HELP! I wanna buy some stock, but how do I do it?

[redstate_democrat]

I wanna buy WaMu at $2 a share but I don't have an investment account. I don't want to have to keep a cash account or anything like that. I just wanna buy a couple hundred shares and be out! HOW DO I DO IT?

[whistler162]

1. Sharebuilder.com is a decent place.

http://www.sharebuilder.com

[redstate_democrat]

3. Ok thanks!

[Booster]

2. I got some stock I'll sell ya.

[Miss Chybil]

4. I like Sharebuilder.com, too nt

[thewiseguy]

5. So you think since another company will buy them for a premium stock price..

You are going to make a bunch of money? ;-)

I dont think it is that simple.

[jljamison]

6. asking the question...

...invites the response -

if you are seriously asking this question, it means you don't know what you are doing.

take it from me, who has tried to spend a lot of time and effort making money on stocks for the last 20 years and not really doing that well. leave it to the experts and buy index funds or mutual funds. whatever you do DO NOT buy one stock. it is absolutely foolhardy. I can think of no sane investment advisor who would advise you to go buy a single stock as an investment strategy. if you are going to buy individual stocks you should plan on having "several" to "many", depending upon who you listen to this could be 5 or 6, or up to 20 (where no single stock is more than 5% of your total portfolio). But you have to stay on top of each one. this takes lots of study and patience and time and effort, and you can still do no better than a good no load mutual fund or index fund, over the long haul.

I am not a financial advisor and did not sleep at holiday inn express last night.

but mechanically, how you buy stocks is you open a brokerage account someplace and fund it with some money. once the money is in your account you buy the number of shares you want and pay some kind of commission. usually the brokerage account will pay interest on the uninvested cash. some have check privileges, debit cards, bill payment, etc.

there are numerous brokerages - schwab, etrade, ameritrade, scottrade, fidelity, some banks like wells fargo, etc, etc. pick your favorite if you must. But please really think hard about this.

[redstate_democrat]

8. I only had one encounter with stocks before.

A company I used to work for gave me a shit load of stock before I left and before they were bought out. I sold it and didn't look back. Since WaMu is trading at $2 a share, I really don't have THAT much money to lose with buying a couple hundred shares. I'm just gonna try my luck and see what happens. :D

[1]

7. put the stock pages from the newspaper on a wall and throw a dart..

or...

put the stock pages from the newspaper on the floor and watch where your dog takes a crap.


buy that stock and you will probably do ok. every stock is at rock bottom right now. where else can they go but up?

(the dart is much easier to decipher. the crap is more art...)

[mahina]

9. I like Fidelity's countrafund.

Have to agree with poster above regarding individual stocks, unless it's just for fun.

My contrafund mutual fund gained about 600 bucks today, on the worst day I remember. It's lost less than 10% in the last year! Compared to the market it's doing just great! Yay!

(Do I need the sarcasm tag?)

Anyhow. https://www.fidelity.com/

[OHdem10]

10. Two reporters on Business nChannel--Wait to buy--things will go

lower.

[tkmorris]

11. Generally perhaps, but WaMu is a special case.

Their stock has gone into the proverbial toilet. If it is to survive at all it is probably as low as it will get. I wonder what makes the OP think it's worth buying, perhaps a govt bailout?

[redstate_democrat]

12. I don't have any special info.

I just thought $2 a share was kinda cheap. So I bought it. :P I bought 120 shares. Not much, but I bought it. I hope I don't lose my $240 plus transaction fee. That would suck.

[gateley]

20. I heard WaMu mentioned as one of the banks that may be acquired,

so you might do okay.

[redstate_democrat]

22. Yeah I just read something about that.

:wow: If they sell themselves, maybe it will be okay. :shrug:

[and-justice-for-all]

13. Get an adviser...

I recently gathered it was the best bet, so I went to my Edward Jones office and asked questions. The market will not be stable for some time, so there is time to save and research.

[truthisfreedom]

14. I don't own any stocks, but I do read this guy's column, and he says stay at cash until the end of

the week:

http://www.wallstreetdigest.com/hotline.php

[redstate_democrat]

15. Okay, I got a question on short selling.

Say I wanna sell what I just bought tonight next week. Is that considered "short selling"? If it is a short sell, do I have to pay cap gains on that short sell and at what rate? Thanks.

[flvegan]

16. No.

Educate yourself before looking stupid.

[redstate_democrat]

17. I don't care about looking stupid.

So when you say "no", what part of my question are you referring to? Thanks.

[flvegan]

18. "Short selling"

Do a bit of research, yeah.

[A HERETIC I AM]

19. No, it isn't.

Short selling is essentially selling what you do not own. Selling short is a speculative play where you sell a stock you think will go down in price, then buy it at a lower price than you sold it for and pocket the difference. Example: You sell short XYZ at $10.00. XYZ goes to $2.00 and you buy. You technically borrowed the shares you sold and now you have to give them back. You give back what is now worth $2.00 and pocket the $8.00 difference.

If you sell a stock next week that you purchased today, that is simply a transaction. You were "long" the stock (you owned it) and then you sold. Any capital gains on such a trade are taxable at 35%, typically. Hold the shares 366 days and sell and gains are now "long term" and the tax rate is lower, typically 15%. An exception is if this trade is made inside an IRA account. There is no direct taxation of such gains made in an IRA.

[redstate_democrat]

21. Thank you very much.

I guess I was thinking of something else when I thought of "short selling". :P I knew there was a difference as far as cap gains taxes are concerned. Thanks for the information without getting a 'tude about it. :D

[Common Sense Party]

23. Heretic will always get you the right info, without all the 'tude.

He's a great resource on DU re: all things financial.

Some other folks, 'tude is all they've got.

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. Aww, thanks man!

:toast: I appreciate the compliment. Ditto right backatya, by the way. I've called on your expertise and practical knowledge more than once.

How have you been? Still doing a lot of traveling or hanging at the home base more?

[Common Sense Party]

26. A bit of both. I'm home this week, but was gone all last week

and will travel much of next as well.

Just watching the industry melt down, and wondering who we'll still be working with next month.

[samuraiguppy]

24. I don't have any money

so I don't play the stock market--but I have heard it is wise to stay away from individual stocks unless you really have done a lot of market research.

That said--I do wish you good luck--and if you make a bundle will you consider adopting me?