• How To Learn The Stock Market?

  Is there anyway to learn the stock market? Terminology, how to judge good stocks, how to go about investing, knowing when to buy and sell, just the basics for a newcomer…I am 19 and in the U.S. Army getting away from a bad life, I want to invest almost all my money made here to my future, and I believe thats in stocks.

   

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    jeoffh@sbcglobal.net 1:02 pm on August 21, 2010
    

    You might want to consider a Mutual Fund first. You can find something that invests in stocks, has a low expense ratio (a ratio of how much the Fund Company charges for "administration fees" behind the scenes), and is in any sector/interest/index that you can imagine. An S&P Index fund is a good start; the Vanguard 500 Index Fund is a good one, just like investing in 500 of the largest US companies in one fell swoop. The performance of the fund exactly follows the S&P. Their ticker is VFINX. And no, I am not affiliated to the company but I do have some shares in the fund.

    Good Luck!

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    Ryan L 1:02 pm on August 21, 2010
    

    Well, many people (trading professionals) will probably hate me for this answer, but for a beginner your best bet is to pick up a book by Jim Cramer. His TV show may be off the wall, but his books are written very well in an easy to understand manner. IMHO his best book for someone in your position is Jim Cramer’s Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World.

    However, make note that managing your own money is a huge endeavor, especially if you have no experience in the stock market. It won’t be something you will learn overnight, and you can lose a lot of money in the process. Case and point are all the ‘professionals’ on Wall Street who are out of a job.

    My personal advice is to put your money into an index fund that tracks the S&P 500, and then maintain a 5-10 year timeframe.

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    d10 1:02 pm on August 21, 2010
    

    ways :
    1. seminars
    2. books
    3. internet

    please be carefull because stocks are risky.

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    Mr.Hord 1:02 pm on August 21, 2010
    

    I have learnt the stock market by researching it on the internet and using this site to practice what I learnt http://www.smartstocks.com
    (It’s a free Stock Simulations that is based real stock prices & movement and it is great for practicing.)

    Here is something that I do I look at the charts of each thing I wanting to invest in (You well fine the charts on smartstocks.com) and look at the past and see if I can see any kind pattern. Are I buy and sale based on the session (buying candy rigth after Valentines & Easter and sale the day be-for them.) looking the items they to sale on each Holiday and buy that rigth after the holidays. (Christmas = Toys, Easter = Candy etc..)

    "strongly suggest you find a strategy what works for you."

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    Casey B 1:02 pm on August 21, 2010
    

    Go to investopedia.com you can learn the basics of stocks from there articles and tutorials then create a stock simulator to trade real stocks with fake money to test your skills

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    jeff m 1:02 pm on August 21, 2010
    

    It’s a good idea to paper trade for awhile, and use investopedia as a reference. online brokerages will let you set up an account without any money. They figure you’ll put money in sooner or later. Then you can use their Quotes and research features, and learn your way around. Etrade seems to be well organised& convenient. you can have up to 8 dummy portfolios for paper trading.
    I studied and thought about it for a long time – and was afraid to take the plunge. I started off with something relativly safe, that seemed like a good idea (WMT) – and suddenly, the business news was just fascinating, and books and articles about investing made a lot more sense, and were more interesting.
    We’re in a bear market, be very careful. conservative choices, and sell covered calls against them – at least then you’re less likely to lose, though you might not gain much.
    A big problem new investors have is thinking in terms of " get rich quick" To pros (especially in a bear market) it’s "don’t get hurt". Especially till you learn the ropes- impatience to get started can be very expensive. Bear markets usually last a couple years- you’ve got time.
    I reccomend bill o’neils "how to make money in stocks". It teaches the CANSLIM method , which emphasises earnings growth. it has a lot of chart interpretation and market history in it. Good Luck

1:02 pm on August 21, 2010