How can I invest on stock market on my own without a broker and if possible is this wise and how 2 proceeded?

Question

How can I invest on stock market on my own without a broker and if possible is this wise and how 2 proceeded?

Answer 1

You can not buy stock in the United States without opening an account with a brokerage firm

Apparently you are new to buying stocks so 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,

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

The Warren Buffett Way by Robert Hagstrom

How to Make Money in Stocks” 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/

Or you can call any major brokerage firm and speak with a stock broker and follow their advice, but I have found it's always better to know what you doing before you do it

Answer 2

Hey Yellow,

There are a lot of great responses below about buying stocks directly from companies.  As was mentioned, you could enroll in a Divendend Reinvestment Plan (or DRIP) if you know the company or companies that you'd really like to stick with.

However, if you're really interested in getting started with investing in stocks, I would recommend picking a good discount broker (Scotttrade, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, E*Trade, TD Ameritrade...), and work through them.

Brokers are set up to handle and validate all of your trades for you -- that way, you don't have to worry about figuring out how to get the stock certificates you just bought, or finding a buyer if you feel like selling.

Brokers are tapped into the stock markets, and provide the necessary liquidity for investors like yourself.  For a price (the cost of the trade), they'll make sure that your order gets executed, hold your stock for you, and make sure that you get a seller when you want to sell.  They'll follow your instructions, and can be very helpful if you don't understand how or why some things work.

So, my advice would be to pick a good discount broker.  I don't think you'll be disappointed with making this decision...

As an aside, if you'd like to buy a share of stock so that you can actually hold the certificate, you can go to www.OneShare.com.  There, you can buy a single share of stock from a number of great companies (Disney, Dreamworks, Starbucks, Home Depot, etc.).  

This isn't really for investing -- more for framing the certificate as a picture or giving them to friends as a gift.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Answer 3

You can buy stocks for as little as $1.. if you have to avoid the average fee of $12.95 to trade stocks... you need to forget about trading.

You can buy "DRIP"  programs that charge, but few of them are at "no charge"... (low cost yes.... no fee... few).

As a "newbie".... I'd go for a stock broker like Charles Schwab or Fidelity Investments..... they're more prepared to handle the new trader than the less expensive brokers.

But getting a broker should be the last step towards trading. You need to read several books on investing/trading.   It's worth it just to stop you from making the "new trader" mistakes.

Answer 4

You should have an account with brokerage firm. May be the one on line like Ameritrade or Etrade. They are usually free if you invest more than $10,000. But they charge you per trade like $10 or so. Once account is open and money on it you should research market and see what your options are. I would also read some news letters from guys like Motley Fool, etc. Sometimes they do help. Read some trading techniques manuals and trainings before you start to understand basics.

Answer 5

Yes, you can invest without a broker. You can use on-line websites such as charleschwab.com or fidelity.com

It can be wise if you do the appropriate research beforehand. Are you looking for growth, value, etc?

You can do your own research on individual stocks on:

yahoo finance

valueline

barron's

morningstar

In addition, you can invest in index funds (that track the s&p 500, dow, or others). These websites will charge per each trade and like any other financial decision you should do your own research before proceeding. There are other online trading sites that you can look at as well (all of them have some sort of fee for trading).

If you would like to become more knowledgable in investing read these publications everyday:

NY Times Business Section

Wall Street journal

the Economist

BBC

Jubak's journal (on Tuesdays and Fridays)

Yahoo finance for all specific stock information

Investopedia for financial definitions

Numerous other good publications and books at your local library

I would also recommend reading the Intelligent Investor.

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

I believe you can buy stock over the counter in pink sheets, and you can ofcourse buy stocks from people you get in contact with on your own.

the brokers are though needed in to some extent if you are not permitted on the floor of the stock exchange.