Anyone buy stock online?

[biggiesmallz]

I might take a crack at it. Any advice? Tips?

For those who know how would I go about this.

 

[Stallion]

Yes we did. We used E*Trade about 4 years ago to buy some Microsoft stock. Just go to their web site and start buying, type in what stock you want, how many shares and then they bill your visa if I remember corectly...

 

[biggiesmallz]

Originally posted by: Stallion
Yes we did. We used E*Trade about 4 years ago to buy some Microsoft stock. Just go to their web site and start buying, type in what stock you want, how many shares and then they bill your visa if I remember corectly...

Do you still have the stock?

 

[Stallion]

Why yes we do, it just split not to long ago. We get an update newsletter from E*Trade every 3 months ( I think) telling us how much it went up or down and what not.

It took less then about 15 minutes to figure out how to buy it, it was really easy.

 

[arcas]

You'll need to deposit some funds into your online trading account[1] before you can buy shares. Be sure to check the terms to find out what the minimum account balance is. Some online brokerages might let you trade with as little as $250, others might require $1000. And most will charge a fee if your account balance (cash + value of stocks) is below a certain value at the end of a quarter. E-Trade's threshhold is either $4000 or $5000. Some online brokerages might also charge an "inactivity" fee unless you make a certain number of trades per quarter. BTW, I didn't think you could buy securities with a credit card though you can buy some types of treasury bonds.

[1] I'd recommend staying away from margin accounts if you're just getting started. With a cash account, the most money you can lose is whatever you deposit in the account. With a margin account, the brokerage essentially gives you a loan. You can lose alot more than the funds you deposit in the account. And it's not just a matter of gritting your teeth and waiting for your stocks to rise. With a margin account, your brokerage can force you to sell (called a "margin call") if your margin stocks decline too far. Margin accounts do let you trade options and such but I'd start with a cash account...less risk.

 

[DaveSimmons]

My advice is to visit www.fool.com (Motley Fool) and do some reading before you buy anything. Unless you really know what you are doing you are probably better off buying and holding stock mutual funds instead of trying to buy and sell individual stocks.

If you end up agreeing with me after doing some reading, you can get some of the best mutual funds from www.vanguard.com (including the VFINX fund that gives you all of the stocks in the S&P 500).

 

[AlienCraft]

Sharebuilder.com
I've used this service for a couple of years.
It's easy, they have DRIPs and Dollar Cost Averaging.
They have IRA's, their fees are reasonable.
They do SPDRs, and other investment instruments.
Check them out.

 

[Aceshigh]

Scottrade

$7 market orders. No account maintenance fees.

Generally the cheapest and best brokerage out there for individual traders.

 

[thebestMAX]

Dont know what you are doing - Waterhouse. (17.95 a trade @ market)

Dont need any help - Ameritrade (9.95 a trade now)

Know of but never used Scottrade.

 

[ReiAyanami]

datek/ameritrade's one of the fastest and cheapest. dont put all your eggs into one broken basket.

 

[gopunk]

fairly self explanatory.... if there are any terms that appear that you don't understand, you can look them up on motley fool or something. i know that my brokerage, ameritrade, also has little help thingies, but fool.com and google are usually more informative.