Stocks mid age learn?

Question

i AM JUST STARTING OUT TO VENTURE IN STOCKS, i AM MIDDLE AGED, AND ONLY HAVE A FEW HUNDRED DOLLArs to invest with. I have read books, researched, watched and still am money channels, receive dow theory , so am doing homework, opened a ameeritrade account, good deal, and am waiting to buy something. they say buy what you know, i do not know, I am a stay at home mother and love it. I was thinking of GE, but can only buy about 7 shares, and am wondering if it is worth it, only buying 7 shares. I know what I am interested in, categories, but... views, suggestions always wqelcome. I do my homework, but always learning more and unsure.

Answer 1

There are many people just like you that are, or were looking to invest and those that did bought Mutual Funds and/or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).  One purpose of mutual funds is to help investors like you, who are either just entering the investment world or who have no investing experience.  

Once you feel you at least have an understanding of investments you should look into ETFs which are similar to mutual funds but are traded on the exchanges.

Mutual Fund companies as well as ETFs have an entire array of products many will fit your needs. You can go to the MSN.Money website

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp  it has an entire section on mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds.  Read about the various products and in doing so you will be getting investment ideas and at the same time educating yourself about investing.

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/

You could also contact the funds companies for more information.  I have found that Vanguard & Fidelity can meet your needs for mutual funds.  The service and information they provide is all free and you will find it helpful

Answer 2

It's tough to get started in the stock  market with only a few hundred dollars.  But GE is at a low point here so it may be a good buy.  One good thing is that you can't lose a lot of money.  One tip:  use stop orders that will limit your loses and provide you with a better means of control.  Make sure you understand them by reading all you can.  Good Luck!

Answer 3

Funny you mentioned GE I also think its a good buy, esp with that nice 4.5% dividend. I picked up 250 shares a few days ago for the long term. I deally you should start out investing with a minimum of 500 to 1000, since fees really eat up yout profits on orders of less than $500. But what I suggest is buying something now at these low prices and then when you have more money add to your portfolio little by little. We all have to start from somewhere, just make sure you hold for longer temr and not try to daytrade your money.

Answer 4

If you are just starting out, don't know much, and only have a few hundred dollars, then your first stock venture really ought to be via mutual funds or ETFs.  That's because you do not have enough money to diversify, and diversification is a must.

Since you already have a TDAmeritrade account, an excellent starting place would be investing in an ETF.  A single share of a broad-based ETF actually represents hundreds or thousands of companies.

I'd suggest a broad-based ETF such as SPY (S&P 500 Depository Receipts), which holds all of the S&P 500 individual stocks, or VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF), which approximates the entire US stock market by holding over a thousand US stocks.