If I were to consider buying some stocks what is the best investment?

Hi, I know next to nothing about investing and/or stocks. I am considering the option of buying some but not too much (basically so I can have something down the road to fall back on in case I ever need it or to pass along to my children one day) and is the best thing to do just pick a company like for ex: Pepsi and say okay I wanna buy a hundred dollars worth of the company? I don't know where I should go or how to get started but does anyone know how to help me? What would someone else pick for the best choice to invest in?
Thank you.

Hey,
Good for you! Investing is a great way to help build financial security. Working for your money is so much harder than having your money work for you! :) If you want to get the results you're hoping for, your best bet is to do your homework. Thankfully there are lots of great financial help sites online to help. I included the first few that came to mind in the cite source (including one that specifically addresses your first stock purchase from MSN), but feel free to just search online (but be careful about your sources). Or there are some great and understandable books, (probably at your local library) about beginning investing. I know some people who swear by Investment for Dummies, and the Wall Street Journal puts out a nice little book that has readable summaries of lots of general financial terms. Check these out, get a better idea of what you're doing, and make an informed decision. You'll thank yourself for it later.
I'd love to just tell you the answer,but the best course of action for you depends on your situation. Two very important questions to consider: how much money you plan to invest and how comfortable you are with risk (i.e can you afford to lose it?).
Personally, my best current choice is a focus on CDs (Certificate of Deposit) because I have very low funds and I can't afford to lose them so I'm willing to take lower returns for the security and ease.
Best of luck!

buying individual stocks is extremely risky--a safer alternative is to buy an index, such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones. this can be done very easily by buying SPY or DIA, they are the stock tickers for index tracking stocks of those two.

The first thing is to figure out your investing goals and how much risk you are willing to take. If you want income now from dividends, you will want to look at blue chip stocks with high yields (you can see the yields when you get a quote on Yahoo finance). If you want long term growth, you may want to look at some medium and small cap stock though these will have more risk. Fool.com is a great place to get started as the discussion boards have lots of advice and the new CAPs section have good stock ratings. Marketwatch.com also has very good market information and stock screeners. You will want to open an online account rather than get a traditional broker as the fees are lower. Charles Schwab and Fidelity are both good. You can buy stocks direct through equifax but it costs more. If you are only buying a small amount of stock, you should consider dividend reinvestment (DRIP) as this will help build the number of shares yhou own over time.

Buy what you know.. if you don't know much.. like procter and gamble (they make household goods), GE, johnson and johnson, disney, coca cola, or citibank, bankamerica... But really, you need to assess your whole financial picture and see where you can allocate this money. but also if you will do 1 lump sum or monthly contribution.

The first thing to invest in is education about investing and trading.

Knowledgable investors usually make money, amatuers usually lose money. Brokers, for the most part are interested in getting your account- not making it grow. Years ago you could pick a "blue chip" stock and forget it. No longer true; the big ones are vulnerable to wide losses and swings. Stock prices are also not just based on company success, they are greatly affected by the psychology of the market, at least in the short term. A profitable company can be a losing stock, a unprofitable one a winning stock. Nothing is more valuable than knowing what you are doing.

If you don't have the time or will to dig in, I agree with the post that suggested a fund or index investment. That would offer the greatest safety, however it will be linked to the average market growth rate.

DO NOT GO BY ANY SUGGESTIONS FROM STRANGERS WITH NO WAY OF YOU KNOWING THEIR QUALIFICATIONS.

Never buy stocks from "tips".

Always have an "asset allocation" model that you follow.

Take a year to learn this stuff. It's great that you're interested in investing in stocks...... but seeking advise like this is a sure way to lose money and become disillusioned.

READ READ READ. It's not really hard. It will just takes some time.

If your looking for down the road type investments - buy you know - open your fridge or cabinets - HNZ, JNJ, PG, GE, PFE - or invest in good stores you already shop at: TGT, SHLD, BBY etc

As putting $$ in the bank is a guaranteed loss of purchasing power after taxes & inflation you are headed in the right direction. CDs not an option. A solid, closed-end fund, ADX, is a fine solo holding. It is diversified. Low expenses (.6%). Trades like a stock on the NYSE at a 13% discount to asset value vs the full value or premiun of a mutual fund. if have no IRA starting 1 with this (outside IRA ok) is a great option. Can always build out later with PEO (oil stocks) IAU (gold) EWA (Australia) EFA (Global) later. Key is to go to schwab.com or the like now & start. Key is to get up to a few thousand in an acct as quickly as you can to cut fees. Feel free to e-mail with further qs-vegas_iwish@yahoo.com. If can't go past a few hundred then sharebuilder.com may be where you should start.

There are two directions in the stock market. There are investors and traders.

If you want to buy a $4 stock so that you can sell it at $14 or $40, then you are a trader. Trading, or speculating, is a tricky, risky, and complex thing. In your case, compare it to just learning to swim, then practicing your swimming in the river near Niagra Falls.

If instead, say, you decided that the clothes at Coldwater Creek stores, catalogs, or website are cool and you want to own a little piece of that, then you look up the stock (CWTR is the symbol) and read up on the company, how its business is and what they are working towards, etc. If you are comfortable with that and want to have some of your extra money (after normal living expenses and bills and even some rainy-day savings) in that, this is investing. You can choose a wide variety of companies that make the food you buy, make the gas for your car (or even make your car, but hold off on that right now), your clothes, or the stores you buy stuff in. Pick something you feel good about and after you've read how they do business you still feel good about them, then buy some shares. I've a link below to an inexpensive online brokerage where you can start small. Good luck.

Hi, i suggest a great site with plenty of Issues related to your Investing and everything around it. it also provide clear and accurate answer to many common questions.

http://investing.sitesled.com/

I am sure that you can get your answers in this website.

Good Luck and Best Wishes!

Scottrade.