Are you interested in opening a stock account? If you want to invest in the stock market, there are some basic steps you’ll need to take to get started.
- Do some research and gain some knowledge about how the process works. Books are a great place to start and compared to seminars, classes or educational DVDs, are much less expensive. We list 20 valuable books that are great resources for anyone interested in investing in the stock market. One of my personal favorites is one by William O’Neal who founded CANSLIM Trading. How To Make Money In Stocks is pictured below.
It is also helpful to read articles about the industry. There are several professional publications which provide insights and advice on trading in the stock market. Take a look at Stockbrokers.com and their Stock Education Page for great investment articles.
- Open an online account. It is easy to open a stock broker account online, but they are not all the same. Again, do some research and find a good one that provides free research and trading tools to clients. Some broker accounts offer virtual tools for trading. This is a great feature because it allows you to try out trading with virtual money so you don’t lose the real thing. It’s always smart to compare online brokers, so visit StockBrokers.com to check out what’s available.
- Find someone you trust and ask them to mentor you. Anyone can be a mentor as long as they are experienced in online stock trading. A friend, a family member, a co-worker or even a professor can prove to be a good mentor. At a minimum, your mentor will need a basic understanding of how the stock market works. They should be willing to answer questions, recommend resources, and help out when you have questions.
- Check out the forums. These are a good resource for information and answers to your questions. Two of the best stock trading forums are Trade2Win and Elite Trader.
- Start Small. Many people like to start with penny stocks. These cost less and allow you to see the ropes. Penny stocks with high volume can also be lucrative if you have the knowledge.
- It is also helpful to read and study about the best of the great traders. You can learn from their perspective and appreciate how they succeeded in the industry. Some of the best are Jesse Livermore, Warren Buffett, and George Soros.