stocks & mutual funds

[SCARFACE]

hello

i wanted to get inside the stock market and start real simple with trading some mutual funds. I'm unexperienced in this field, any suggestions? i live in the states.

[Didwot]

Its easy to lose money on the market. Read the financial pages, and jouirnals, and try to get a feel of how the market is behaving, and what makes it tick, before jumping in. If you want to start trading there are plenty of online sites.

[ewand]

Completely agree with Didwot, and have to add the idea that you should only invest an amount that you could be prepared to lose!  With the most drastic statement out of the way, the best thing to do is to make a decision how much risk you want to take........low risk, invest in the big blue chips, who should give you a decent return over a long period of time.  Higher risk generally means higher returns, but these companies are more susceptable to market fluctuations, meaning greater chance of loss.......get yourself a cheap book on how to read the financial pages (here in the UK there are many guides....try the motley fool) and have a bit of a play.......another thing you could do is set up a faux portfolio on the internet, again fool.com, and try your luck before taking the plunge for real..........however, it is not easy to beat the market..............!  Best of luck........let us know ifn you need more info, SCARFACE.......

[Didwot]

Good answer ewand.

[ewand]

Thank you very much!

[Westminster]

I agreee with the above, and would make the additional point that mutual funds (unit trusts in the UK) aren't very good things to *trade* because of their high fixed costs. But they may well be excellent ways to start a portfolio to be maintained over the years. Dribbling a fixed amount each month into the market is a good way of avoiding getting your fingers burned, assuming that you have the courage to continue when times are bad.