New Guy Getting Into Stocks

[Martin3203]

Brand new to this and it makes me nervous. Not looking to invest a ton of money at this point. Just want to put my feelers out there and get an idea to what it's all about.

I signed up for a TD Ameritrade account and deposited $50. Talking with a person from their company, they gave me 3 free trades.

Looking for some tips, anything I should stay away from or jump on?

Thanks in advanve for all the help.

 

[thrasher66]

I found that messing with anything less than about $1000 and commissions will eat you alive. And truth be known 10K is probably closer to a safe entry level to 'trade' stocks. Something that worked for me when I started with a relatively modest amount of money (about $500) was options. You get the most bang for your buck with options. Granted you can lose everything with options in one trade but you can also feasibly double your money. I was more comfortable with that kind of a risk profile than with the guaranteed death by a thousand cuts of trading often with a relatively small amount of money. Also penny stocks are tempting with a small amount of capital but at the end of the day are suckers bets. All that being said, this is my advise for playing with fun money, the same money you would take to Vegas. Anything other than fun money, you should talk to a financial adviser.