| I have been investing since the internet boom in the | | | | when to sell. I say this because it is too easy for |
| late 90's. Back then, making money in the stock | | | | someone to get "caught up" in the moment. As they |
| market was as easy as throwing a dart on the | | | | see their stock go up, investors tend to hold on to it |
| Sunday paper's stock listings and buying the stock | | | | too long. If you are trading to make short term |
| that the dart hit. Since then, there has been one bull | | | | profits, you need to be consistent with when you will |
| market and two bear markets. The last one ending in | | | | sell. On the flip side, you also need to know when to |
| early 2009. Online stock trading has seen a big | | | | get out of a bad investment. This is where online |
| increase in users in the last 10 years. But how does | | | | stock trading gets scary. Tell yourself when you will |
| one start? | | | | sell it and stick to your guns. You will tend to make |
| Generally, there are three things to know before | | | | more money and not lose too much. |
| trading stocks online. First, you have to research the | | | | Last, but certainly not least, is finding a good online |
| market to find a good company. Second, you have | | | | broker. When you are looking for a good site to |
| to know when to sell. And lastly, you have to know | | | | place your trades with, you need to check three |
| where you will be placing your trades. Finding a cheap | | | | major things. 1. What are the costs of the trades? 2. |
| online stock trading website is not that simple. | | | | What kind of research or advice does the site |
| As you begin looking for companies to buy, you | | | | provide? 3. How good is the customer service and |
| should use Yahoo Finance as a good source of | | | | support? As you will see, some companies have a |
| education and research. If you do not know the | | | | better reputation than others. Do not get fooled by |
| terminology of the stock market, you can find a lot | | | | the "zero" trade fee. Sometimes there are more |
| of answers these days on the internet. Read, read, | | | | fees, or hidden fees, involved than the regular trading |
| read. Get a Wall Street Journal or find a good | | | | fee. Go through each of the sites and narrow them |
| investing book at your local library. You will need to | | | | down to your top three. Find out the pros and cons |
| educate yourself before you buy your first stock. Do | | | | of each site before picking one because once you |
| not try to learn on the fly. It will be like gambling | | | | start, it is not fun to switch. Online stock trading with |
| away your money. Some internet stock brokers will | | | | the right company will make your life easy and make |
| offer some educational material as well. | | | | you money. |
| Next, before you buy, you need to tell yourself | | | | |