If I want to invest in Google, how much do I have to put to begin in investing it, who do I have to go to, how do I now how much I gained in a day or lost

 

  • John 5:04 pm on March 5, 2010

    Normally you buy through a broker. You can use discount brokers like Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade or Scottrade. These brokers offer less service, but charge less for transactions. Full service brokers like Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch off more service but charge more for transactions. Some stocks can be purchased through direct investment programs also known as dividend reinvestment programs.

    I do not know if Google offers a dividend reinvestment program. You can "Google" stock dividend reinvestment and you will find list of companies that offer these programs. You can also "Google" Google and you will find their company website and you may be able to find out if they offer a dividend reinvestment program in the investor relations part of their website. Google is a very consumer friendly company so it is very possible that they may offer such a program.

    Generally stocks trade in even share amounts although some dividend reinvestment programs allow the purchase of fractional shares. Fractional shares are normally purchased with reinvested dividends so you will probably have to buy atleast one full share even if you buy through a direct investment program.

    Another benefit of direct investment, especially for small investors is that there are no commissions.

    However, most investors buy through brokers. So you will probably begin by openning a brokerage account at a brokerage firm. I have accounts at Charles Schwab and Vanguard. Charles Schwab has lower commissions for smaller accounts. Vanguard has lower commissions on accounts over $1 million.

    Once you open an account, you may or may not have to make a deposit to place a trade. Theoretically, you could place a trade and then deposit enough to cover the trade three days later since stocks trade T + 3 or three days after the trade date. You will have to deposit enough to cover the price plus the trading cost. Normally less than $10 at a discount broker, but potentially much higher at a full service broker.

    When you place your trade, you will have to decide whether to place a market order, which means that you will get the market price at that time or place a limit order which means that you will get the limit price or better or your trade will not take place.

    Google closed at $526.80 on Monday with a high of $531.75 and a low of $523.48. Over the past 52 weeks, Google has traded between $289.45 and $629.51. If you have a price objective you can enter a "good till cancel" GTC order to buy at the price you want. Since stocks normally bounce arround, you have a good chance to buy at a price lower than the current price by doing this.

    However, if the stock makes a big move, you risk missing the big move because your buy limit was never hit. In most cases, if you are a long-term investor, it is better to place a market order to make sure you buy the stock. However, if you are a short-term trader trying to capture a quick profit on a bounce in the price, then you may want to use a limit order.

    I advocate long-term buy and hold strategies. Since you are just starting out, you should start slow with small dollars and do a lot of research. There are a lot of approaches to stock market investing and investors tend to have strong opinions about one approach versus another. Before you invest much money, you should be very careful to develop a personal investment philosophy and make sure you are clear about what you are trying to accomplish.

  • keithsan 5:05 pm on March 5, 2010

    Only put in what your willing to lose! As much or as little as you want. If you want to buy cheap stocks try penny stocks http://www.thepennystockblog.com but be careful and read all over that site before you even try.

    you may also want to check out http://otcbulletinboard.net and http://otcbbstock.net

    good luck on your journey.