a little, I have a lot of time.

I'm wondering what blue chip stocks you guys have been looking at. I'm sure that light sweet oil will be mentioned, but I'm looking for a mutual fund. I'm not sure if that's what they are called (go figure, I had to forget the name). I'm looking for a stock that is made up of other stocks basically. I want to know what are some of the mutual funds out there? and then I'll do some research.

[HSaabedra]

Janus, Oppenheimer, and even Fidelity and Charles Schwab have their own funds. Your best bet is to start an IRA instead of directly investing in a fund. Most, if not all mutual funds have minimum amounts required to invest as well as minimums required to reduce certain fees related to administration and transactions.

[master terrence]

while starting an IRA isn't a bad idea, I'd like to invest money now that I can use after 8 years. I, as of right now, do not have a taxable income. I think I will start an IRA though, retirement funds are actually something I have been thinking about -_-;.

thanks axl.

[HSaabedra]

while starting an IRA isn't a bad idea, I'd like to invest money now that I can use after 8 years. I, as of right now, do not have a taxable income. I think I will start an IRA though, retirement funds are actually something I have been thinking about -_-;.

thanks axl.

You're actually better off with the IRA and individual stocks. I have two funds and I'm getting taxed at the higher 35% capital gains rate than the lower 20% rate for individual investment accounts and 401 (k)s. If you want quick money, set up an account with ETRADE or a similar online broker.

[master terrence]

Wow, I didn't know taxes went that high.

I started looking at online brokers.

I'm currently looking at sharebuilder.com (they have no minimum account size).

[HSaabedra]

Wow, I didn't know taxes went that high.

I started looking at online brokers.

I'm currently looking at sharebuilder.com (they have no minimum account size).

That's a good one to start with, but those rates that I mentioned are applied to earnings of more than $250K

[Dorktron2000]

I've been recommended Zecco.com which seems to offer $0 commissions on trades. Also ETF's seem to be popular atm (something like QQQQ). Research is essential, and you should always consider the volume of a stock. Morningstar is a nice resource.

As an alternative, CD's offered by most banks offer around 5% interest and are a safe investment for a new investor.

[Jeht Black1]

now this is informative (SP)
i have been looking to start investing my self but i dont know where to start.
is there a web site i can do research at. i tend not to trust most sites due to horror stories i've heard and not getting all the info i need in talk i can understand. plus i would like to talk with people who knows whats what.

[Holy Knight]

now this is informative (SP)
i have been looking to start investing my self but i dont know where to start.
is there a web site i can do research at. i tend not to trust most sites due to horror stories i've heard and not getting all the info i need in talk i can understand. plus i would like to talk with people who knows whats what.

Start off by reading the business section of the newspaper and getting to know how the stock market works. You could also visit your local bank in order to get information on investing, which is what I did about two years ago. The session could last up to an hour or more, just so you know and it's free.

Mainly, I learned what I know through books. Start with the advanced stuff as these books can become pricey if you buy a lot of them and get most of it online if you can.

If you want an online simulator, you can try Stocks Quest (http://investsmart.coe.uga.edu/C001759/stocksquest/mystocks.htm). Easy to use and excellent for speculating.

Now, as to how investing works I'll lay out the basics. You basically have a choice between either going through the bank or through the stock market. If you go through stocks, then you're willing to accept losses at different levels of risk. Within this, you can either invest in a given company, use mutual funds or invest in stock indexes. I'll split these here:

Investing in a company: Research the company before you buy! The last thing you want to do is become hot-headed and start buying a "hot stock" that's just been going up and up for the last few days or weeks and suddenly find its lost half its value overnight. You want stable companies that worked to get to where they are. Look into Warren Buffet's method of investing when choosing which company to invest into. I recommend the book titled "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham for more information on this.

Mutual funds: These are funds that are made to split up the risk and reduce potential losses. Basically, a mutual fund will bunch you up with other investors and the invested money will be pooled together. Each mutual fund invests in a given way, so if there's a loss in one stock, there may be a gain in another. The way it works is that since there is more money being invested, there is more diversity, hence the reduced risk. A mutual fund is much safer than individual investing, even at high levels of risk.

Stock indexes: These are what I look at, personaly. Stock indexes are indexes that follow a given section of the market (see that current 13xxx number above the DOW index? That's what a stock index is). Generaly, an index is among the safest and highest rate of return you can get on the market. As it follows the market as a whole, it can only, long term speaking, go up. If you look at the S&P index, you'll see that it has averaged a growth of 14% over the last 50 years (!). That's huge and equates with a high risk investment return in complete safety. It will, of course vary from year to year, so don't take my word for granted and start buying index stocks off the bat.

Or, you can go through the bank and buy bonds. You can have high return bonds or low ones, it varies with the current level of interest that the coun try's central bank dictates. For information on bonds, you'll have to ask directly at your local bank, since these can vary widely from bank to bank and country to country.

However, you'll almost always have a few givens like retirement funds. If you anything like the RRSP's we have in Canada, then go for it! A 7% return over 40-45 years can easily net you a high 6 digit number if you're meticulous about it.

And that's that for the absolute basics. Take what I said with a grain of salt as misinformation can be dangerous in the stock market. Information, in this world, is a very valuable commodity if you use it smartly. And research. Always, always research any bit of information you get your hands on. Buy business magazines, subscribe to Forbes, whatever. Information is key.

Hope that helped to get you started. There is much, much more, but I outlined the very basics. Rest is up to you.

[Dorktron2000]

Stock indexes: These are what I look at, personaly. Stock indexes are indexes that follow a given section of the market (see that current 13xxx number above the DOW index? That's what a stock index is). Generaly, an index is among the safest and highest rate of return you can get on the market. As it follows the market as a whole, it can only, long term speaking, go up. If you look at the S&P index, you'll see that it has averaged a growth of 14% over the last 50 years (!). That's huge and equates with a high risk investment return in complete safety. It will, of course vary from year to year, so don't take my word for granted and start buying index stocks off the bat.

Or, you can go through the bank and buy bonds. You can have high return bonds or low ones, it varies with the current level of interest that the coun try's central bank dictates. For information on bonds, you'll have to ask directly at your local bank, since these can vary widely from bank to bank and country to country.

However, you'll almost always have a few givens like retirement funds. If you anything like the RRSP's we have in Canada, then go for it! A 7% return over 40-45 years can easily net you a high 6 digit number if you're meticulous about it.

And that's that for the absolute basics. Take what I said with a grain of salt as misinformation can be dangerous in the stock market. Information, in this world, is a very valuable commodity if you use it smartly. And research. Always, always research any bit of information you get your hands on. Buy business magazines, subscribe to Forbes, whatever. Information is key.

Hope that helped to get you started. There is much, much more, but I outlined the very basics. Rest is up to you.

This whole section is making my head turn. I think you are talking about ETF's, but I am not really sure. ETF's are meant to mimic the overall character of an index (i.e. the Nasdaq), but have no relation to the index itself. They are managed by third parties (see iShares by Barclays) and not the exchanges themselves (NYSE, NASDAQ, etc.).

Also you need a goal for your investments, you have to balance risk/return and judge what you want.

[Jatz]

This should help.
http://finance.yahoo.com/education

[Sauron]

Another good site is http://www.bankrate.com. It isn't the easiest to navigate but it has some great basic tutorials.