Buying shares

[anonymous-user]

Hi, first time poster in here. Would like to buy some shares, nothing huge but have no.idea where to start. Seems extreme to be ringing a broker for a few hundred quid here and there. Can anyone reccomend a safe online platform where I can buy/sell? Thanks

[anonymous-user]

Thank you for the replies so far, I'd like to.own shares as opposed to betting on the market. Some companies I see along the way I think would be worth a few ££ and leave it to see what happens, never know might just drop on something good. Not going to be risking my house etc just modest sums.

[anonymous-user]

The question is whether you're trying to make money from (a) trading, or (b) investing. It's vital to know which before you start.

I would venture that, by number,

• Most people who attempt trading lose money, and
• Most people who attempt investing make money.

There are undoubtedly some successful traders, many of them employed on big salary/incentive packages in and around the City. Anyone who thinks they have an opportunity to take on and beat those traders would be well advised to do a "dry run" with some virtual dealings before chucking their hard cash into the mix. Unless you have special knowledge or skills it's really no different from gambling and, as most gamblers discover, the house generally wins.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks again for all.your input. To be totally honest there are a lot of phrases in your replies I didnt know existed so am unsure how to answer but will try my best.

An example of what interests me is reading on here Merc Amg have taken a 20% slice of Aston martin to team up and make lots of cars. I'm sure the stock went up on that announcement but I'm not reading enough to have had any prior knowledge. All I think is that Merc won't want to loose 20% so Aston should now have a future with a good backer. If I bought £500 now maybe in 10 years will be worth more than £500 sat in the bank or premium bonds etc.

Now I realise this may be a very dull.and boring way of doing things and some of you may think I'm a bit thick! I'm certainly not looking for 'quick flips' watching my phone 24/7 to see if my £500 is now £550 and cash out. Wold be happy to have a facility where a few times a year I could put £500 ish into a company I feel is relatively safe but slow burn.

I've also noticed RR aero shares drop massively but doubt they will go bust (again maybe wrong) so would be happy this winter to have £500 for the long term.

[anonymous-user]

sfella said:

there are a lot of phrases in your replies I didn't know existed

Somewhere in Internetland there's a thing called "Investopedia". It's great for cutting though the jargon. Just stick any phrase into google together with the word Investopedia.
Example, "A sell-off is a rapid selling of securities, such as stocks and bonds, which leads to a decline in their price."

There's also another site called Motley Fool. Crazy name but lots of good content.

The key thing to remember is that people who really know what they're doing don't need to hide behind jargon or smoke 'n' mirrors.