An Investing N00b

[OrsunVZ]

Ok so I've been wanting to understand the market, trades, etc. for a very long time. This year one of my new year's resolutions is to start a small portfolio and just dabble a little to gain some understanding. I really don't know where to begin though, and I was wondering where a good place to start would be. Any recommendations? Books? How did you all start your portfolios?

[Grieve]

A lot of the online trading brokers have free learning tools. I use eTrade - I believe they also give you 60 days of free trades when you open an account. If you bank with Bank of America and have a large balance, I think they let you trade free full time.

If you don't already have one, maybe open a Roth IRA. Then you can trade to your heart's content without worrying about tax implications.

Are you interested in investing (buy and hold) or trading? Dustie is the investing king, and will give you excellent advice in that area. I'm more of a trader, so I can help out with puts and calls and LEAPs and so on.

It's a great time to get in, since almost everything thinks this will be a great year for the stock market. Of course, if you are a contrarian that might be a bad sign.

[Vanraw]

Yea like Grieve said there is a wealth of info out there. This site actually has a trading game where you play the market but not with real money. I haven't used it but seems cool. Ive seen them advertised.

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I use etrade as well for trading. Dont know if its the best but I've used it for years so I have no real reason to change. I also have a larger longer term investments with Fidelity with is also very good.

For day to day stock quote look ups and research both Yahoo and Google Financial are great. Also a really good site that has great info and research data is CBS Market watch.

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I would stay away from options (leaps, calls puts etc) if your brand new.

The main thing is to understand what you want before you start. Depending on your goals, there are different strategies. For instance, if your trying to plan for retirement, then you should be starting with 401k if your company has one, or and IRA if your company doesn't. If you already have all that squared away, and are looking for investment for growing your money / savings then you have a different set of strategies.

Understanding your goals and your acceptance of risk levels, is the first place to start.

Ask away. Im sure the folks here would be happy to help and answer questions. Just dont ask Grieve about apple. Please....

[Grieve]

Apple? Did I hear someone say Apple? Well, now, let me tell you a thing or two about Apple...