Newbie here with a few questions

kilikili said: "Hi everybody! I've always wanted to trade for the longest time and finally opened up an account on Jan.1 with Scottrade. I've scoured the net for information and liked what I read in this forum. I'm willing to take up some stock on the advice of the seniors here, plus of course, I'm doing my research as well. Before I spend a dollar, I have a few questions to ask. 1. I work from morning to evening and there's no way I can buy stock during the day. So, is it wise to purchase stock before the market opens? 2. If I am available during the week, when is it usually best to purchase stock? I mean, when is the stocks usually at it's lowest? The middle of the week between noon and morning? I suppose most here are always carefully watching which way the shares are going. 3. Do you sell all your shares at once or keep some in when the feeling is right? Thanks! I'm always visiting this forum learning this new adventure for me. I have more questions but will save those for later. Bob"

BenHouston said: "I think for most of those quesitons the answer is always situational, it depends on what the stock is doing at what time. Every stock is different, and every day is a new day, they dont do the EXACT same thing every single day. Lance of zester will help you out. :)"

mar31977 said: "I would say for you, invest in core stocks like Walmart, Citi , Microsoft and most 5 star morningstar stock. If you have not got time to really monitor them, stick with safe stocks that have proven themsleves. Or get into a fund, which has many stocks and they decide what to buy. I know funds are boring, but if you chose the right one their safe and profitable. I look for dividends, and their growth rate. Sometimes people are getting better returns in their savings accounts.......lol"

PoppinPilz said: "Which is the best/cheapest discount broker online?"

thezster said: "[QUOTE=kilikili]Hi everybody! I've always wanted to trade for the longest time and finally opened up an account on Jan.1 with Scottrade. I've scoured the net for information and liked what I read in this forum. I'm willing to take up some stock on the advice of the seniors here, plus of course, I'm doing my research as well. Before I spend a dollar, I have a few questions to ask. 1. I work from morning to evening and there's no way I can buy stock during the day. So, is it wise to purchase stock before the market opens? 2. If I am available during the week, when is it usually best to purchase stock? I mean, when is the stocks usually at it's lowest? The middle of the week between noon and morning? I suppose most here are always carefully watching which way the shares are going. 3. Do you sell all your shares at once or keep some in when the feeling is right? Thanks! I'm always visiting this forum learning this new adventure for me. I have more questions but will save those for later. Bob[/QUOTE] There is no sure way to time your buys/sells. As mentioned above - no stock behaves the same way day after day enough to plan a strategy based on time of day or week. If I'm to be away from the computer for an extended period of time (24 hours or more) - I place my limit buys/sells based on what I expect an equity to do that day. Rarely do I buy in pre-market activity (sometimes to be sure, but rarely - I often sell during pre-market activity if my portfolio can make a quick buck or two). When I return to my home office I simply find out if I executed anything (and since I position my "away from office" buys/sells pretty "out of the ballpark" - I'm usually very pleased to find I bought/sold something during my absence). For example, I went on an extended weekend vacation last Thursday - and before I left I set a "limit sell" on an equity I had purchased earlier in the week. When I came home today - I found my vacation had been paid for. Not bad news to come home to. The amount you buy/sell depends totally on your personal strategy. You have to figure out what you want to accomplish and formulate a plan to accomplish that goal. You first need to figure out what your goals are. Long term? Medium term? Short term? Swing trading? Day trading?? From there you need to study the market, and especially equities you are interested in. Learn about the companies involved if your goal is long term investments. Learn the daily/weekly/monthly trends if your goal is shorter term. Keep your automated brokers phone number in your wallet or memorized to be able to access during the day if need be. Listen, learn, and be aware of the risks involved. Don't rely on the simple words of others to make decisions. It's your money.... and your decisions. Good luck. If I or any of the other members of this forum feel we can help you.... rest assured we will try."

Aligator said: "[QUOTE=kilikili;11134]Hi everybody! I've always wanted to trade for the longest time and finally opened up an account on Jan.1 with Scottrade. I've scoured the net for information and liked what I read in this forum. I'm willing to take up some stock on the advice of the seniors here, plus of course, I'm doing my research as well. Before I spend a dollar, I have a few questions to ask. 1. I work from morning to evening and there's no way I can buy stock during the day. So, is it wise to purchase stock before the market opens? 2. If I am available during the week, when is it usually best to purchase stock? I mean, when is the stocks usually at it's lowest? The middle of the week between noon and morning? I suppose most here are always carefully watching which way the shares are going. 3. Do you sell all your shares at once or keep some in when the feeling is right? Thanks! I'm always visiting this forum learning this new adventure for me. I have more questions but will save those for later. Bob[/QUOTE] I am a mutual fund trader, so my answers apply ONLY to that subject: The reason I trade mutual funds is because we are still adding money - each month- to our portfolio. And no load mutual funds seem to be the way that works for us. I buy every month. I buy on down Fridays only - that is, when the market is down on a Friday I put in a purchase order. That technique was developed over a number of years as I noticed that the market is down more on Fridays than any other day. In October I sold out and went to a bond fund. I did that because I had made something like 30% return, had met our goals for the year (and the next!) and wanted to lock things in. I'm glad I sold out, but I'm not too far from getting back in. I don't know excactly when. I had three mutual funds: A Growth Fund, a Mid-Cap Growth Fund, and an Foreign Growth. I have been very happy with the results I get and will go back into three funds when the time is right. What I [I]don't[/I] get is the right to go around pounding my chest and telling everyone who will listen that I am a professional trader. I get called "stodgy" and "methodical" and neither of those things cause the great looking babe across the restaurant to send a bottle of wine over. :)But it's OK. I can afford my own bottle of wine.:roll:"

newguy87 said: "There's some smart people in this forum and it is nice to look at the advice and stock calls they make. But even for the smartest person on the forum they're gonna be right sometimes and wrong sometimes and the calls they make may have different goals then what you're looking for. ALWAYS, ALWAYS do your due diligence and see if a particular recommendation from anyone here is appropriate for you. You should never get into or out of a stock based on someone else opinion. My personal opinion is for most amateurs is to allocate a core position of their investments into low expense, no load mutual funds. They can be index funds (usually the lowest expenses), large cap funds, foreign funds, etc...a diversification among the classes is helpful. Fidelity and especially Vanguard are notorious for their low expense mutual funds. Past is no predictor of the future but you still should look at past performance with mutual funds. Also check to see who's managing the fund, their performance and if they're still there. Morningstar is a good place to see how the funds compare to others in its class with their star ratings and if you happen to be a subscriber you can find out about the manager, etc.. of the funds. Let the professionals decide how to allocate the money, because they have more info and tools at their disposal then most of us. If after that you have more money, you can allocate to safe large cap stocks or even play around a little in the market. It's probably best to average in and also average out (keeping some and letting some ride), but that can also depend on market conditions and how comfortable you feel. Like most things in life it isn't black and white. Alligator I've never really paid attention to which day the market is down the most on. But Friday would make sense, especially in a market like this. Traders don't wanna go into the weekend holding their positions on fear of whatever news may happen over the weekend."

LongArm said: "[QUOTE=Aligator;65152]I am a mutual fund trader, so my answers apply ONLY to that subject:[/QUOTE] You DO realize you're responding to a question asked over 2 years ago, don't you? 'S okay...better late than never. :laugh: [SIZE="1"](Just funnin' witcha'.)[/SIZE]"

Aligator said: "[QUOTE=LongArm;65157]You DO realize you're responding to a question asked over 2 years ago, don't you? 'S okay...better late than never. :laugh: [SIZE="1"](Just funnin' witcha'.)[/SIZE][/QUOTE] :whacky011:Aw, Just,.....just....Kiss My ASS!:laugh: [SIZE="1"]It's still good advice.[/SIZE]"

xtreme balance said: "[quote=LongArm;65157]You DO realize you're responding to a question asked over 2 years ago, don't you? 'S okay...better late than never. :laugh: [SIZE=1](Just funnin' witcha'.)[/SIZE][/quote] haha hahhahahah btw, i love your avatar"

newguy87 said: "Hahaha I didn't even realize either. Never really pay attention, if a topic comes up that interests me, I respond. Oh well nonetheless it's still good thread to read for any other newbies out there. :)"

mbarbee1 said: "Thanks, I enjoyed it. I didn't realize the question was 2 years old either. Your reply was very interesting and I'll heed your advice. I'm just getting in the market myself."

Travis Touchdown said: "Well, then I hope you folks don't mind another newbie using this thread for questions. [QUOTE=PoppinPilz;11157]Which is the best/cheapest discount broker online?[/QUOTE] Anyway, I would also like to know the best discount broker online. My first choice is E-Trade, but are there better companies out there? Not only that, but I heard E-Trade themselves as a company isn't doing too hot these days. I don't think their stock's that high, but I never bother to research that part. I'm more worried about the company going under, and god knows what'll happen to my portfolio if that happens."

Rbreb13 said: "[QUOTE=Travis Touchdown;65215]Well, then I hope you folks don't mind another newbie using this thread for questions. Anyway, I would also like to know the best discount broker online. My first choice is E-Trade, but are there better companies out there? Not only that, but I heard E-Trade themselves as a company isn't doing too hot these days. I don't think their stock's that high, but I never bother to research that part. I'm more worried about the company going under, and god knows what'll happen to my portfolio if that happens.[/QUOTE]Its FDIC insured. You don't need to worry about that. They'd get bought out before they went B/K."

LongArm said: "Yeah, the brokerage account is actually SIPC insured. If you have an account with their bank (savings, CDs...), that is FDIC insured, as Rb said."