What is the easiest way to start investing in the stock market?

How do I find an investor I can trust

Dave has it right for you...start with Mutual Funds...maybe ETFs.

You can trust the big names (Fidelity, Morgan Stanley....)

Under no condition should you attempt to invest in individual shares of stock. This is not pejorative...simply being honest when I say you do not have the training and experience to try it. You will most likely lose any money you do so that way.

If you want to learn...contact your local college and see if you can audit courses there (99% will let you). Then audit Investing classes you see listed in their Finance Dept. Do NOT buy the latest fad book from the current stock guru. You will not only lose whatever money you invest following their "strategy" but the price of the book as well. Ditto for the talking heads on CNBC...if you hear it there you are already too late.

Don't take that the wrong way...just being honest. If you want to learn...go to a college and learn from PhDs who teach the real pros on wall st.

I would open an account with one of the many mutual fund companies (American Century, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Vanguard, etc.). They will have many types of funds to choose from. If you are investing for the long-term, I'd choose a fund that invests in small companies. Historically, those have the highest returns. (Remember that in order to get those returns you have to endure some ups and downs, so you can't panic and sell when the market drops or you'll miss out on the gains when it goes back up.) Also, be sure you choose a "no-load" fund (i.e. one that doesn't have a fee when you buy or sell).

Another option is to open an account with a discount broker like TD Ameritrade, Scottrade, E*Trade, etc. Then buy what's called an "exchange-traded fund" or ETF. They trade like individual stocks but are actually a collection of many stocks, which is good because if one company goes bad, it will only have a small effect on the value of the fund. I'd probably choose the ETF with ticker symbol IWM or the one with symbol IWN. Both are small company ETFs.

The quick and easy guide to investing in the stock market:

1) Open a brokerage account. Trade King (www.tradeking.com) and Scottrade (www.scottrade.com) are examples. Make sure the account you open doesn't charge an account maintenance fee or other annual fee for the privelidge of having an account.

2) Buy shares of what are called exchange traded funds. These are mutual funds that are traded on stock exchanges and allow you to own a small amount of a large number of stocks (which decreases the chance that you'll pick a bad stock and lose all your money). Two funds that track the S&P 500 (an index of the 500 largest US companies) are the SPDR fund (ticker symbol SPY) and the iShares fund (IVV.) Good luck.

I started with TRow Price. A great move. They will take $50 a month

A mutual fund Go to ?Vanguard.com

Judging from the answers here, and you seem relatively new to this...it is imperative you do it right or you'll be sorry for it later on.

Some of the advice is good. A solid mutual fund will do you right in the long run.

The idea is to go about it slowly, putting aside a small amount on a weekly or monthly basis.

If you are employed, usually they have plans for you that you could contribute to, like a 401K plan.

Now, I am going to go against the conventional wisdom here by saying from time to time a good opportunity arises with a certain stock, and if you happen to follow it closely, you could see substantial gain from it.

I don't want to seem like a hack or stock jockey, but some stocks I follow seem poised for a good run.

If you plan to do what I do, then you need to do charting and watching...and as one answerer already mentioned, try ignoring all the hype you may hear, both pro and con, about buying stocks.

Nobody knows for sure what the stock markets will do in the future, and that includes the Federal Reserve Chairman (i.e. Alan Greenspan's speech about exuberance in Dec. of 1996, and the Dow was at 6,600...and has doubled since).

Tred with caution, avoid mistakes...but you will make them anyway...and go about it gradually.

Open a brokerage account at Zecco and invest in the ETF DIA.

By far the easiest way is to go through a 401K at work.

start with mock paper trading

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trust self