I need advice to begin investing in stocks.?

I have been watching several companies lately and am ready to see if I can make a go of it. I would like to to this though a strong company. Does anyone have any advice for me?

Standard investment advice is that you should invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stocks, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.

You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks as individual stocks are too risky. Highly knowleadgable people can buy a properly balanced portfolio, but most folks have a difficult time balancing things on their own. They will misbalance their portfolio by buying all small stocks or all growth stocks, or some other misbalanced assortment of stocks. Back in 2000, Some people bought all internet stocks; they got burnt when they all crashed together. You have to diversify across industries. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to buy mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low cost funds.

If your company offers a 401K plan at work, try to invest the most you can. The money grows tax free, and some companies will match your contribution. Investing in a mutual fund IRA is also a good idea. If you have children, you may want to consider a 529 plan or other college savings plan that grows tax free.

I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.

If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above. You should also have 3-6 months of salary saved up as an emergency fund in a bank or money market fund before trying more risky investments.

Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.

Sources:
http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm
http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin_investing
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics

Asset Allocation Calculators
(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)
https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsInvQuestionnaire?cbdInitTransUrl=https%3A//flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation/education
https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects.exe/DTAssetAlcEval
http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx

Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/
(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)

529 plans: http://www.savingforcollege.com

I assume you're a somewhat younger person. I have the following advices for you. In stock investment, rule no. 1 is DIVERSIFICATION. The rest of the advices are as follows:

1) Buy stock anytime when you have money.
2) Buy any stock. No matter which one.
3) Don't sell
4) Don't need to read about them.
5) Don't even talk about them.

Wait until you're 65, sell them all for your retirement and don't even consider to buy again.

read intelligent investor by benjamin grahim , and one up on the wall street by peter lynch
than start investing in the stock it will really help you.

"A strong company" as in a brokerage firm?

There are some good ones that you won't have to worry about and won't cost you much. In some cases the account minimums might seem steep, but then you didn't talk about how much you intended to invest.

I use Scottrade. Small minimum, inexpensive trading commissions, and a solid firm. http://www.scottrade.com/

Another very substantial discount, actually one of the original "discount" brokerages, is Charles Scwab. Today it is a nice middle ground between the cheapies like Tradeking and the biggies like Merril Lynch. http://www.schwab.com/

If you want substantial, try Merrill Lynch themselves. Oodles of history and about as solid as they come. I've a friend who was in a few rather prominant public positions that gets the five-star treatment from Merrill. I suppose you could trust a few thousand with them with equal confidence. http://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_15125

As for your actual investment, I hope you understand the difference between investing and trading. Much of what we talk about here is trading, common speculations. If your company is an old and long established firm, say Coke or Pepsi, just for grins, check about a dividend reinvestment program, or direct stock purchase plan. While I can't vouch for the "wall-street.com" website, their list is good: http://www.wall-street.com/directlist.html

The nice thing about dividend reinvestments, I've seen some who have done it for a long time and it can snowball into something really substantial if left to cook over dozens of years. That is investing. Most on this list are companies that have weathered dozens of years. Just a thought.

I will give you some great advice, in my opinion. Stay conservative and think long-term.

I am assuming you are young.

My advice is to open a retirement account or open a DRIP plan.

DRIP's are seldom talked about because brokers make very little money when they suggest them. Yet, they have proven to be one of the best, if not the best, long-term strategy on Wall Street.

They are perfect for small investors, as well as big investors. They are safe and allow you to not care about whether the market is going up or down. They are a must for any serious investor.

I strongly recommend looking into it. They are great plans.

PS You will get a lot of people who will recommend buying mutual funds. I strongly recommend you do a little research on them before purchasing them. They are not what people make them out to be.

Take an upcoming company with a small risk of failing. Look for a company that is ready to merge with other companys or that is coming out wtih a new product. Its hard to tell because the whole stock market is a risk/reward system.

first u should open an account with zecco .com . they give u free trades evry month if u put 2500 dollor. u dont have to invest 2500 u can just invest 500 but u have to put 2500 in the account. i am a beginner too. i got stuck with the fees . to make profit i have to first cover the fee and than what left that my profit which is nothing. i am sure u r starting with small amount of money. that what u should do. maybe pepsi or and other company that have big sale in summer cus the summer is coming . hope this helps. good luck

you should try using the stock trading robot that im using. i have been using it for 3 months and it goes well. http://www.my-linker.com/hop/doublingstockcom

I found Sogotrade the best choice for investors . The company suits all beginners as well as advanced professionals.

Sogotrade is a strong company and Securities products and services are offered by Genesis Securities LLC.
Some of the features:
Real-time trades available for $1.50-$3.00.
Get 25 free trades when you open an account with them.
More 25 free trades when you refer a friend.
Excellent customer service.
Fractional shares available.

I found all this info at their website: http://www.sogotrade.com
Sometime back, I was also new in the stock world and I found it useful to share the info with you.
You must research on your own and also, the below tutorial may help you in the stock market.

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