I'm 16 and i am very interested in stocks, and i want to invest.. help?

Question

I watch Mad Money constantly, i've been watching it since i was like 13 and i think it's hilarious but i also want to look into stocks because i think it could get me some money in the long run...

how does a 16 year old junior in high school buy and sell stocks, CAN i? or do i have to get my parents to do it for me?

thanks

Answer 1

Have a look at www.lifestyletrader.com.au or google Aussie Rob - I am very happy with his program and the support you get.

Answer 2

First, you will need at least around 10,000 dollars to really be able to do it well.  Then you have to be 18.  But in the meantime, just do it on papertrading.  You can actually go to Cramer's "street.com" site and I think they have one for you to trade on.  Contact Cramer about this.  Write him an email. I'm sure he will be delighted to know you have been watching his show for 3 years as a teen!  And by doing that, I am sure you have a great advantage when you actually do start trading with real money.   good luck.

Answer 3

That's great you want to start investing. Yes the investment account has to be in your parents name because you are not 18. If I were you I would open an on-line trading account, most have minimums to open like $1,000.00. The only one I know of that does not have a minimums is ING Sharebuilder (there maybe others that don't have minimums too just look around). Now is a great time to start because almost all the stocks are on sale.

Answer 4

The easiest way to trade stocks are to open a brokerage account (TDAmeritrade, eTrade, or Scottrade).  You may only be able to do this with your parents as custodian of the account.  

I commend you for your interest and certainly believe the earlier the better (based on compounding or profits).

You are correct that Jim Cramer is not realiable.  Jim's show is a marketing campaign to reach viewers.  I would not take his recommendations seriously and while his idea that "anyone can trade" is true, "anyone can trade profitably" is highly unlikely.  I'd suggest to be ready, read some additional books (Benjamin Graham's Intelligent Investor, Peter Lynch's Beating the Street or One up on Wall Street).  Trading stocks profitably is complex and comments like "get me some money" do not inspire confidence that you are ready.  Take the time before you turn 18 to better educate yourself about the market and trading.

Quick search of the internet shows Cramer is right 47.85% of the time.  Not even 50/50 and that's considering the fact he has enough followers that they normally influence short-term movements in his track records favor.

Answer 5

don't listen to anyone who says that you need to be 18 to invest in stocks.  they're either incredibly dumb, or lying on purpose for some reason.

you can absolutely invest in stocks if you want to.  the best way to do this (if you have a job) is to go to a discount broker in your area and open a Roth IRA - it's an account that will let your money grow completely tax free if you leave it in there long enough!

since you're not interested in mutual funds, i think scottrade would be a good brokerage for you to start out with.  their commissions are pretty low, and so are their minimum balances.

Answer 6

You need to be 18 to invest in stocks and shares.

Secondly, you really need to know how these things work before you go investing.

Any money invested less than 5 years is for pure speculation. So many factors affect share prices. Supply and demand, company performance, the management of the company ect. You need to take a long term view (i.e. 5 years +) in order to seriously make any profit. Even then, unless you have a lot of capital (i.e. £500,000+) you're not going to get a balanced portfolio.

You'd be best investing a small regular amount in a pooled investment plan (i.e. an OEIC) which you can do within an ISA for £50 per month - but you won't be able to do that until you're 18. You could invest in a cash ISA however as you're 16.

Answer 7

It depends on the age of majority in your state, but most likely you will need your parents to do it for you in a custodial account, which will eventually be turned over to you.  If you have earned income, you can open an IRA and buy and sell mutual funds.  Go here for more detailed information on IRAs and custodial accounts: http://stockmarketresources.blogspot.com...

Best of luck to you.  I'm 18, and I love the markets too.

Answer 8

I think that there couldn't be a better way for a young man to make a better future for himself other than to sacrifice his ordinary today for a superhuman tomorrow.

That said, u don't need ur parents to trade stocks for you. They don't even have to know! All u need to do is open an investor account with a stockbrocker (u could do that online), and it is a go from there.

All u do is place an order and your stock broker buys the stock if it is available and then sell whenever u give the sell order. It is so simple all u have to do is have a little money to invest.

Be sure to invest wisely and not follow hypes.

If u want more information, u could check out my website: http://yourfinancialuncle.googlepages.co...

Happy investing friend.

Answer 9

So far you have received a lot of good advice, but untill you turn eighteen there are a lot of things you can still do to prepare yourself for your trading future.

What you really need to do right now is to educate yourself as much as possible in the areas of the stock market that you're interested in.

Learn how to do a Fundamental Analysis on the markets, the market sectors, the sector industries, and the individual stocks that comprise those industries. You will also need to learn how to do Technical Analysis on the stocks that interest you.

When playing the stock markets, education is your best tool.

There is also tons of research to do which will be a neverending task. Go to www.investopedia.com Register and become a member (its free), they have all kinds of information for beginning investors.

Something else you may want to try during your learning process is to find a website where you can open a paper trading account and practice the skills and strtegies that you learn about. You won't need to have anyones permission to do that, and don't need to be of any certain age, anyone can do it.

Some of the instuctors that I have learned from have told me that their 7 and 8 year old children have paper trading accounts and show some amazing profits from what they have learned from their parents.

Mad Money is an entertaining and informative program and Jim Cramer is hillariously funny sometimes. Another program that you may want to watch is Fast Money, it usually comes on right before Mad Money. It is a very informative program that deals with what is happening in the markets on a daily basis.

Answer 10

You will have to have one of your parents set up an account for you under the uniform gifts to minors act until you are 18.  The account will be in your name but until you are 18 you can not enter into any legal contracts.  

I watch Mad Money sometimes also.  It is informative and entertaining.  Cramer does however sometimes make some bad calls, but you will find out that it is not so easy picking the right stocks sometimes.  I have sure picked a few bad ones in my time.