Can anyone recommend a good online resource for getting into stocks?

[Locut0s]

I have 0 and I mean 0 knowledge about the stock market but I feel like I might have some OK instincts on which companies might be successes down the road and I'm interested in getting into buying small amounts of stock for fun. This is just something for fun I'd like to do, a hobby and nothing serious. I'd like to see what I can turn a few hundred $s into. Probably I'll just turn it into a few dollars lol but then you never know. Anyway before getting into things though I need a good online resource for the complete newb. Can anyone recommend such a source and also a good online stock trading company for this kind of idea?

Anyone else here buy stocks for fun and not for profit per say?

 

[Orsorum]

Morningstar.com, free trial, educational modules. Best free trial you'll ever get.

 

[TheoPetro]

I put together some play money around may of this year for this reason. Before november I was up ~20% on my portfolio. Fatwallet has a finance forum that I learned a bit from. You may want to check that out. Basically before you can really get into stocks you should grab an intro to finance book. It will go over concepts like time value of money and net present value and such. These are pretty helpful when picking stocks. My best tool has been the research abilities TD Ameritrade gives me. Google finance has also been helpful. Seriously grab a finance book though. It will shed a whole new light on the management of money.

 

[jagec]

bulk stocks?

 

[gururu2]

tdameritrade is a pretty good broker. i started an account with em in 1995, and did day trading for a few months then let a couple stocks sit until 1997. trades back then were 8 bucks. i had a balance of 0.00 for 10 years and they never booted my account, charged me fees or anything. I recently just got back into some heavier long terms stocks. trades now are 11 dollars. its a lot easier to trade than you might think. but if i have learned anything, its pick companies that you know you will see around in a 1-2 years.

 

[seemingly random]

Just start hunting. There are lots of them out there. All of the ones listed so far are fine but there is no best. If you really get into it, an 'Investors Business Daily' subscription is useful.

You'll need to determine what you're good at:
- Day trading - for the twitchy
- Momentum trading - the most money with least stress
- Long term - for the most part, for suckers

If you go into to it like you would a casino, plan on losing most or everything. If you still want to invest after this, mutual funds might be the way to go.

In my experience, Fox Business is great for tips - as long as you go the opposite way.

The best advice I can give is to _not_ take advice from _anybody_. Trust yourself. Learn from your mistakes, not others' - since you don't know what went through their heads.