been watching the market with some local traders, stockholders..... well the horses are no longer around to bet on so when i get some extra money i want to get into stocks, who is a good company to go threw broker i guess you should say? ameritrade wants 2k to get started is that normal or can you just invest in a few stocks at one time to get started? god i wish i would have looked into google along time ago!
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Don't know but it kinda scary. I have lot of friends filed BK in the past because of "short selling" or borrowing money to invest.... Well, when *green* has no boundary, so does *greed* has no ceiling too...
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normally i bet on the horses, i do very well at them, been in tournments and everything, out of 50 usually finish 15 and above.... high prize money ever won on a tourny was around 5k not to bad.... i beat my step dad lol! but stocks look like they will do better then the ponies.
anyways, look forward to finding out more info deffComment
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Banc of America Investment Services offers a brokerage account with a minimum opening balance of $25. They charge $10 commissions for stock trades and $45 for bond/mutual fund trades. When you deposit money into the account, you have to select a money market mutual fund in which to put your cash. I've selected Columbia Cash Reserves (NSHXX) and it's been yielding around 4.4% (going down now that the interest rates are being cut), but it's still better than a savings account.
Investing in the stock market should not be done without a lot of research. You shouldn't be "betting" your money on a quick return--and shorting the market and buying on margin is really dangerous if you're in a financial bind. Unless you're a professional, it's not advisable to invest in individual stocks unless you have 10 years or more to wait out the ups and downs or unless you have enough money to buy shares of multiple companies so as to diversify your risk. Your best bet is to look at mutual funds as those are managed, but make sure you look at the fees associated with them. Lots of funds with high returns also carry exorbitant fees which in turn eat up your returns. Index funds are the cheapest because they don't have to be actively managed and they follow the trends of a specific index (like S&P 500 or NASDAQ). But, again, you should do your research, and not treat it like a gamble. Jumping into an investment without knowing anything about it or jumping out of an investment because the market is down is pretty much the equivalent of throwing money out of a window...you can't time the market, and you'll lose if you try.
The bankruptcy experience is supposed to make us re-evaluate our view and handling of money, and investing is a good way to increase wealth as long as it's done in a responsible manner.
Just my two cents...Filed 9/20/07
341 on 10/26/07
awaiting discharge 12/26/07 (best Christmas present of all!)
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most mutual funds now also have allocation funds, which are "funds of funds" to provide additional diversification depending on your objectives and risk tolerance
fyi too market timing w/ mutual funds is watched by fund companies, they dont like itComment
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