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Sat Feb 03, 2007 8:27 pm |
What is the simplest and cheapest way of owning a stock? To be more specific, if I know how many stocks and with what company I want to invest in, is there a way to buy these (and I suppose maybe manage them) without spending money (except for the price of the stock)? Is it really necessary to have a broker? I have to admit, I'm not as knowledgeable about this subject as I would like to be .
Are there any EDS members out there that own stocks and can offer some advice? Or point me in the right direction of how I can better educate myself? |
_________________ early-mid 30s || oily-combination, sensitive & acne-prone skin || mild breakouts (Aczone helps a lot) || occasional eczema rashes || fine lines around eyes || very dark under eye cirlces- concealer a must || very fair neutral-warm complexion, blue eyes, blonde hair |
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Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:17 pm |
My son-in-law is a stock broker/financial adviser. I consider myself fortunate as I am not paying rediculous commissions each time I make a trade.
You need to be extremely careful. If you know your investments you can make trades yourself with little expense. There are many reputable companies that only change about $10.00 a trade. By all means if you know what company you want to invest in and are confident in your decision save yourself some money. There are also some large companies that you can deal with directly and pay nothing to invest in their company. At present I am dealing with one.
You can read some from this site. Several of my friends trade here.
http://www.tdameritrade.com/welcome1.html
If you are uncomfortable in the stock market (when to buy and sell) there are great brokers. To select a broker you need to ask around. Be sure he is very well educated in the market and HONEST. You could always ask for references. Remember he/she is dealing with your money. More then anything else learn all you can about the investments you decide to make. |
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:39 pm |
Thanks Winnie!
Be careful. Right. I think I have enough brains not to do anything too stupid. I have some stock already and want to purchase more... I just didn't know if it was possible to buy them on my own and not go through the current company I use (which happens to be TD Ameritrade- so I am relieved to know that you recommended it and have friends that use it). I might just end up purchasing more stock through them... do you know, would it be possible to leave TD Ameritrade with my stocks? Is this even advisable? I am not a big time trader... for now . Really for now I just want to stay with a safe, steady stock that is a good, safe investment. |
_________________ early-mid 30s || oily-combination, sensitive & acne-prone skin || mild breakouts (Aczone helps a lot) || occasional eczema rashes || fine lines around eyes || very dark under eye cirlces- concealer a must || very fair neutral-warm complexion, blue eyes, blonde hair |
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:43 pm |
amnis wrote: |
Thanks Winnie!
Be careful. Right. I think I have enough brains not to do anything too stupid. I have some stock already and want to purchase more... I just didn't know if it was possible to buy them on my own and not go through the current company I use (which happens to be TD Ameritrade- so I am relieved to know that you recommended it and have friends that use it). I might just end up purchasing more stock through them... do you know, would it be possible to leave TD Ameritrade with my stocks? Is this even advisable? I am not a big time trader... for now . Really for now I just want to stay with a safe, steady stock that is a good, safe investment. |
1. Yes
2. Depends on your reasons for leaving. The differences between these discount brokers are only a few dollars per trade. |
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 7:51 pm |
I do not use a discount broker. My son-in-law takes care of our retirement account. If your stocks are not in a retirement account you can take them out anytime without a penalty.
I only have one stock that I buy shares from directly from the company that is Locheed Martin. Surely there are many other companies you can buy direct from.
You might find this link helpful:
http://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/brokers1/a/042501a.htm |
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:40 pm |
Hi amnis - Since you're confident you don't need a broker, have you considered opening up an account with Charles Schwab? For a nominal fee (less than $15 per transaction), you can buy and sell stocks yourself. We manage some of our investments this way -- it's great. |
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 9:48 pm |
I do our trading on scottrade. It is $7 a trade. I do research on several other sites. I always set trailing stops so that the stocks will sell off if they drop below a certain percentage. We learned that lesson the hard way when we lost about 30% when the market dropped after 9/11 because we didn't have stops set. Ouch! |
_________________ Owner at GS & Company at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre |
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Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:37 am |
As has been listed the difference between TDAMERITRADE and any of the other discount brokers is not that much anymore. It is highly competitive.
You can move your account. You need to register with another broker, and then you give them your TDAMERITRADE info and they contact them to move your account. This can take up to 10 business days but it is usually sooner. It depends on how fast TDAmeritrade responds to the request. There is typically a cost for this service of 20$
You do not need to wait to trade in your new account, you just need to give them money in your account.
Check out the transaction fee per trade for TDAmeritrade - it is $9.99 per trade or it is FREE if you trade more than 5 trades per month or have more than $100000 invested with them.
There is a comparison calculator on their home page that allows you to compare their commissions with other brokers. |
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Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:03 pm |
try scottrade, it's 7 dollar per transaction |
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Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:08 pm |
amnis wrote: |
What is the simplest and cheapest way of owning a stock? To be more specific, if I know how many stocks and with what company I want to invest in, is there a way to buy these (and I suppose maybe manage them) without spending money (except for the price of the stock)? Is it really necessary to have a broker? I have to admit, I'm not as knowledgeable about this subject as I would like to be .
Are there any EDS members out there that own stocks and can offer some advice? Or point me in the right direction of how I can better educate myself? |
no i dont think you can do that without going through a broker. this is the transaction costs we have to pay.
if you try mutual fund, then there is no transaction cost but you have to pay management fees. |
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Mon Feb 05, 2007 3:32 pm |
I use Scotrade as well. If you know what you want to buy, they are cheap and fast. Never any problems. |
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Fri Feb 16, 2007 2:33 pm |
For some reason I missed this thread. I'm a financial analyst and help manage a private client group at one of the biggest brokerage firms, but won't mention the name.
I do all my trading with Fidelity and also manage a few friends and family accounts. I do invest long term, but mostly do some day trades here and there and also options. But it is risky and the market isn't what it used to be as I'm sure people realize. I do the actual field work of analyzing and tracking stocks/mutual funds etc. It's somewhat a hard concept to explain, but the basic fundamentals of buying and selling stocks can be summed as "buy low, sell high" |
_________________ 26, combination skin with oily t-zone |
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