| With the advent of the computer, online stock | | | | people online stock investing, stocks can become |
| investing has become very simple to do. If you are a | | | | very volatile. The busiest times of the stock market |
| beginner investor, the first thing you need to do is to | | | | are the first hour of stock trading and the last. If you |
| set up an account with an online brokerage. Fees and | | | | are looking to buy or sell a stock, it helps if you can |
| service vary so choose wisely. My preferences are | | | | be online during those times to watch your stock for |
| Scottrade or KingTrade. Their costs are $5 to $8 to | | | | the proper time to buy or sell. Individual stocks can |
| make a trade. Scottrade has offices nationwide so | | | | give you a much greater return on your investment |
| you can actually go in and deposit or withdraw funds | | | | than Mutual Funds, of course you can also lose your |
| with ease. KingTrade has lower commissions and a | | | | money quicker if you are not careful. |
| better trading platform and tools for investing in | | | | You can control risk by spreading your money out |
| options. | | | | over a few stocks instead of just one. However, |
| There are various ways to trade stocks. You can go | | | | you don't want so many that you won't have the |
| long (betting the stock goes up) or go short (betting | | | | time to manage them properly. |
| the stock will go down). The beginner investor is best | | | | The trickiest part to online stock investing is picking |
| to go long until experience is gained. You can also buy | | | | the right stocks. You can subscribe to a financial |
| or sell options on stocks. And for those who don't | | | | newspaper to get info on companies. Yahoo Finance |
| know what to invest in, or don't have the time for | | | | has excellent set of tools and info. However, your |
| internet stock trading, there are many Mutual Funds | | | | best bet may be the company that handles your |
| to invest in. Each has it's own fund manager who | | | | trades for you. Your brokerage will have plenty of |
| oversees which stocks to buy and which to sell. | | | | tools for you to use to locate winning stocks. |
| The problems with Mutual Funds are that they are | | | | How do you know if you are doing well? There are |
| very diversified and probably won't return much. | | | | published benchmarks that you can gauge your |
| Even in bad markets Mutual Funds, by law, must | | | | performance against. The standard benchmark is the |
| invest their funds in stocks. If you do your own | | | | S&P 500 Index. The index is made up of 500 |
| internet stock trading, you can sell your stocks in bad | | | | stocks. If those stocks rise so does the index and |
| markets (called a bear market) and invest the money | | | | vice versa. You can also invest in the S&P 500 |
| in money markets or other safe investments while | | | | Index, which will give you the same return as the |
| you wait for the next bull market (good market). | | | | Index. Historically it has averaged 11% per year. To |
| The good thing about Mutual Funds is that they do | | | | me that is not going to get me wealthy very fast. |
| employ a fund manager who will do all the stock | | | | Now if you are going to take the time to study, |
| selection and buying and selling. You really have | | | | research, monitor, and worry over your stock picks, |
| nothing to do but watch your money grow (or | | | | then you deserve a return HIGHER than the indexes |
| disappear). | | | | for your efforts. That is your goal. To beat the |
| I personally prefer investing in individual stocks, as do | | | | indexes. If you can do that, then you are a great |
| many of the world's wealthiest individuals. You can | | | | stock investor. |
| adopt a buy and hold strategy, but with so many | | | | |