My Adventures In The Stock Market
Sometime early in March of '09, after considerable thought and reflection, I came to the conclusion that if I was ever to invest in the stock market, then now was the time. In the last year or so unimaginable amounts of money have simply evaporated from the markets, gone wherever goofball losses go to, and in my studied opinion some, but not all, of that money is due to return to the fold.
Looking ahead three to five years, again, in my opinion, someone exercising a modicum of due diligence and deductive analysis should, without being an investment genius, be able to share in this refloating of the markets. Kind of like a passenger in a vehicle; although not the driver, still, along for the ride.
Before one can go charging into the stock markets it is important to know the mechanics of the thing, how to buy, then sell, stocks, how to do the all important research into what stocks to buy, and how to choose a broker, as from what I can see, you can't just walk in off the street and trade a few stocks. You need to be registered, with an account number, all of that.
From the start my nascent stock trading career was to be a minimalist sort of affair; I didn't have much money, no bank account, and really, other than a broadband internet connection, not much in the way of either knowledge or tools of the trade. There wasn't much I could do about the money, but tools and knowledge are all over the place, and like stocks, some you should buy, and others, even the free ones, should be left strictly alone.
Eventually I settled on Scottrade for a broker, more for their five hundred dollar minimum account balance than for any other reason. But the experience has been a good one, everything works as advertised, and I've not yet plumbed the depth of all the tools available for research, etc. In addition, accounts can be funded with money orders. Morningstar is my choice for research, stock analysis, etc. I sprung for the Premium Account, money well spent as it helped me to narrow my parameters for choosing stocks. I've even dropped a few bucks at The Motley Fool, for their Stock Advisor service.
