Do I understand investments correctly?

I've learned that there are two ways to make money off stocks:

1) Buy low, sell high. The way everyone thinks they should do it.

2) Buy good stocks and get dividends.

Am I right?

I think you are absolutely on track- two more quick things to add. and I think you should get started asap!

1. you can start with a diversified large cap fund (these are usually your good stocks that pay divs) you will learn alot through the reports you get quarterly.
(try a "blue chip" or "Large Cap Value/Core" fund with T Rowe Price or another well known fund company.)

2. Another important rule on investing- as you get more and more money in one investment start buying investments that will COMPLIMENT IT. - you dont want to have everything you own in one asset class in case it goes south.
but you can start with just one to build on for now.


Good luck! FYI- stocks look attractive since the market has been getting killed, its hard to find a better time to start.

Buy Mutual Funds and let a fund manager do this for you. How will you ever figure out when you are buying low and selling high?

More ways than those two. Buy Puts. That is when you buy a stock Short. That means you make money when it goes down and lose if it goes up. Buy Options. Look these things up on the net.

You are on the right track. I would suggest you make use of ETF's or a DRIP Plan instead of mutual funds.

About 75% of all mutual funds under perform the market. All of them have management fees, and some have sales loads.

In my opinion, there are better options.

Concept is good. However, you need to know alot more than that to start. There are many sites out there that give advice some free and some not. My friend who started his own investing company has just started a new site free with good information at http://yourmoneymatters.webs.com/

follow those two rules, and you will do well, another one would be, never sell a winner.

You are off to a very good start. By just following that advice...you will do very well. Yea...buy and hold good companies and sell reluctantly.

However, there are other ways to make money in stocks. I won't go too deeply into it but you could make money by selling a stock short. (i.e. selling a stock BEFORE you buy it.) Also by trading options on stocks. (i.e. derivatives of stocks.)

Adding to your basic strategy...you could add these more complicated strategies to compliment (hedge) your current positions...or use them independently. But start slowly and pay attention, as it can get complicated.

You'll be fine. Good luck!

Timing is very critical. If we buy at the wrong time, low price stocks will go lower. if we sell too early, high-price stocks will go higher.
On dividends, they could be affected by global and nationwide economy even though the company may be performing normal.
My way is to combine many different plus reasons on my side, then I raise the Gain Probability of my purchases.
Emotional management is key to stay long in stock markets. How not to be ungreedy when the bull run is on and how to stay calm when the market is bearish. A lot of learning thru real life investing.
Strategy on 10% cut loss and 20% profit taking is not too bad a system to follow.
In stock market there are only 4 possibilities: 1,Big Loss 2,small loss 3, small gain 4. Big Gain.
You MUST avoid big losses. You balance off small losses with small gains, and profits from the Big Winners.
Wish you well in your Investing! You find more investment resources and ideas from this site. http://www.101stockinvestments.com/Buy-L...