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Started By
Message
Let’s talk about beginner stock trading
Posted on 6/25/14 at 3:59 pm
Posted on 6/25/14 at 3:59 pm
I’ve got a few $K that I’d like to use to open up a stock trading account but I don’t know where to start (other than creating an account). I’m not looking to make a ton of money (well, yes I am) but I’d like to at least stay in the green and grow it a little. What’s the best way to get started? What are some good books to read on this?
Note: I have fully funded retirement plans so this is just "on the side"...
Note: I have fully funded retirement plans so this is just "on the side"...
4
Posted on 6/25/14 at 4:12 pm to poochie
First off if you think someone has the magic answer, you will be sadly mistaken. No one has a crystal ball and can predict the future. Start with Etrade and learn to put stop loss orders on your investments so you dont lose your arse.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 4:36 pm to poochie
Etrade
Posted on 6/25/14 at 4:50 pm to poochie
I'd suggest messing around on Loyal3.com first.
There are no commissions and its limited to mostly good stock choices, so in the future when you realize that you probably had no business playing around with individual stocks the damage will be minimal and you probably will have made some money. Unlike if you mess around on etrade with penny stocks or try to be a day trader.
As a bonus, you can buy with a credit card, so you can get some credit card reward points while you're at it.
There are no commissions and its limited to mostly good stock choices, so in the future when you realize that you probably had no business playing around with individual stocks the damage will be minimal and you probably will have made some money. Unlike if you mess around on etrade with penny stocks or try to be a day trader.
As a bonus, you can buy with a credit card, so you can get some credit card reward points while you're at it.
This post was edited on 6/25/14 at 6:26 pm
Posted on 6/25/14 at 8:14 pm to deSandman
quote:
I'd suggest messing around on Loyal3.com first.
There are no commissions and its limited to mostly good stock choices, so in the future when you realize that you probably had no business playing around with individual stocks the damage will be minimal and you probably will have made some money. Unlike if you mess around on etrade with penny stocks or try to be a day trader.
As a bonus, you can buy with a credit card, so you can get some credit card reward points while you're at it.
This. They've got a few good ones with dividends on there too.
INTC, KO, PEP, DPS, UL, TGT, YUM, MCD, and SBUX
You can hardly go wrong by setting up a monthly account with one (or more) of the above...even if its just $100/month.
Think of it as a savings account that pays you A TON of interest. That's basically what you'll get with Coca Cola.
This post was edited on 6/25/14 at 8:17 pm
Posted on 6/26/14 at 8:07 am to bayoubengals88
So what's a good amount to start with if i want to mess around on etrade just for fun/ learning experience. Can i do i with a couple hundred dollars or is it not worth it unless i invest a couple thousand?
Posted on 6/26/14 at 8:25 am to Breesus
When I was younger and just starting out, I had an account with a company called Sharebuilder. There was no minimum and you could purchase and sell in whole dollar denominations (i.e. you could buy and sell fractional shares). There was a decent trade fee, so you would want to buy and hold.
Was a good way to learn about stocks without throwing a lot of money at it.
Was a good way to learn about stocks without throwing a lot of money at it.
Posted on 6/26/14 at 8:31 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
There was a decent trade fee, so you would want to buy and hold.
I dont want to do that though. I'd like to put like $500 in somewhere and have some fun trading with it. Ive got some free time during the week and i think it'd be interesting.
Posted on 6/26/14 at 8:39 am to Breesus
That's going to be difficult. Commissions will eat you up pretty quick. For example, scottrade is $7 buy and $7 sell.
That's already a 2.8% loss on your total $500 for every stock that you trade.
I would wait till you have more money or actually look to invest it (buy and hold) as opposed to trade it.
That's already a 2.8% loss on your total $500 for every stock that you trade.
I would wait till you have more money or actually look to invest it (buy and hold) as opposed to trade it.
Posted on 6/26/14 at 8:41 am to Breesus
quote:
I dont want to do that though. I'd like to put like $500 in somewhere and have some fun trading with it. Ive got some free time during the week and i think it'd be interesting.
What do you mean by "have fun trading with it"?
If you are talking about trying to pick random stocks to buy and then sell over a short period of time, or playing around with options and the like, my advice is to just take half of the money you were thinking about using, light it on fire, and then call it a win.
I was lucky enough to buy and hold on to enough AAPL and APC to more than offset my dumbassery, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it as a financial strategy.
For a beginner, I would recommend either a) buying from the commission free funds of whatever service you sign up with or b) using Loyal3.
Otherwise you are constantly going to think you know more than you actually do and eventually get burned. Using either of those plans, you will minimize your losses while getting decent exposure to how things work.
This post was edited on 6/26/14 at 8:45 am
Posted on 6/26/14 at 8:43 am to deSandman
I generally agree. I'd rather just take the $500 to the casino personally. You might have better odds.
Posted on 6/26/14 at 10:21 am to LSUFanHouston
Our firm had a meeting this morning with our financial advisor (we have a legally-seperate registered investment advisory firm) where they went over 401(k) options as we are switching platforms.
He presented a slide, that showed the average return, by asset classes (Small cap, large cap, etc) for I think 8 or so classes over the last 20 years. Then he showed the "average investor" return for the last 20 years.
The slide was titled "behavioral impacts on annual returns". All 8 asset classes had higher annual returns than the "average investor".
Meaning - thinking you can play around and beat the market... it generally does not work that way.
Sounds like you want to day trade. Here is what I would do. Take the amount of money you have, and put it in a solid investment fund.
Then go sign up for one of the investing simulators, and play around all you want on that.
He presented a slide, that showed the average return, by asset classes (Small cap, large cap, etc) for I think 8 or so classes over the last 20 years. Then he showed the "average investor" return for the last 20 years.
The slide was titled "behavioral impacts on annual returns". All 8 asset classes had higher annual returns than the "average investor".
Meaning - thinking you can play around and beat the market... it generally does not work that way.
Sounds like you want to day trade. Here is what I would do. Take the amount of money you have, and put it in a solid investment fund.
Then go sign up for one of the investing simulators, and play around all you want on that.
This post was edited on 6/26/14 at 10:22 am
Posted on 6/26/14 at 10:29 am to Breesus
quote:
I dont want to do that though. I'd like to put like $500 in somewhere and have some fun trading with it. Ive got some free time during the week and i think it'd be interesting.
So you're obviously not into building wealth slowly by consistently throwing $200 into Coca Cola or some kind of fund.
Sure, go ahead and throw your $500 into a brokerage account.
I use TradeKing ($4.95 per trade)
Just make sure to let us know how it goes!
This post was edited on 6/26/14 at 10:31 am
Posted on 6/26/14 at 10:37 am to bayoubengals88
quote:
Think of it as a savings account that pays you A TON of interest. That's basically what you'll get with Coca Cola.
I hate you.
Posted on 6/26/14 at 10:50 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
The slide was titled "behavioral impacts on annual returns". All 8 asset classes had higher annual returns than the "average investor".
Meaning - thinking you can play around and beat the market... it generally does not work that way.
The "average investor" returns are most likely not due to active trading. It's due to terrible behavioral decisions and having a poor investment plan, or none at all. They invest in hot stocks and funds after outperformance occurs, generating lower future returns and tend to make terrible decisions in down markets and re-entering after the market has generated significant gains or not at all.
Posted on 6/26/14 at 10:52 am to TheHiddenFlask
Posted on 6/26/14 at 10:56 am to TheHiddenFlask
quote:I'm not intelligent enough to know why, though I have a couple of guesses.
I hate you.
Posted on 6/26/14 at 12:34 pm to bayoubengals88
Fwiw, I "bought" $200 worth of shares in the last 8 stocks listed in the penny stock thread yesterday and am "up" $500.
Posted on 6/26/14 at 12:39 pm to poochie
I bet your funds haven't even been cleared yet to trade
Posted on 6/26/14 at 1:02 pm to bayoubengals88
That's why I put " ".
I just said let's see what would happen if I bought $200 worth of these. I made a portfolio on yahoo.
I just said let's see what would happen if I bought $200 worth of these. I made a portfolio on yahoo.
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