Can anyone give me some advice on investing from home? I have a IRA working well, A Roth IRA doing ok through my financial advisor but I think I would like to learn about doing some investing on my own. I am only looking to use some play money and see if I can grow it alittle bit. If I get comfortable, I will add to it. If anyone can give me any input, it would be very much appreciated.
Another alternative is the forex market. Currencies rise and fall in value and some people play it like the stock market. Nowadays, there are close to $4 trillion traded on a daily basis worldwide. There are also brokers who specialize in forex. A friend of mine has started a forex webpage. Check it out. http://forexreviewjournal.com
Are you thinking of just buying stocks online or trying to make a few dollars playing the market? If trying to make a few bucks, I read the excellent "Day Traders' Survival Guide" by Christopher Farrell and while old, published in 2000, it does give one a feel for the experience and some of the pitfalls and other things to watch out for..try Amazon for a copy, I paid 1.00 for my copy. If one is patient, penny stocks and warrants can be a lucrative field..but it is highly specialized.
if you're just playing with a few bucks, what the heck. You may learn something valuable. Just one thing tho, watch the online stock quotes. If you're trying to time it just right, most stock quotes I've seen are on a 20 minute delay. It would be better to have everything in real time. When you buy, it's done right now. Same with selling. I've seen it happen where someone buys a stock, only to find out the price jumped 5% before it posted.
A tip. . Buy about 5k worth of some worthless penny stock. . Create many aliases and go onto as many pump and dump sites and tout this stock. . As soon as you get a 15% uptick...you dump 500 shares at a time till the stock stagnates, then you dump it all. Rinse and repeat. . If arrested, exclaim in an incredulous manner "That's illegal?"
The SEC requires them to be delayed 20 minutes to prevent day traders from having an edge over brokers. When you go to purchase the stock, it actually gives you the current price right before you confirm your purchase. Another thing you have to look for is what is called '"free-riding". An example is if you buy stock A on monday and then sell stock A on monday. It technically takes 3 days for the money and stock to change hands. Your proceeds from stock A (good or bad) can be used to buy stock B but you cannot sell stock B until the settlement from stock A comes back (again, 3 days). The reason is this, since the money isn't technically in your account yet, you're using a loan to buy stock B, but there is no interest charged, so they do not allow you to sell until the money is back and on its way to stock B. Thats why the offer a margin account. its basically a line of credit that the brokerage gives you to use in the meantime of settlement dates. its charged interest but allows you to reinvest your proceeds immediately. basically you could buy stock A, sell stock A, buy stock B sell stock B, buy stock C and sell stock C all in one day with the same money you started with. If you dont have a margin account, then you are "free-riding" and they will freeze your account.