Good beginner stocks

[M.C.]

I'm thinking about testing the water never have invested in the market before I have about 1k to invest and tips would be appreciated

Thanks!

[Legalman72]

Lots of research and it really depends what your goals are.

GE is a great stock but its well valued at the moment. Many people feel there's a bear market coming. If you have some cash, you might want to wait and then go bargain hunting.

[b381l]

Originally Posted by M.C.

I'm thinking about testing the water never have invested in the market before I have about 1k to invest and tips would be appreciated

Thanks!

Barrons is a good place to start....it comes out weekly. Actually, the market looks to be fully priced now plus the summer is historically a bad time to get in.....but if you decide to go ahead, purchase stocks you know something about. Plus the best way to buy stocks is to put a certain amount in each month and continue doing that....so if the stock goes down, you'll be purchasing the stock at a cheaper price next month. It means you are averaging the cost. Good luck !

[ds401]

Maybe try a mutual fund. Fidelity, Janus, Vanguard have lots of different funds that have blue chip or mid size companies, ect. They invest different companies that u may like or not like. Read about them and decide. You can watch the mutual fund and maybe get a feel for some stocks and how they move.
You can read about stocks and mutual funds at Yahoo Financial, Wall Street Journal, and the individual websites for example.

[b381l]

Originally Posted by ds401

Maybe try a mutual fund. Fidelity, Janus, Vanguard have lots of different funds that have blue chip or mid size companies, ect. They invest different companies that u may like or not like. Read about them and decide. You can watch the mutual fund and maybe get a feel for some stocks and how they move.
You can read about stocks and mutual funds at Yahoo Financial, Wall Street Journal, and the individual websites for example.

Most fund families require more than $1,000 as an initial payment to purchase a fund......also, there are more mutual funds than stocks......if someone isn't familiar with them, it can be very confusing.

Here is a short list of total stock market EFT (exchange traded funds). These are easy to purchase, very inexpensive to own and there is no pent up tax liability as there is sometimes with mutual funds. You can open a discount brokerage account at Fidelity, Schwab, etc and purchase EFT's, stocks etc for under $10 per trade.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3031...and-broad-etfs

[MountainCock]

Firstrade is $6.95 per trade.

Scottrade is a $7.00 per trade.

I have used Scottrade for two years now, after using Firstrade for over 15 years. Scottrade has better resources, and they have local offices.

[Travelin]

I started about 11 years ago. I wanted to start small and buy my own stocks by doing my own research. My best advice is as follows.

Look for stocks you can buy directly from the company. These are called Direct Stock Purchase Programs. DSPP. A lot of popular companies offer these options. look at their website and click on Investor Relations. Once you have found some stocks you like, look and see if they offer a DRIP. This is a Dividend Re-Investment Program. Your Dividends are automatically re-invested for you each quarter allowing you to gain more stock over time. TYou can invest as little as $25 to $50 a month or a one off payment whenever you like. You don't have to pay in monthly if you don't want to.

By going this route, you basically by-pass the broker and pay much less fees when you buy and sell. This option isn't very good if you are wanting to buy and sell quickly. They have set days they purchase your stock. And if you want to sell, it's done usually a few days or even weeks after you request it. These options are great for mid to long term investors, but you learn a lot on the way and after some time, you will feel more comfortable trading yourself.

Hope this helps.

[clemson sucks]

Schwab has a really good mutual fund for beginners that only requires a $100 initial investment. I also highly recommend Betterment. I have an account, and I tend to make steady returns at an above average percentage. It will also let you decide how risky you want your portfolio to be.

As far as individual stocks go, the key to being a successful investor is diversification. That is why I recommend to most people to build up a pretty good bit of capital so that they can buy a good number of stocks. Look for leaders in their individual industries. Apple, Google, GE, Duke Energy, Unilever, Diageo, Nestle, and Realty Income are all companies I am pretty high on.

[Gamerooster]

You can start with $1000 but first have a good savings plan with enough cash in the bank for a very rainy day then start to put money in stocks. It's also essential to own more than one stock. Five to ten is what you need for good diversification. That's why mutual funds are popular. I don't care for mutual funds except maybe for Vanguard. Vanguard ETF's have about the lowest expense ratios there are, so that's a good way to start. Do some research on the Vanguard site.

Read about Warren Buffet. His philosophy is to buy stocks that should be selling and making more 10 to 20 years down the road. His top four right now are IBM, KO, WFC, & AXP. Study those or look for something similar.

Is there a bear market coming? Absolutely, but when? No one knows but, for good companies that have good businesses that will be bigger and more profitable in 10 to 20 years, a bear market is just a fire sale when you can buy great companies at discount prices. Save up and you'll be ready.

[gamecockfan]

Some good ones I'd go with are Home Depot, Coca Cola, Google, eBay, Apple, and GE.

[b381l]

Buy Gilead (GILD).....forget everything else.....

[JaxcockFL]

My cousin is an analyst for Motley Fool. He does interviews and such. Follow him on twitter.

https://twitter.com/TMFJMo

[uscjeremynca]

Thought this was a good time to revisit this. I think in the next month, this will be a great time to buy.

For me, I am not a big investor in stocks although I love the market. I think to buy stocks, you really need a few to diversify. To buy one or two companies puts a lot of your eggs in one basket. This is why I like mutual funds because they are safer and much easier to diversify. For most accounts, there are no upfront costs for mutual funds and ETFs. The downside to funds/ETFs is that they require large minimum investment amounts to get started. This is what makes stocks easier to purchase (but more risky IMO).

However, I do own a couple of stocks - Apple and GE. I think purchasing both of those now are good value. GE has only been this low in the early part of 2015. Before that, you have to go back to October 2013 to see the stock price as low as it is now. I think Apple is a decent value right now as well. Both pay solid dividends which is another reason why I own these.

Granted, each person should do their own research and find companies that work for them if you are going the stock route.

[b381l]

Originally Posted by uscjeremynca

Thought this was a good time to revisit this. I think in the next month, this will be a great time to buy.

For me, I am not a big investor in stocks although I love the market. I think to buy stocks, you really need a few to diversify. To buy one or two companies puts a lot of your eggs in one basket. This is why I like mutual funds because they are safer and much easier to diversify. For most accounts, there are no upfront costs for mutual funds and ETFs. The downside to funds/ETFs is that they require large minimum investment amounts to get started. This is what makes stocks easier to purchase (but more risky IMO).

However, I do own a couple of stocks - Apple and GE. I think purchasing both of those now are good value. GE has only been this low in the early part of 2015. Before that, you have to go back to October 2013 to see the stock price as low as it is now. I think Apple is a decent value right now as well. Both pay solid dividends which is another reason why I own these.

Granted, each person should do their own research and find companies that work for them if you are going the stock route.

most people aren't qualified to do their own research which is why mutual funds and/or ETF's are so popular.

[uscjeremynca]

Originally Posted by b381l

most people aren't qualified to do their own research which is why mutual funds and/or ETF's are so popular.

Agreed. Funds and ETFs are so much easier and less risky.

As for me, I have always been good with numbers and money. My degree from USC is in accounting. I am an analyst geek - love diving into numbers and doing analysis.

The market takes some time to understand and I may not be good at it. However, learning is fun right now.