Stock Market?
[Thank you.]
Answers:
I can give you just a bit of advice. I am by no means an expert on all the ins and outs...but I can tell you how to get started.
About 5 years ago, I decided to dabble in the stock market. I have a good savings account, good 401k, and lots of mutuals/IRA's already (so my point being, this was not my "get rich quick" scheme...just a hobby).
I took $2000 and invested it in one of the outfits like Ameritrade, e*Trade, etc. You can do your own research on these...but basically, they are like having your own "bank account" from which to trade in and out of. Each trade is $5-$15 and many times they will give you a number of free trades just for signing up.
So basically, I do my research on sites such as the one in which my money is kept (Ameritrade, e*trade, etc.) and on morningstar.com. I pick a few and buy a certain number of shares...and sell after I feel I have gotten a good return. So far so good, I am up $1500 over 5 years. Not bad for a hobby.
Anyway, so if this is what you want to do...this is how I did it. Hope I helped.
Explaining everything about the stock market would take much more space than is allowed for an answer here. If you really want to learn about it, I suggest that you read Peter Lynch's "One Up on Wall Street", Benjamin Graham's "The Intelligent Investor", and at least a few other books on investing.
If you don't really want to put that much time into it, then let me just say that historically stocks have provided a higher return than any other investment class, so I think they are the best place to invest money you don't need for at least a few years. Stocks will go up and down, so I wouldn't put in money that you need soon just in case the market drops before you need it.
If you don't enjoy spending your time reading financial statements and analyzing companies, a mutual fund that tracks a major stock index (S&P 500, Mid-Cap 400, Russell 2000, etc.) is a good place to put money. You can get them at a variety of mutual fund companies (e.g. Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity). They spread your investment out across a bunch of different companies, so the investment tends to grow at roughly the same rate as the overall market.
One other key point. DON'T PANIC AND SELL WHEN THE MARKET DROPS! Market drops are normal and so far, the markets have always recovered and gone back to new highs. If you sell when it's low, you'll miss the inevitable rise that follows and will probably end up with much less than if you just stayed in the market.
You are on the right trail. Using little money to get leverage is the next thing to research.
The stock market is the place where companies make the company shares available to the public.
When someone wants to make bucket loads of money they take their business public. By offering their company shares they rake in some easy money.
They can't promise that the company will ever make money oir will live past today...but if YOU are lucky your shares will still be worth something tomorrow.
This is the reason for trading.
The uncertainty of holding stocks or shares can give you bad dreams at night.
Instead when you trade you don't care if the company price goes up or down. Now if you can get a control of a lot of shares with very little money.and YOU CAN..you just need to know how...you can then sell the UP's and DOWN's in price.
Read and study as much as you can..use the resources and do lots of courses. Some great things are happening that you should know about.
My free eBook: http://www.invest-for-retirement.com...
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