How do I purchase stocks? I want Sirius stock.....

[liberalnurse]

I've never purchased stock so tell where to begin.....I think this is going to be a great investment.

http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=Page&cid=1019257316771


So, is $500.00 a good start? How do I make money? Should I buy every month?


I'm a damn good nurse and Democrat but finances are grek to me. I just make a decent living.....bank much of it.

[bryant69]

1. You might look at Ameritrade--that is what i use

Or call a broker.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[liberalnurse]

2. Call a Broker?

Why? Do I have to sign a contract?

Oh, the link does not give me instructions???????

Yes, I'm that green......

[Worst Username Ever]

6. you do not want a broker

unless you are investing over 10K. They usually won't even return your call if you don't have a significant dollar amount to invest.

Someone has to to the actual purchasing FOR you. They have to be licensed to do so. That is what is meant by "call a broker," a broker can buy stocks for you. The other option is to open a brokerage acct, see my post below.

[Yupster]

53. Disagree Worst

Just getting started investing, I'd recommend a broker. Once you have a pretty good understanding, on-line trading makes sense for some.

There are good and bad brokers. Many good ones will treat you well if your account is small, especially if you are adding to it in a systematic way.

[Irishladdie]

3. Here is the Trading Platform I use

It has the cheapest trades and I have never had a problem. It is only 2$ per trade and it works awesome.

www.interactivebrokers.com

Been using them for years, they rock.

My Step Dad uses them and many other friends.

Let me know if you have any other questions!!

Go to their site and read up. I think initial deposit into your trading account is something like 2000$.
You will then get 8000$ to trade with, but I recomend learing more about trading before going outside your real cash money..

[liberalnurse]

10. I just want to buy for now....

I believe holding on to it is the direction for Sirius. But, if you think putting in $2000 is what one typically does, okay. Tell me, how come they give you $8,000 to trade with?


How do you make money from this?

[Worst Username Ever]

4. You need to open a brokerage account.

Your local bank probably has them. Some have minimum investments, but the banks usually keep it low. If you purchase stock, you have a commission to pay, so the 500 dollars will not actually purchase 500 dollars in stock.


PS Banks usually have annual fees on their brokerage accounts. Brokerage houses are usually a little cheaper. Go to ameritrade.com or scottrade.com.

For the record, I do not recommend individual stocks, but if it is a small part of your portfolio (less than 10%) then it is usually OK.

[ckramer]

5. All you need to do is

open an Ameritrade account.

www.ameritrade.com

[Irishladdie]

7. Ameritrade kills you with trade charges!!!

If you are doing trading frequenly you will get killed with there fees. Keep in mind to do more than 4 trades a week you need 25,000$ in your trading account!!

[ckramer]

11. I wouldn't recommend liberalnurse do day trading

Liberalnurse:

Do not do daytrading - you will lose all your money. You should buy one stock per month, keep it and you will be rich in your retirement. (you don't have to put all your money in one stock)

[liberalnurse]

13. How much is a decent monthly purchase?

I will diversify in the future for sure....I understand the concept. I'm just motivated now with Sirius and think it's a good place to start.....and learn as I won't be selling it.

[ckramer]

24. It all depends on ...

...how much you can afford each month after your basic expense.

$500 per month is not a small amount.

Sirius is promising and I agree it's good place to start. I bet there are lots of stock experts here in DU that you can draw advice from. Before you purchase a stock, ask around to see if that's a good buy. I am sure people will love to help you out.

Remember, you should only spend the amount that you can afford to lose - there's no guarantee of success in stock market.

Good luck to your investment.

[theboss]

33. Whatever you are comfortable with

I put 15 percent of my gross pay in investments each month, because that's what I am comfortable with. Your mileage may vary.

[Irishladdie]

8. www.interactivebrokers.com

[theboss]

9. You may want to slow down

If you need to ask, "How do I make money?" before buying stock, you probably need to do some research first. Get a book and educate yourself. Meet with a financial planner. Take a class.

[liberalnurse]

12. I realize that .......

I just sense I need to jump on the Sirius price before it skyrockets. I plan on becoming educated after the purchase plan. I don't want to sell what I buy so in my ignorance, I think I have time to grow and learn after the fact.

Am I off base here?

[theboss]

21. The price has already spiked

I think that particular stock may be over-valued at the moment. The Stern investment has the potential to be huge, but the company is still deeply in debt.

If I were you and just getting started, I would begin with a mutual fund. If you are just going to start picking stocks based on things you read in the newspaper, you are going to lose money. You'd be better off going to Vegas. You'd have more fun.

[Only Me]

54. I was like liberal nurse a couple yrs ago and that is EXACTLY the advice

I was given by my former broker brother.

[deadmessengers]

14. I normally don't put much "Stock" in this series, but...

...this book saved my financial life about 6 years ago:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764525905/qid=1100881319/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-2648953-2786566?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Everything you want to know about money, saving, investing, etc - it's in there at an easy-to-understand level. You'd do well to read it before proceeding further.

[wicket]

15. Check out Sharebuilder.com

VERY easy to use and great for first time investors.

http://www.sharebuilder.com/

[denverbill]

16. I'd highly recommend Scottrade.

$7 trades, no (or low) minimum balance, no monthly fees, no inactivity fees, etc. Good for small investors.

http://www.scottrade.com/index.asp?supbid=58158


Here's some info on Sirius.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SIRI&t=5y

Ticker symbol is SIRI. It's traded as low as $1.88/share earlier this year, but it was over $60/share back in 2000.

[catzies]

57. My accounts are with Scottrade, but they advertise on either Fox or

Limbaugh, and I'm very sorry about that, but I'm not changing. So I gave up something else instead.

[SeekerofTruth]

17. Big mistake, don't purchase because you 'think' it will be good.

Many people invested in MCI and Enron because they thought it would be a great investment.

Investments take a careful plan and diversifications. Why put it into 1 stock, why not a mutual fund?

You really need to educate yourself now, not after you buy the stock, otherwise you could end up like so many others who are now bankrupt.

[AP]

18. For the sake of democracy, I hope pay radio fails.

[liberalnurse]

19. So, you think it may be a bad financial investment?

I'm trying to be futuristic.......

[theboss]

22. I think satellite radio is going to work ultimately . . .but . . .

I don't know if you want to bet the farm on Sirius necessarily. Financial planning is all about level of risk. Putting everyting in one stock that you really haven't investigated is a huge risk. I don't think you are going to be in a position to buy enough Sirius stock to see any kind of big profit if it does ultimately go up. But I think you will be hurt if it goes down. If that makes sense.

If you are a small-time investor, you are better off diversifying - in which case a mutual fund is your best bet. You will probably end up owning Sirius stock anyway.

[liberalnurse]

25. I will procrastinate investing if I don't begin

with something that excites me. I've already set my pattern for this when I took the advice to research 4 years ago. I ultimately became overwhelmed and lost interest and never invested.



I will definitely diversify....but I just want to get my feet in the water; shallow water at that.

[AP]

23. I think it's a short term winner, because of Stern. But long term?

I don't know. Radio isn't like TV. I don't see what the imperative is to pay for radio. TV is something people think of as a leisure activity -- people want to pay for sports, movies, and the Sopranos because they build an evening around that stuff. People listen to radio when they're driving to and from work and at a bunch of other random times. You don't organize your time around radio programming, so why pay a monthly fee for it?

I'm sure that pay radio is going to try to come up with more stuff they think people will be willing to pay to hear, and a lot of that will be based on the sex model: The FCC will forbid raunch on free radio in order to get people to pay for it on pay radio.

I'd rather buy an iPod and carry around 60 gig of music and talk that I like for my commute, rather than pay a monthly fee for Howard Stern -- who isn't going to live forever.

Also, I'm hoping for a world in which people spend LESS time in the car, and more time with their families being happy or making money for themselves at work. I don't want to bet on (and contribute capital to) an industry that requires people to spend more time stuck in traffic jams, and requires the FCC to come down hard on free media in order to manufacture a market for it.

[liberalnurse]

28. I had a warm, fuzzy feeling about

Sirius back in June. I just happened to be preoccupied with the campaign back then. I think it has legs.... I enjoy Sirius and feel this would be a nice first stock purchase I can relate too.


Stern has little to do with it. I won't be listening to him, but realize others will.....

[AP]

30. You better care abotu Stern, because that's the only way they're going

to make money.

[ckramer]

32. AP, you are an old hand

Yep, I can see Siris going up in a short term...but sometimes you have to make a bet on something new...I recommend liberalnurse get 1000 shares of it at most and that's it.

However, purchasing individual stock is highly risky.

So is Mutual fund. Mutual funds carry the same risk if you get in at the wrong time.

I don't really know what's the general direction of stock market in the 2005. My feeling is it's going down.

[theboss]

37. Any investment is a risk

If you don't want any risk, put your money is a passbook savings account at 3 percent. I recommended a mutual fund, because at least it is a slightly controlled risk. I've lost money for certain periods with my mutual funds and with my 401K. But in the five years, I've been investing, I'm up an average of about 16 percent. In that time, I've had quarters where I've lost as mush as 3 percent. But that's a swing most people can handle.

The problem with buying one stock like Sirius is that it could crash tomorrow and you will never get your money back.

[AP]

47. How can you recommend 1000 shares when you have no idea what

her financial situation is?

[jmowreader]

55. The major justification for pay radio

I would get it if (1) I listened to radio and (2) the kind of whatever I wanted to listen to wasn't played by the radio stations in the area. In Fayetteville that would be classical music--the local public radio station plays classic African-American musical forms like bebop, swing and Louis Armstrong-era jazz, not classical. Public radio stations are the only ones who really play a lot of classical music, so there is a Brahms deficit in the Cape Fear Valley.

[lectrobyte]

29. And who knows who will win, I thought XM was doing better (not that I have

either one) I hear all the 'radio' I want on my mp3 player or listen at home over the web.

[Pithlet]

56. Why?

Is it the fact that you have to pay for it? Yeah, I think it sucks that something as wonderful as satellite radio can't be open and free to everyone. I really wish something like the quality of programming on satellite radio could exist without a pay service. On air radio is so consolidate now that it isn't exactly the picture of democracy, either. I actually think satellite radio will be a good thing in that regard. Satellite radio, if it becomes hugely successful, will be as cable is now to the networks. If it fails, it will just be radio as usual. In fact, the FCC will continue to deregulate, and it will get even worse.

[liberalnurse]

20. This is a great thread isn't it!

I'm getting trusted advice from my buddies!

To each of you.....:yourock: :loveya:


Keep it up. I bet others are learning too.

[nedlogg]

26. You may want to consider options

I might be getting ahead of myself here, but with options, you know exactly up front you stand to lose.

There are two types of options: Calls and Puts. Calls give you the right to buy a stock at a future date for a predetermied price. Puts allow you to sell a stock at a future date for a predetermined price. In your case since you feel that Sirius (SIRI) is going to increase in value, you'd want to buy Call options.

Here's an example. The January 2006 $2.50 Call option is currently seling at $2.90. Options are purchased in contracts of 100 shares. This means that for $290.00 (plus commisions) you own the right to buy 100 shares of SIRI at $2.50 per share. This $290.00 is the premium you pay for that right. Let's be optimistic and say that by January 2006 SIRI is selling at $20.00 a share. If you exercise your Call option before the expiration date, you can buy 100 shares of SIRI for $2.50 a share for a total of $250.00. Add your premium of $290.00 and your total outlay is $540.00. If you turn around and sell your 100 shares at $20.00 a share you net a profit of $1460.00 )less commisions and fees.)

Of course, if SIRI tanks in the meantime or if you don't exercise your option before the January 2006 expiration date, you're out your $290.00.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Remember: buy low, sell high. Sel high, but low.

[liberalnurse]

34. Oh, thats how it works......

I will invest only extra money. A loss would be unfelt....I won't be counting on anything but would really like to make money, don't get me wrong.

[theboss]

38. You and I need to go to the track

I think that would be more your speed. :-)

[liberalnurse]

41. You already know me......

My grandfather was the "Primary Bookie" in Pittsburgh through the 60's to the 80's......He was only busted once....Headlines read Kingpin Arrested.... He said the ladies love the ponies. We had season tickets all the time to any and all sporting venues. He still lives a festive life in Pittsbugh....

May I also add, he was a WWII POW Army Air Corp.....Gunner.

He said; "There are no rats left in Germany, he ate them all.... "

I really just get good hunches.....I know very little about gambling. I still don't understand those points???????

[nedlogg]

40. Whoops!

Chalk one up to bad typing skills.

What I meant to say is that with options you know exactly up front what you stand to lose. In other words, your downside risk is known.

[webjamn]

49. I wouldn't recommend options to a beginning investor

Options are extremely risky and require a lot of knowledge to be successful. Plus, options should not be used on a stock that trades under $10.

[AP]

27. For emphasis: two things I don' t like about Sirius:

(1) They make money if you spend more time in your car. If you give this company financial power, they will use that power to lobby the government to make sure you spend more time in your car, and not with your family being happy, or at your job making money and increasing your own financial power. They will lobby against public transportation and against everything that would mean you would spend less time in your car.

(2) They REQUIRE the FCC to come down really hard on free radio in order to create the marketplace for pay radio. Sirius will be BETTER OFF when we have insane moralizing politicians elected to office who appoint people like Ashcroft to office. I guarantee you they will donate money to the most conservative candidates.

Do you really want your money to go to this shit?

[theboss]

31. This is a moral argument, isn't it?

Like saying we shouldn't invest in oil companies or gun companies or whatever.

Besides that, I don't think this is necessarily true. Do tertiary radio companies lobby against public transportation? I don't know of any examples where they do. So why would satellite?

And satellite's main selling point is not that they are raunchier then regular radio. In fact, I don't know any satellite customers who have bought it for the raunch. The selling point is that you have options. Instead of ten stations all playing the same 25 songs, you can listen to 100 stations playing all kinds of different things. I used XM at the moment and my favorite station is "Frank's Place." Where else on the radio can you get a commercial free Mel Torme concert from 1971?

[AP]

43. It's a political argument.

Most radio is local. But I bet that clear channel, and ABC and every national company do lobby against public transportation a little bit. We know they definitely like the oil president.

Other radio stations you can listen to in the office, or on portable radio stations.

Sirius will make most of its money from car radios and from drive time programming like sterns, so their interests will be more focussed on increasing that commuting time.

As for raunch, that's what this whole Stern vs FCC thing is built on and this is going to be the single largest stimulation for Sirius's growth.

[HootieMcBoob]

35. You can listen to Satellite Radio in your house too

It's not just for the car anymore.

Traditional commercial radio, especially for music, is so god awful bad these days that I'm considering getting Sirius for my apartment. I live in NYC and don't even have a car and it looks like I'm going the satellite radio route.

My other option is to figure out how to get the audio from my computer through my stereo speakers. I listen to kexp out of seattle and BBC6 for music but I'd like to be able to hear them through my stereo rather than my iddy biddy computer speakers.

[lectrobyte]

39. Getting sound from computer into stereo system

If your computer has a "line out" jack, then a $3 cable with a mini-jack on one end and RCA plugs on the other will do it. If you only have "speaker out" on your computer, that will work, too, but line level is preferred. If your speakers are built in or something, then that is a different story.

[AP]

45. Pay radio will never replace TV as your home entertainment system.

Sirius is all about the car radio -- when you're a captive audience.

They want you to be spending money during those captive moments, whether it's on gas, car, cell phone calls or radio. Radio was one of the last free components of that commute time, and Sirius is trying to figure out a way to turn it into more cash than just advertising dollars.

[liberalnurse]

42. Free radio is not the KDKA of yesterday.

KDKA was the first radio station.......The corporate media and repugs control the message. It's done. With purchase radio, you can have a pinch better leverage...you can cancel. I rarely listen to Sirius in my car. I have it in the home and stream at work. I have the boom box too for other activities. Example; listened to Air America while doing campaign work with friends.....


It has much more versitility than the car.

[giasangria]

50. sirius is great

sorry to disagree but sirius subscribers can listen in the car, on the internet, or if they get a plug and play unit they can listen pretty much anywhere. And they basically have 3 liberal talk channels...Sirius Left, Air America, and OutQ which is the gay channel but during the day all the talk shows are basically liberal politics, just with gay hosts. Most free radio is owned by Clear Channel or something similar and is not really local anymore.

[Liberal Mommy]

36. My husband works for an online stock trader

I'm not sure if I can post anything yet, but I did email him about this.

[liberalnurse]

44. Thanks.......

Getting straight from the front line....Cool....:bounce:

[MadHound]

46. Well, first off, start off by researching the company

That you're thinking of buying into. If you would do this, you would see that Sirius is getting the shit kicked out of it by XM. So you need to do your research on any company you're thinking of investing in, if you don't, if you simply go with what excites you or with what feels good, then you are courting sure disaster, and are going to lose your money.

I know its drek, I know its a buzz kill, but that is what you have to do. If you don't want to slog through research yourself, then hire a broker, one that you trust, for that's what their job is, to keep up on the market research and help their clients with investing their money wisely.

If you don't want to either do the grunt work, or hire out to have it done, then it is best that you keep it in a bank, for otherwise you'll be losing it all. There are a number of good books and magazines out there to help the beginning investor, I would also recomend that you listen to the "Marketplace" program on NPR, just to get a sense of the basics of investment.

As far as how much to start with, you might be best served by starting a Roth IRA. $1000.00 down is the usual starting amount, and you can arrange to have an automatic bank transfer from your bank account to your Roth account every month. And the tax advantages of a Roth are quite good if you are willing to wait until retirement to tap into it.

Stay away from bonds, for I feel that with our national debt situation, one of our creditors is going to call in their loans soon, and treasury bonds will sink like a rock. An area you might wish to look into is stock in alternative energy fields. This month's Mother Jones magazine had a great article on how well some alt energy companies are doing, and what their potential for growth is. But hey, don't take the advice of an anonymous internet poster, go do your research.

[webjamn]

48. Only buy stock of companies that has earnings

Sirius has never made money and might never make any money. Buy stock of companies that are familiar to you (Ex. Home Depot, Target, Proctor and Gamble, Nike, etc.) and that have a history of increasing their earnings every year. The companies I listed above are only examples and I am not recommending them. Educate yourself with regards to investing before jumping in on a hot tip. Hot tips are almost always losers because the smart investors have already sold that stock by the time everyone else knows about it. Here is a good site to vistit to get started with your education www.investtalk.com.

[w4rma]

59. Never say never. This situation is risk for possiblity of a bigger reward

quicker or safety for the probability of a lower reward, slower. Sirus could become the next huge thing and LOTS of folks might buy the receivers and and the pay the monthly fee. It could also fail miserably and be bought out by a competitor.

[Starlight]

51. Please don't take advice from people on this board.

I doubt if any of them are stock brokers. And penny stock is a very risky investment. It's really not suitable for a beginner. Kind of like buying lottery tickets.

[Yupster]

52. I'm a stockbroker

You need to be educated a bit.

Call a few brokers from the phone book. Explain to them that you have never invested and would like to learn how and invest somethng each month. Ask if you could come in and talk about it.

Some brokers enjoy teaching. Some enjoy selling. Try to tell the difference on the phone. The secretary might tell you before you even get to the broker.

You will be surprised to find that some brokers really enjoy working with first time investors and teaching them about investments. Many even have investment classes and clubs a night a week in their office.

If the guy/gal wants to know how much money you have and wants to get rid of you, you'll be able to figure that out talking to him in a few minutes.

After your talk, say thanks but don't invest. Take time to think and meet with others if you'd like to. You'll find one you trust and understand. There are plenty of good ones out there.

[jmowreader]

58. Use the "paper portfolio method"

One of my customers told me how he invests, and now I'll tell you.

He uses the "paper portfolio method." You can use Excel or whatever you like.

First, do your due diligence. He cares about four things--what market they're in, what they sell, how long they've been in business and how consistent their sales and profits are. Note that he doesn't worry much about the stock price; he thinks stocks are artificial measures of corporate worth.

If he decides to buy a company, he enters onto a spreadsheet the number of shares he intends to invest. He then tracks that stock for a full year--patience is a virtue in the paper-portfolio investment method. At the end of the year, he looks for two things: ending share price as compared to starting share price, and fluctuation during that year. He stays on the stock for a full year because all companies have seasons and he wants to see what the stock does in the passing of the seasons. If he's still happy with it after the year is up, he buys.

I think the technique works; he makes a couple million a year doing this. He started investing 25 years ago with two thousand dollars seed money.

The other thing he told me is to never fall in love with a stock. He sets a floor under every stock he owns. If that stock begins to fall toward that point, he gets completely out of it before it hits his bottom and either banks his money waiting for one of his paper-portfolio stocks to test good, or he puts it in a good stock he's got already. He sets this floor differently for every stock he buys. An example: He's looking to buy some General Electric. On the day he sends in his money, they're selling at $100. On this date, the bottom will be $80; he always starts by setting the bottom to 80 percent of his purchase price. If the stock hits $85, he'll get out of it. Now let's say GE goes to $120 and stays there for a couple of months. He'll reset the bottom to $110 and get out at $113; this helps him keep some of his realized gains if the stock does fall out.

Here's where he gets fucking weird: if he has a very good company--GE comes to mind--that he sees going into a temporary downturn, he'll get out while the stock is still high, wait till he thinks it's bottomed, and repurchase the shares he had in the first place. This works most of the time, but remember this guy has cubic dollars to play with and he's got plenty of courage.