Time for me to get into the stock market..

[Rick Sanchez]

Hey,

I've been looking at buying/selling stocks for a while now.

First question how much should I put in to my pot for use on the stock market.

Min/Max figures would be nice and should I use Lloyds TSB stock service?

Regards,
Jon

[Over Carl]

I know bugger all about this but I'm wondering if now's not a good time to get in as a beginner as stocks will likely be more volatile / less forgiving than normal.

[evilsatan]

TDWaterhouse is probably the best share dealing service.

Budget is up to you, a trade costs around £15 so you need to put enough in so that doesn't represent a high percentage, otherwise it will take longer to turn a profit.

Shares at the moment are extremely volatile, however with research you can pick up some bargain shares. I don't want to suggest specifics but take a look in the individual share discussion on DF and read through each thread thoroughly, cross reference with research elsewhere and make your own decisions. Do not get excited by rampers on other boards, try to find unbiased discussion (not easy to find!).

Don't invest any more than you can afford to lose. Read Spencers sticky in the shares section for a brief introduction.

[OldManBob]

I have been using III for over a year now.

Only £1.50 for scheduled portfolio builder trades which is the cheapest I have been able to find;

http://www.iii.co.uk/trading/share-dealing/how-do-i-invest/portfolio-builder

I use them to invest a couple hundred quid each month in cheap banking stock (mainly RBS & LLOY)

I use Google Finance to keep track of them;

http://www.google.co.uk/finance/portfolio?action=view&pid=1

Good luck!

[hxbro]

You'll probably find unless you invest a lot of money, you'll end up paying more than the £10 it'd normally cost as you end up paying a premium on the SP with the £1.50 portfolio builder.

(that's how I started, rapidly realised I was losing out and went to just buying at a live price).

[DJ OD]

Not something I am knowledgeable in either really, but i agree with Over carl. Now seems a very risky time to start out.

My work colleagues and bosses had a crack at dealing with mostly penny shares and the like a few years back. They made a few quid, and lost a lot more. Mostly as they haven't a clue, but also as it wasn't a great time to be a rookie.

I think the "syndicate" initially all put in about a grand each, but by the end of it they all owed a few grand to credit cards!


DJ OD

[hxbro]

I use TDWaterhouse and III for my trading, 12.50 a trade with TDW unless you do lots a month then it drops down, 10 a trade on III but they also have portfolio builder where it's 1.50 (see my other post on why I think this is bad). TDW has access to practically all markets across the World, III is limited to a few.

Only invest what you can safely afford, the recent crash caused many people to see huge losses, BUT, they are only a loss if you sell, if you hold it out, you'll probably find the SP will increase again, I went from 120% paper profit to -20% within the last few weeks, but I held out and now back at 33% and climbing, if the fundamentals haven't changed in a share, then the chances are they will rise up. Start off with one share, then look for a few more, don't be worried about daily/weekly fluctuations in SP it'll cause great stress and you'll find yourself checking constantly through the day to see that you always seem to be negative. In general it takes time to get into profit, but if you invest in the right companies at the right time, 12 months or even longer should start to return profit (it can happen quicker, but try to look long term).

There are some real bargains to be had at the moment, but invest only on companies you have researched, read RNS's, websites, forums (don't believe everything you read on forums! - in fact don't believe anything, without your own research to back up).

[greaseweasel]

Don't invest any more than you can afford to lose.

Thats pretty much the key, you have to see it in the same light as gambling (in essence thats what it is), and don't get carried away trying to make up for loses throwing more money in or it can spiral out of control.

[surfdude666]

Hey Guys,

in the same kinda boat as hilljd00 looked at this a few months back, but im not clear on one thing, The share certificates etc, if I buy do I have to wait for the share certificates to come to me or is it all done electronically? Any input would be cool.

surf

[Undertaker]

online trading is you get no share certificate, shares are held in a nominee account thus you don't get voting rights etc .

if all you are wanting to do is make money and not bothered about anything else then open up an account at tdwaterhouse, iii, shareprice etc etc, transfer some money in and then buy shares.

it's as simple as that... last year i made a fair bit, this year i lost a fair bit but thats life.

there are lots of markets, i prefer AIM markets high risk high reward. For example SAR went from half a pence to 5p in a few days ... Pick a share, research the hell out of it and then invest and then wait for your exit price.

all the best

[evilsatan]

Hey Guys,

in the same kinda boat as hilljd00 looked at this a few months back, but im not clear on one thing, The share certificates etc, if I buy do I have to wait for the share certificates to come to me or is it all done electronically? Any input would be cool.

surf

If you register with an online stockbroker then deals are placed immediately and certificates are electronic so you can print them off or just access on demand from your account. If you wanted to you could buy and sell the same shares in one day.

EDIT:

Undertaker beat me to it, as he pointed out they are more like share purchase/sale receipts rather than proper certificates.