Id like to invest a little, where to start?

[ryandamartini]

Well as the title says.

i have a bit of money from graduation sitting in an ING savings. While that is slowly earning oh ~12$ a year, Id like to take a small bit out to invest in some stocks or similar. I was planning on using around $500.00 USD to start. I have researched some of the different services and Zecco.com - Free Stock Trading & Investment Community looks best for my needs. I am reading into all the terminology and stuff, and have picked up some good books recommended to me.

What would be some good stocks to get for my limited budget? I dont expect to make a huge amount of cash, but hey ya never know! Im really trying to learn all I can about being good with my finances in college.

Thanks!

-Ryan

[P1et]

Do you have a trading account? I have E*Trade and have been very happy with them. I also check out the Fools CAPS on a daily basis, some interesting insight there.

Personally, I just dumped everything I had in VMWare two days ago and have made a really really nice return so far!

[Surfer]

Originally Posted by P1et

VMWare two days ago and have made a really really nice return so far!

Bast**d lol, been so busy I forgot about them the other week and forgot to set the order. Whether accurate of being called the next Google or not, the hype shot that stock up.

[ryandamartini]

Originally Posted by P1et

Do you have a trading account? I have E*Trade and have been very happy with them. I also check out the Fools CAPS on a daily basis, some interesting insight there.

Personally, I just dumped everything I had in VMWare two days ago and have made a really really nice return so far!

Like stated, I am opening a Zecco account. I dont have the financial capital to be super trader, so Im looking for something that I can make some trades a month for free and the customer support and organization is great from reviews I have read and seen everywhere.

You might want to check out AMD while they are this cheap. Phenom and Barcelona CPU's are coming in along with a large number of OEM contracts next year.


Anyways... What stocks could I look at?

Thanks

Ryan

[P1et]

Originally Posted by Surfer

Bast**d lol, been so busy I forgot about them the other week and forgot to set the order. Whether accurate of being called the next Google or not, the hype shot that stock up.

Haha! I sold all of my Dell stock and put it all into VMWare. I made more in one day on VMWare than I did in more than two years in Dell.

WOOHOO!!!

Just wondering whether I should sell when it hits $80 or just hope it splits and be in it for the long haul...

[ryandamartini]

[Pauly6401]

I have money invested in two different places, and for someone who doesn't have a lot of time to track the market and move stocks around (plus a limited income) I would think these would work well for you as well.

1) Open an IRA. This will allow you to save $4000 a year to a retirement account and you will make a few hundred dollars a year at first in return, and then more as your account grows. I put $333 a month into mine.

2) Find some good mutual funds and invest in those. My wife and I were getting about 7-8% return before the market started to loop recently and they are more stable because they are spread across multiple things, not just single stocks.

You can set both of these up through a local investment office such as Edward Jones or Citibank. Look around and see who seems to have their act together.

I think if you do this you will have a good base to start with and then when you get some more disposable income you can start dabbling in stocks more. Why waste the money that you can barely afford to use if a stock takes a tumble? I know as a student I didn't have much extra cash laying around so putting money away for the future early seemed to be the best bet.

Just my thoughts. If you really, really want to trade stocks for the fun of it, no one can stop you.

[Surfer]

Originally Posted by P1et

Haha! I sold all of my Dell stock and put it all into VMWare. I made more in one day on VMWare than I did in more than two years in Dell.

WOOHOO!!!

Just wondering whether I should sell when it hits $80 or just hope it splits and be in it for the long haul...

I'd hold, even if it drops a little after hype or doesn't split, you still made nice gains either way. If it splits, will be even easier to sell for profit with the new liquidity and price, more poeple buy at split price with the extra volume of shares = Surfer pissed at P1et for not reminding him sooner

Ryan - $500, I'd paper trade to get a feel, and go from there, if the $500 is play money your not worried of risking to lose, can start reading up on stocks after paper trading for a couple weeks and and open an account and go from there. I don't have the time right now so mine is pretty much all in funds, mid caps etc. You could use the money to invest in a fund to play it safe as Pauly said, but I honestly can't remember some of the caps for requirements right now. Personally if it were me, 500 won't do squat in a fund right now, and if your willing to use it as "play money" I'd start trading after a couple weeks of doing paper trades while researching stocks, but thats just me. Have a couple thou in account for trading but sitting there right now as I don't have the time to look around stocks right now....kicking myself in the damn ass for forgetting to set order for VMWare, ughhh, Surfer = Idiot lol

[AUdakota]

I second the vote for an IRA, I started one in april to get a tax break and I put the max in there which I think is 4k, than I think I have made about 200 so far on it. It is mindless investing. I know as a student I do not have time to keep up with the market and although I do have money in the market it is with a broker and not personal trading.

Do you parents by chance have a broker, if so they might not mind doing small trading for you.

[killrwheels@autogeek]

Most Mutual Funds now require a minimum purchase of 1000.00. Look into some low cost offerings, like those from American Funds. They dont advertise, and thus keep there expenses in check. Stocks are like diving into the deep end of the pool before learning to swim, sure you'll likely make it back to the side but not without treading some water.

The IRA is a nice offering, especially consider as a student you likely have little or limited income. As such a ROTH would be a great choice. No tax break now, but all it nets is free after retirement. Just rememeber its a long way to 59 1/2 and touching those funds. (some limited ways out early)