I would like to start investing in stock?

[Griffin]

I am 13 years old. i want to start getting into stock. how to i go about this? what are my best options for a beginner. i want to make extra cash along with teaching myself the value of money and managing it. but how do i go about this?

[TAOST]

Hi Griffin:

Congratulations on your early interest in understanding the value of money. I hope my kids are as industrious as you when they are your age.

The short answer to your question is every reputable brokerage firm will require someone your age to have a parent or guardian open an account for you. If I'm not mistaken, it's actually a legal requirement.

I will tell you what I wish someone had told me when I was your age. In lieu of trading live money right now, I would immerse myself in reading about different trading strategies and styles. Take this time to test and evaluate as many approaches as possible before you settle on one. You can easily run multiple practice portfolios online for free so that you can really evaluate each approach. In the meantime, you can save your money with an eye toward opening an account as soon as you are legally allowed. If you develop a consistently profitable approach, you might even be able to convince a parent/guardian to open a small account for you which you can then use your strategy on to grow.

In the meantime, consider starting by reading books such as those about Jesse Livermore. You might also want to look at Market Wizards. Neither of these will really teach you how to trade, but they are "required reading" for new traders, so you may as well get a jump on everyone else.

Again, congratulations on taking an interest in this at such an early age.

Good luck and good trading.
TAOST

[pegasusaig]

The first answer is pretty fair advice, correct about the adult needed to set up a trading account. While study of the famous such as Livermore and Buffet can be helpful, you also have to develop an understanding of things that work for you. That will be changing because of your age, but eventually you find we each have a style that works for us, and trying to mimic someone else's often does not. Livermore was an aggressive investor- one that made a lot fast, but also lost a lot fast. Buffet is a more stable investor that made a lot slowly. Livermore would have been bored playing the game with Buffet strategy, and Buffet would have been horrified using Livermores.

There is no place to learn exactly what you should do, but many places to learn how the whole thing works. Experience will eventually find the investor in you, and you want to acquire that carefully in the beginning.

One piece of solid advice: If possible, find yourself what used to be called a "Dutch Uncle", meaning someone who knows what you want to know and is good at it, that is trustworthy and is willing to take you under their wing like an apprentice- guide you, keep you safe, help you learn quickly. If there are investors in your family, that's the place to start.

[Arrogantairplane992]

i skimmed through 1 of the answers you got. a few reasons why you shouldnt and would be a terrible idea to open a trading account at a financial firm
(besides being too young and all the legal stuff)

u dont have enough money

you should use a "virtual stock market" for now to get used to trading

then open a trading account with a discount broker like td ameritrade once you get comfortable trading with real money.

i tihnk there is a virtual trader on moneymarket.com

[A Nobody]

In North America you must be 18 to have a brokerage firm in your name. You will need a parent to open a custodian account for you using your social security numbe and when you turn 18 the assets in the account can be moved to an account in your name.

Unless you know what you're doing, why you're doing it, how to do it and the rules that govern what you're doing, you can not and will not make money. Before you spend $0.01 on any investment, you must know what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and how to do it. Before you invest in any security, the first investment you should make is in yourself, and the best investment you can make is by educating yourself

When I was 11, my father opened a cuistodian account for me but I was made to learn about the markets and the products traded in those markets. Yes I made investments while in grade school but it took me several years before I felt comfortable with investing. It wasn't unitl I was in high school could I started to trade.

Start your education by learning why you should invest and the importance of being able to make your own decisions or how the pro’s make theirs. Start your education by reading “Investing or Dummies” by Eric Tyson.

If you still want to invest you should select some of the following
Beating the Street by Peter Lynch
Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money, Pigs Get Slaughtered, by Gallea
How to Make Money in Stocks” by William O’Neil
24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success by William O’Neil
The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham
Common Stocks, Uncommon Profits, by Philip A. Fisher
One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch
Stocks for the Long Run, by Jeremy Siegel
Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits by Joel Greenblatt.
What Works on Wall Street by James O'Shaunessey
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius by Joel Greenblatt
Your Money and Your Brain by Jason Zweig

Websites that can provide instructions and help with procedures and terminology are Investopedia - http://www.1source4stocks.com/info/stock...pinion.asp or Smart Money
http://www.smartmoney.com/
Visit some of the more professional websites like Zacks Research - http://www.investors.com/default.htm?fromad=1
Some of these web sites will have advertisers who are worth looking into also. And remember, if they offer free information, get it.

Attend all the free seminars you can, just be careful and don’t get pressured into anything you really don’t want or need. Most schools offer courses in finance and economics, but very few will have courses on the mechanics of the investment markets, if they do try taking the course. You may want to consider on-line courses, the New York Institute of Finance use to have such courses. Try to get some fee information from the stocks exchanges they all have (had) free booklets, SIAC and some of the regulators (FINRA SEC MSRB CBOE) may provide some free literature.

And when you think you want to invest/trade, try some paper trading to test your skills without spending you money http://www.moneyworks4me.com/
and/or http://www.tradingsimulation.com/

You at least have made the right decision to start investing, this is the first big step and it won’t be your last. Keep taking those steps forward and along the way never take the advice from people that are not in the market or try to tell you not to invest.

Good luck on journey, study hard and you’ll invest well.

[David]

start with researching.....

1. Investopedia
If you are just beginning to learn about the world of investments, Investopedia is your one-stop shop for anything and everything. Here, you can look up definitions of terms, register for newsletters with valuable information, use their stock simulator to see how much an investment earns or loses over time, and much more. Y
2. Yahoo! Finance
Yahoo! Finance is just too good. Aside from the myriad of company reports, which you are required to pay for, all of the information at Yahoo finance is free for the taking.
3. Motley Fool
Whether you are looking to do your own research, or prefer the advice of a seasoned veteran, The Motley Fool has it all.
4. The Street
If you pay any attention to the world of investing, you know the name Jim Cramer. Personally, I think he is little more than a caricature, but some people swear by him. Mr. Cramer is one of the “big name” contributors at The Street. That not withstanding, The Street is, in my humble opinion, the best website for investing related articles. The writers have vast knowledge and fantastic insight, without losing focus on what is important – the investors for whom they write.
5. Wall Street Journal
For decades, the Wall Street Journal newspaper has been a staple for information and research for investors. The Wall Street Journal online delivers even more valuable information than its nearly obsolete predecessor. Nowadays, the Journal’s online presence includes The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Barron’s, and SmartMoney, among others. All of these sites are valuable resources for investing information, especially when seeking out company-specific news.
6. MSN Money
Microsoft tends to be a pretty self-serving company, at least in my opinion. Even so, once you learn to glance over all of the Microsoft related news at MSN Money, what you get is another fantastic avenue for portfolio boosting. The one complaint I have with MSN Money is the formatting. When looking at stock quotes, there are no lines distinguishing ads from news or charts, which occasionally will take you off-course by clicking an advertisement by mistake.
7. Zack’s Investment Research
Zack’s does require a membership in order to get to the juicy stuff, but the membership is free and well worth the three minutes it takes to sign up. Here, you will be able to do in-depth research on both stocks and funds. You will also have access to many public and independent reports that will assist you on your quest for the perfect personal investment portfolio.
8. Investor Guide
Investor Guide has many of the same features you’ll notice on other sites on this list, so why does it make my top ten? The stock helper tool. First, this tool helps you to determine an optimal investing strategy and style. Then, it provides a list of companies for you to research. Once your list is complete, you will see what others think of each company on your research list. Investor Guide does a great job of aggregating this information from many different sites for you. You will then evaluate the company’s competition, decide what to buy, and reap the benefits.
9. Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha is amazing. My one complaint is that there is actually too much information packed into one page, which at times can make it difficult to navigate. If it weren’t for the massive amount of content on Seeking Alpha, it would be much higher on this list. Company news is the main focus of the site, so if you have a list of companies to research, this is a pretty good place to start.
10. Online Brokerages
Personally, my account has been housed at Sharebuilder for years now, and their research tools are very good. In the beginning, they had a clumsy interface that was slow and filled with glitches. Since then, they have done an amazing job of streamlining and improving content to the point of near perfection. No matter who you invest with online, be sure to use their research tools, as most of them have easy to use interfaces with plenty of information to sort through. Some of the more popular online stock brokers include E*TRADE, TradeKing, Scottrade, and OptionsHouse.

When you are looking to conduct your own investment research, closely monitor where you go online. It is very easy to end up on “hot stock pick” sites, penny stock investing sites, or poorly executed attempts at legitimacy. Many of these sites are fronts for someone to sell you their “foolproof system” or something similar. Everything I have provided above is free of charge, though a few of them offer paid services above and beyond what most of us need.
Source(s):
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-earn-weekly-…