Buying Stocks

Although there is no universally accepted definition of penny stocks, that does not stop people from trying to pin it down. When stocks are referred to as "pennies," this usually means stocks that have a low price and the company has low market capitalisation.

People often choose shares as a vehicle to invest their money, with the financial goal of earning dividends or capital gains.

I am looking to start buying stocks online. Can anyone recommend a stock?

More info: This is something I want to do for fun. I have Mutual Funds, IRA's, 401k. I just want to buy a couple of stocks here and there, and I don't want to pay my broker to do this.

You've got to pay your broker something. It's just part of doing business on the stock market.

You have to make your own decision on which stock, depending on your financial goals.

How do I figure out how many shares of a stock can I buy for any given amount, without actually buying them?

The answer is by using simple mathematics.

First you need to decide how much of each stock you are going to buy - since not all stocks are priced equally some would be $20, other $400 and some 0.05 cents.

$100,000 over ten stocks... Decide what ratio you will hold of each stock. E.g. 6:3:4:1:9:4:3:7:9:2

So totalling the ratio is 48. Now you can use a combination of the ratios and fractions to find out how much stock you can hold with your $100,000.

Can I purchase stocks on my own or do I have to use a broker or an online trading company?

You can acquire stocks in the following manner:
1. Gift - they are given to you as part of your salary or Christmas present.
2. Dividend reinvesment plan
3. Direct on-market purchase through a broker
4. Sometimes from the company if they are issuing more shares
5. If brand new company - buy shares from IPO
6. Through executing derivatives such as options

If there is anymore please let me know.