How you buy stocks has changed an awful lot in the last decade. You used to have to have a broker and call him or her up to make a trade. Most everything was done over the phone or in person and that included opening the account and discussing your investment needs with the broker. If you were new to investing, having to do those things could have been quite intimidating.
Todays investor never has to have any contact with a real person if they dont want to. The computer and Internet has allowed the stock market game to change drastically and people can do everything themselves by just pushing a few buttons. Some may argue that buying and selling stock has become too easy because it allows people to have a gambling mentality. Day trading was an offshoot of this as people learned how to buy and sell back stocks within minutes, something they would have never done in years past with the old system.
If you are just starting out in your investing career, where should you go to learn more and get good advice? Other than the Internet, the public library always has some good investing books that will explain the basics of the stock market and some investment strategies you may want to explore. The Internet has information on anything and there will be abundance on stocks, but you must be careful what advice you pay attention to as there will be a lot of questionable content there as well.
After having done some research and learning a little about stock market basics, you might want to pick a stock and buy it. There is no education quite like the real thing and buying a stock will help you get your feet wet and see what it is all about. After buying your stock you can then do some more learning in preparation for your next purchase.
Although you may want to get started right away, right now the market is in the midst of one of the worst downturns in recent memory. When the market is going up every day it is easy and fun to buy stock as most likely you will come out a winner. But now the market is not doing well and you have to be prepared to lose if you decide to buy anything at this time. Although it is good to buy stock when it is low, which most stocks are now, it is also scary knowing that they may go down further. If you do want to start your stock investment journey anytime soon, it would be wise to invest carefully and not put in more money than you can afford to lose. Caution is a good thing to have in mind when you are buying stock in 2009! - 31970
Todays investor never has to have any contact with a real person if they dont want to. The computer and Internet has allowed the stock market game to change drastically and people can do everything themselves by just pushing a few buttons. Some may argue that buying and selling stock has become too easy because it allows people to have a gambling mentality. Day trading was an offshoot of this as people learned how to buy and sell back stocks within minutes, something they would have never done in years past with the old system.
If you are just starting out in your investing career, where should you go to learn more and get good advice? Other than the Internet, the public library always has some good investing books that will explain the basics of the stock market and some investment strategies you may want to explore. The Internet has information on anything and there will be abundance on stocks, but you must be careful what advice you pay attention to as there will be a lot of questionable content there as well.
After having done some research and learning a little about stock market basics, you might want to pick a stock and buy it. There is no education quite like the real thing and buying a stock will help you get your feet wet and see what it is all about. After buying your stock you can then do some more learning in preparation for your next purchase.
Although you may want to get started right away, right now the market is in the midst of one of the worst downturns in recent memory. When the market is going up every day it is easy and fun to buy stock as most likely you will come out a winner. But now the market is not doing well and you have to be prepared to lose if you decide to buy anything at this time. Although it is good to buy stock when it is low, which most stocks are now, it is also scary knowing that they may go down further. If you do want to start your stock investment journey anytime soon, it would be wise to invest carefully and not put in more money than you can afford to lose. Caution is a good thing to have in mind when you are buying stock in 2009! - 31970
About the Author:
Would you like to learn how to buy stock for beginners? If so, please visit my website The Stock Market For Dummies.
