Etrade? To Trade or Not To Trade? LOL?

Question

i just opened up an etrade account, and keeping it real i don't really know anything about the stock market, but with the right assistance, could i actually make some money on there?

Answer 1

You should do your homework before jumping into the waters. This industry is extremely competitive, and the pro's profit off money lost by newbies every single day.

Etrade isn't very good by the way, bad fills, high commission, no routing choices, etc. Direct access brokers such as LightSpeed or Interactive Brokers offer much more professional services and acceptable fees.

Answer 2

The last thing you should be doing is trading.  And before you make any investment you should have a good, or at the least, a decent understanding of the markets, the producst traded in those markets and why you should invest in those products,

Before you invest in any security, the first investment you should make is in yourself, and the best investment you can make is by educating yourself.

Start your education by learning why you should invest and the importance of being able to make your own decisions or how the pro’s make theirs.

Here is some reading material that can get you started in the right direction, The first book you should read is Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Then try some of these

What Works on Wall Street by James O'Shaunessey

Beating the Street by Peter Lynch

One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch

How to Make Money in Stocks” and 24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success both by  William O’Neil

Get into the habit of making daily visits to some websites like MSN Money and Yahoo Finance.  (http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp http://finance.yahoo.com/ )

While at MSN following the strategy lab analysts to get a feel for what the pros are doing and why.  This site has some basic information for beginners. If any site offers free information, take it.

Other website that can provide instructions and help with procedures and terminology are

Investopedia - http://www.investopedia.com/  Stock Charts - http://stockcharts.com/

http://www.investorshub.com/  http://www.1source4stocks.com/



Visit some of the more professional websites like Zacks - http://www.zacks.com/

Smart Money - http://www.smartmoney.com/  Schaeffer’s – http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/

Some of these web sites will have advertisers who are worth looking into also.  And remember, if they offer free information, get it.

Unless you educate yourself, there is absolutely no way you are going to make any money.

Listening to the specific investment/trading stocksyou may read about here on YA is foolish.

Answer 3

Use an online brokerage firm that has good beginner qualitys {like tutorials or easy to understand set up}, i use zecco, better then schwabb, etrade, etc. they are the only ones with free stock trades and no minumums..others will kill any profit you might get with fees!{from a 100 investment}

http://friends.zecco.com/r/a7a2877caab81...

Answer 4

Gads ... don't know anything about the stock market or investing, yet you open an E-trade account.  I gotta tell ya, you are one aggressive Miss!  I love your attitude ... also, I admire your bravery, but I worry about your capital.

I suggest you get some good advice from an online source like Money-and-investing.com.  They offer all kinds of info for beginners and intermediate investors.  Try starting out with a killer mutual fund like Fairholme (FAIRX).  Buy it under $30 ... in this market, it will probably go down before it goes up, but go up it will.  I've owned it for years.  Research this fund ... and research others, too.  It might not be what you are looking for.  Avoid stocks until you have more experience, ok?

Good luck, my friend!

Uppity Wench

Answer 5

You could actually make money without any assistance. Just invest in one of the broad index funds Etrade offers (e.g. ETSPX mirrors the S&P 500). There are no trade costs and expenses are very low. When the broad market goes up, you make money.