I am less than a beginner, please help me get started

Hi all! I have never bought or sold a stock. I have no clue what the best site would be to start trading on-line or even how to do so.

I was in a store Saturday and saw a sign stating the price of their stock and it got me thinking that maybe I should look into the stock market.

Remember that I have no clue but I was wondering if I buy one share of a stock then it would be worth the amount it went up or down at the end of that day? Say I bought a share for $50, if it went down $10 at the end of the day I’d still have $40, correct? And the same if it went up?

So I’m thinking if I invested in a few stocks and let them grow, I could slowly start to make money? (If the stocks value went up.

So now I’m wondering what site could I join to start buying or trading or whatever the proper term is.

I found robinhood and am looking at it because it says no fee for trades. Thoughts and recommendations?

My next step I’m thinking of is to open a seperate bank account to connect to whatever site / service I join for on-line trading, just so I feel a bit safer that it’s not my main bank account.

Does the value of a stock go up or down based soley on others selling or buying it?

I know nothing and have very little to risk on stock trading but I think maybe getting my feet wet might show me if it’s for me or not. And maybe it will be for me and I could make some money at it…

I appreciate your patience and wisdom.

Thank you

You have decide between becoming an INVESTOR or TRADER 1st.

A Trader require years of research and live practice to become adequately seasoned and may only be minimally profitable. We are talking 5 - 10 years of training.

An investor need only be lucky. Buy a stock one time off and holding it for like 10 years. If you were to hit the Jackpot like buying a facebook stocks. Good for you. Otherwise, you may lose only a little , unless there is a black swan event. That requires much less effort than a trader. Probably 2 to 3 years of training would suffice.

1 Like

Good day and welcome to BabyPips. A month or two ago I was like you with very little knowledge on trading stocks and forex. I extremely suggest you take time to Learn Trading with the School of Pipsology by BabyPips it may seem like a lot to learn but it is very easily explained. You can have mentors who teach you but the best way to learn is to teach yourself. Only then will you truly understand.

Forex and stock are two completely different trading/investment aspects with their own pros on cons. Personally, I prefer trading foreign currencies because of the liquidity of the markets and no powerful force can manipulate the market for an extended period of time. You will learn this in BabyPips school. I trade forex more than stocks

I am also fairly new so there’s only so much advice I can give you, the biggest advice I can give you is to study and practice

Best of luck

4 Likes

If this is your goal, then you sound more like you want to be an investor than a trader. One way of investing that requires very little skill or knowledge is to buy into an index fund. These are funds which own the stocks that make up the major stock indices, the ones that you will hear reported in the news like the S&P 500 or the FTSE 100.

It’s a lot less exciting than picking your own stocks, but it’s also a lot safer, especially for someone with your level of knowledge. If you have the itch to invest now, you could go that way, and you can always study and learn more about investing and/or trading in the meantime.

Here’s a tutorial on index fund investing, if you are interested:

I wish you all the best!

I thank you guys so much for the info! I think my first thought was to invest in stocks like reputable companies and maybe new businesses while they are affordable. So what would be the easiest, least expensive site to join that I would be able to purchase stocks?

But I am also interested in the forex trading and will look at the resources that you guys listed, thank you.

Can you buy into index funds at affordable prices?

Is there a site that allows you to invest in stocks and trade forex on the same account?

Thank you again!

Don’t get ahead of yourself yet. Go through all the training here first and get a grasp of the basics.

There are many websites to invest in stocks and also penny stocks. The value of stocks do not just climb higher and higher. Like currencies they can also fall back, all depending on the economy, health of the business which stock you are investing, etc. In both cases you have to research and study the charts and the news.
Best of luck

yes there are so many website to invest in stock but the main problem is most of them are found to be scams.

Try finding a regulated broker that offers (real) stocks?

So I’ve been thinking and have more questions, but also think I have a better idea of what I’d like to do.

I’d like to invest in well know stocks and slowly keep adding to my portfolio, I’m looking more toward the longer term plan. Hoping in a few years I’d have a good handful of different stocks. Right now thinking on less expensive but seemingly solid choices like Ford for example costs under $11. I could buy a few and just find other similar affordable choices and buy a few each month (based on my small budget.) So I’m thinking, open an account, research the stocks I’m interested in, and buy a few and make my start. Thoughts?

Questions: Is it probable to buy a larger number of lower cost stocks for investments rather than higher cost stocks like facebook for example that I may only be able to buy very few shares of? If a stock already has a high price is it less likely to have any worthwhile growth for a while?

What stocks have dividends? How can you know if a stock has dividends or not? Is it best to buy only stocks that have dividends?

I looked at the penny stocks course, but am looking more to find a good course on “regular” stocks and buying / trading foundations and basics and standards. Appreciate any recommendations on course and resources.

Thank you for the patience and the help,
Ian

Check out Motley Fool, the website. Lots of free resources. They’ve been in the stocks education game for 10+ years. Give this a read: https://www.fool.com/how-to-invest/investing-strategies-your-first-stock.aspx

Like some other have said, get educated before you throw real money out there, whether that’s with stocks or Forex.

If you really want to become trader, then I guess you will need this resource below to start with (pretty lot of resources there).

Stock Market Bible
https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1eIpH0RyJCGCQvhHZ8miP-DaGwU9bWqLb

Thank you, I will read this

Unfortunately I have no idea if you will become trader or investor in stocks market, because so far I am also never trading and invest in stock market, but I have little experience on forex market, which this market is very liquid as the most liquid market if compared with another market, but trading forex is higher risk if compared with stocks I think, forex market is very fierce and no mercy, without experience and good knowledge hence will become victim the market

I’m not looking into forex right now. I’m looking into more stable stocks. Looking at stocks that pay dividends.

Forex market is more risky liquid and uncertain than of stock . Once you get learning of forex you will develop interest to work in forex market , Stop here not go to live account directly . Demo trading will be the best option for you . As a beginner who had no idea of trading should try many practice , try to mange amount before going to live trading.

in demo we trade without at any emotions, because there is no real money. so the experience we take from demo practically not works in a real account. for that reason i prefer sometimes live account instead of demo.

If you are a beginner than you should have to do some research on the forex market. After doing some research you might be able to know about the market. You also get some knowledge about the market which helps you a lot in the future while you are doing some live trading. Thanks

Demo account has its own benefits and many traders are able to utilize it properly. But I get your point. I’d say for people who are just taking their first steps into the world of forex trading they can go for small accounts with micro/nano lots so that they aren’t taken aback.

Well said, yea being a trader is more challenging than being an investor! On the other hand, I think nowadays crypto’s are much better option for investing money.