Stock Markets Exposed - Help am new to stocktrading and buying of shares?

Help am new to stocktrading and buying of shares?

can anyone tell me what to look out for before buying and selling shares and also to direct me to a website where i could get free advice about stock trading.

Public Comments

http://www.sharebuilder.com/ cheap, easy place to learn and trade
See a broker or talk to your bank I bet they have an investment counselor. The market is like gambling so if you have money that you really will not need in the future take a chance.
If you're asking this question my advice is Don't do it. People who understand it lose everything. It's not an easy get rich quick thing. It takes years to become proficient & still "stuff happens".
1) If you have not taken at least 5 courses (Business College or University) in buying/selling on the Stock Market, don't do any stock trading. There are hidden dangers. 2) Do not hire stock brokers. Stock brokers are like lawyers. They get rich, even when their (sucker) clients lose.
read the following books first. 1. the intelligent investor 2. security analysis 3. a financial accounting text book
Go to Investopedia. They have a multitude of articles and tutorials that will get you started. They also have a stock simulator so that you can practice without risking your real money. At a minimum, go through the basic tutorials before you begin investing for real. http://www.investopedia.com/ When you are ready go to a discount broker. I use Scottrade. You only need $500 to open an account and trades are $7. Customer service is good, but they do not provide investment advice.
As a beginner, you are much better off investing in stock index funds rather than trying to pick stocks. Go to the Education section of vanguard.com and you can learn everything you need know there.
Standard investment advice is that you should invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market funds. You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks as individual stocks are too risky. Most folks have a dificult time buying a properly balanced portfoilio of stocks on their own. They will misbalance their portfolio by buying all small stocks or all growth stocks, or some other misbalanced assortment of stocks. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to buy mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low cost funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stock funds, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard.com has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund. If your company offers a 401K plan at work, try to invest the most you can. The money grows tax free, and some companies will match your contribution. Investing in a mutual fund IRA is also a good idea. If you have children, you may want to consider a 529 plan or other college savings plan that grows tax free. I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion. If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above. You should also have 3-6 months of salary saved up as an emergency fund in a bank or money market fund before trying more risky investments. Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however. Sources: http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation http://www.fool.com/school.htm http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin_investing http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics Asset Allocation Calculators (Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.) https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsInvQuestionnaire?cbdInitTransUrl=https%3A//flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation/education https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects.exe/DTAssetAlcEval http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/ (Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.) 529 plans: http://www.savingforcollege.com