| Buying stocks online is easier than ever with online | | | | find a good site or newsletter though, you can get |
| trading companies offering low commissions per | | | | great tips from their research team and even learn a |
| trade. Buying stocks through a traditional broker | | | | bit about how to pick your own stocks. |
| means you can get some professional advice on your | | | | Picking your own stocks is the next thing I wanted |
| investment strategies but it also means paying an | | | | to talk about. If you can figure out which stocks you |
| arm and a leg in commissions. | | | | want to buy then the only fees you'll be paying are |
| For people who are starting off with smaller amounts | | | | the low commissions paid to your online penny stock |
| of investment capital that's simply not feasible (or | | | | broker. You can learn to pick your own stocks fairly |
| profitable). For many of these people the low price | | | | easily. Day trading is an art in itself and requires a lot |
| per share of penny stocks also happens to look like a | | | | of dedication (plus even when you are good, your |
| good deal. The so called "penny stock broker" | | | | picks aren't even close to a 100% success rate) but |
| companies you can find online will enable you to trade | | | | long term investing is a solid way to make money |
| these stocks for a fraction of the trading | | | | also and the research for that is often very |
| commissions traditional brokers charge. | | | | straightforward. |
| Of course, this leaves an information vacuum. If you | | | | In a nutshell, pick a bunch of companies you are |
| can't get professional investment advice from a | | | | interested in and look at their financials side by side. |
| broker then where can you get it? Well definitely not | | | | It should be pretty apparent right away which |
| any free tips you come across. Those are nearly all | | | | companies are doing well and which are not. Throw |
| scams that try to trick new investors into buying | | | | out any companies that aren't showing both revenue |
| worthless stocks, driving up the price of the stocks | | | | and profit increases from year to year. Look at the |
| artificially so the scammer can sell his shares. His | | | | inside trades from company officers. See if they're |
| shares are no longer worthless, but after he sells | | | | buying or selling. No activity means nothing, but a lot |
| them the stock's bubble will eventually collapse and | | | | of sales could mean stuff isn't going so well internally. |
| leave a lot of people quite a bit poorer for the | | | | On the other hand, purchases could mean they |
| experience. | | | | expect things to pick up. |
| There are other ways to get good investment | | | | There are many other signs to look for, like industry |
| advice though. There are subscription (pay) | | | | news and their competitors, but once you look at a |
| newsletters and subscription sites that offer their | | | | few dozen companies you will just automatically be |
| members good information. Before signing up with | | | | able to tell which companies are risky and which ones |
| one of these be sure to do your due diligence and | | | | look promising almost at a glance (or at least without |
| research to make sure the company has a history of | | | | much conscious effort). So who needs a broker? |
| success and a strong, satisfied membership. If you | | | | |