BROKER SELECTION
When it comes to investing, the very first thing you need to buy stock, is to select an online brokerage account. This is the place or platform you use to buy stocks, bonds or other assets. Think of it as a marketplace similar to buying and selling of fruit, Its so many platforms out there to choose from but my personal favorites are TD Ameritrade along with E*TRADE but its others like Fidelity, Webull and Robinhood to name a few that people use. I won’t disparage any platforms but let’s just say that you want to make sure the platform you select is legit, do your research and make sure the platform has a excellent track record and customer service. After all this is the place you will be storing your cash and assets. Ameritrade is the most used platform in my rotation
ACCOUNT SELECTION
This part is where you select your account, and it's what you prefer. Most people select an individual brokerage account to buy stocks, and assets but depending on your age and your goals others such as IRA (Individual Retirement Accounts) or a Roth IRA account are available. There will be questions such as your occupation, margin account or cash account, funding and more but that’s all personal choice for you. What I can say, unless you’re a professional I would not use margin, it’s basically credit for trading or buying stocks and that can get you in deep trouble when the broker does a Margin call, which I’ll allow you to Google that term (Margin Call)
STOCK SELECTION
Once you've set up and funded your account, it's time to pick your stocks. A good place to start is by researching companies you already know as a consumer such as Nike, Apple, Microsoft or Google as examples. When looking to invest, take a look at the company's annual report, and management's annual letter to shareholders. These letters give you insight into the future. You could also go with popular Index Funds such a VOO or VTI both low cost In maintenance fees, and similar to an all star cast of stocks
So instead of owning one share of Apple, you own Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Google, and others. For those of you sports minded, Imagine having Steph, Curry, Giannis, Lebron, KD on the same team to carry one another, or music fans Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Micheal Jackson, Prince, all on the same stage just in case one is not able to perform. It’s a safer, boring choice, to minimize how much you have to think in the stock market regarding choice but that’s your personal choice, being that I am not a financial advisor
RESEARCH TOOLS
After stock selection, most of the info and tools you need to evaluate the business will be on your broker’s website, such as SEC filings, conference transcripts, quarterly earnings statements and recent news but let’s talk research tools. My personal favorites, and of course I’m biased, so take this with a grain of salt. I like Yahoo Finance, along with CNBC (Apps) because they’re both easy to use, along with the In Depth information they both offer. It’s very important to have tools to go with your stock selection if you want to be successful
If you have a apple phone (Stocks) is already built into your phone apps (pictured above)
HOW MANY STOCKS TO BUY
You can start buying stocks with any amount based on how much you can afford. There is no magic number you need to buy based on anything. You can buy a few shares until you have mastered the art of Stock Buying/Trading. Never feel pressured to buy a certain number of shares to fill your entire portfolio position in a stock all at once. Meaning don’t think you have to buy 100 Apple shares, all at once it’s best to diversify your portfolio.
CHOOSING YOUR ORDER TYPE
There are two order types that you mostly will use for buying stocks, market orders and limit orders.
With a market order, you’re indicating that you’ll buy or sell the stock at the best available current market price.
Never place market order “after hours,” when the markets have closed for the day, because you don’t know what the price will be when you wake up for the day and the market has opened. For example, let’s say you set a market order for Apple, at $100 you could wake and Apple has went up $100 to $200 now you may be overpaying for what you originally wanted. So wait to buy when the market is open between the hours of 9:30am -4Pm (Eastern Standard Time)
A limit order gives you more control over the price of the stock you’re attempting to buy. If XYZ stock is trading at $10 a share and you feel $7 is better or a better value of the stock, your limit order tells your broker to execute your order only when the ask price drops to the $7 level you wanted. So it’s a limit for the price you pay. A “good for day” (GFD) order will expire at the end of the trading day — even if the order has not been fully filled. A “good till canceled” (GTC) order remains till the order expires; that’s anywhere from 60 to 120 days more than likely but don’t quote me on that, every broker is different than the last.
Hopefully this beginners guide was helpful to you and if their are any ways I can better assist you let me know. If you’re unfamiliar with my experience I am a very seasoned veteran in buying and selling of stocks along with trading in options. If you’re someone who can benefit from more guidance in investing as a beginner or expert I highly suggest you check out my platform by tapping this link to Patreon also in addition to this I have a YouTube channel called The Monk Investor where I create documentary style visual content to help you understand investing along with the world as a whole. If you’re a visual learner, I highly suggest you watch this video Stock Market For Beginners and subscribe and set the notifications bell to be alerted to new videos
Thank you for reading, and good luck in your investing journey
Monk
Disclaimer: The Monk Investor Newsletter uses information from various sources believed to be reliable, but the accuracy cannot be 100% guaranteed. So please treat information contained in this publication as not individual investment advice for your personal financial situation. You are advised to discuss your investment options with your financial adviser. Consult your financial adviser to understand if any or all investment is suitable for your specific needs. I may, from time to time, have positions in the securities covered in the articles on this website. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell stocks it’s more so for entertainment and research purposes. Thank you