How would you start playing the stock market?

loudy_foudy: How do I start playing the stock market?
Hi, Everyone!

I am interested in playing the stock markets. However, I do not have the slightest clue on how to go about doing this.

How do I start? Where do I start?

Can anyone help me out? All answers are much appreciated!

Answers and Views:

Answer by poojally
It all depends on what kind of investing you want to do. Is it long term , short term, how much time do you want to put into it and so forth. Each one has a different approach to it…

Answer by William
You picked a good choice of words, “…playing the stock market.” You will be doing just that if you have no knowledge of where to invest. It’s sheer speculation to pick a stock and hope for good returns.

My recommendation is to go the mutual fund route for investing. Many are based upon stock portfolios and have long histories of solid returns. They have professional managers that know the industry and where to put the money.

But if you want to gamble in the stock market, you first need an account with a brokerage. That’s easy enough to setup. Many will allow online account setup. Next, pick a stock and make a trade. Expect to pay a fee for the trade, sometimes it can be high, depending on the brokerage you get with. Good luck!

Answer by Boss
speak to a stock broker first.

Answer by jduck1979
The first thing you need to do is to do a spot of reading up on the subject. Try:
https://www.fool.com/investing.htm (US version)
https://www.fool.co.uk (UK version)
https://www.investopedia.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/01/071801.asp
https://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Investing/Findhotstocks/P90537.asp
One thing you’ll learn about Mutual funds via Fool.com (contrary to what one of the other answerers said) is:”More than 80% of mutual funds underperform the stock market’s average returns”
They’ll also tell you quite a few other things, such as the best person to take care of your money is you….. most the finance professionals are just after your money.

Next, it’ll help if you do a bit of practise via one of the online fantasy Stocktrading games… that way it’s only pretend money you end up loosing, and not your own real money.
Try https://www.bullbearings.co.uk (UK Stock exchange) or https://www.simustock.com/

At the same time, start researching some companies to try figure out whether or not they have investing potential….. create a watch list on…….. go to YAHOO’s Finance section @ https://finance.yahoo.com and create a portfolio named “Watchlist” (enter it as 1 share at the price it was at the time you added it).

To help get the ball rolling, try these ones:
UK Stock Exchange:
Severn-Trent Water (SVT.L)
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L)
Kelda (KEL.L)
BHP Billiton (BLT.L)
Debtmatters (DEBT.L)
Debt Free Direct (DFD.L)
As well as Yahoo finance, is a very good place to start looking them up (don’t need to include the .L at the end).

US Stock Exchange:
Canadian-Pacific Railway (CP)
Union-Pacific Railway (UNP)
Toyota (TM)
Honda Motor Company (HMC)
Anheuser-Busch (BUD)
Walmart (WMT)
Google (GOOG)
Great Northern Iron Ore (GNI)
H&R Block (HRB)
Nokia Corporation (NOK)
Try looking at both yahoo finance + https://quote.fool.com for research.

Next, your ready to find a broker for buying/selling stocks through.
In the UK, I suggest https://www.halifax.co.uk/sharedealing
If in the US, then I suggest

Remember…. they charge a commission fee each time you buy/sell a stock…. the more you buy/sell, then the more potential profit you stand to lose from paying commission fees.

If you hold on to a stock for any length of time, then the company pay you back a “dividend”…. where they take a chunk of their profits, and distribute it back to their share holders…… worked out by dividing the amount they have available to pay back by the number of shares being held by investors….. then you get paid by the number of shares you hold in that company.
For instance if the dividend payment is 10p or 10¢ (depending what country you’re investing in)…… and you hold 5shares in that company, then you get £0.50 / $ 0.50. The more you hold, the more you get……… use this payment as a contribution towards investing in more shares with that company so you’re entitled to even more dividend payment next time it’s being paid out.

Answer by Ian H
Oh dear. Read this carefully.
1. Buy some shares.
2. Watch the price suddenly go down.
3. Panic and then sell them.
4. Count the cost to your bank balance and your ego.
5. Repeat all steps above until money runs out.
Or alternatively you take all your money out of the bank, make a little heap of it and then set it on fire. At least you are generating heat with it, which is a bit more useful than 1 to 5 above.
Keep your money old son, and start a business with it.
SOURCE:
Bitter, bitter experience.

Answer by Edward Hyde
First, forget playing. It suggests what is really speculation. It is trying to get rich fast, and probably ending up with nothing. You tend to do just as well betting on long shot horses, and betting all your winnings until you lose it all. Instead invest. You will get rich slowly, but almost certainly positive. Choose a stock that pays dividends, well covered by earnings, with a history of increasing earnings and dividends. Make a small purchase. Soon make another one. Reinvest dividends. After you get a decent amount invested, start with another stock in a different industry, but with similar description. In a few years you will have a number of holdings that will continue to grow. If the stock price goes down for one or more, GOOD. That means your continued investing and reinvesting is buying more shares than if the stock price were higher. I can make a few stock suggestions, but do your own evaluation. There are mathematical formulae for predicting your likely future results.