Buying shares
Author
Discussion

Mike400

Original Poster:

1,026 posts

261 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
Ok so its probably covered in some of the other doom and gloom topics floating around here today.

If one wanted to spend a small sum of money (i.e. not thousands) buying a few shares, how would one go about doing this online?

Obviously I have not a clue, so dabbling in shares, especially at the minute, would be foolhardy. But hopefully you lot will point me in the right (or should that be wrong?) direction anyway!!

BlueEyedBoy

1,954 posts

226 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
Mike400 said:
Ok so its probably covered in some of the other doom and gloom topics floating around here today.

If one wanted to spend a small sum of money (i.e. not thousands) buying a few shares, how would one go about doing this online?

Obviously I have not a clue, so dabbling in shares, especially at the minute, would be foolhardy. But hopefully you lot will point me in the right (or should that be wrong?) direction anyway!!
Just sign up to a broker, i.e. barclays stockbrokers

Will cost you about £12 per trade.

Kuroblack350

1,388 posts

230 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
go to 'gocpomare' or similar and check out the share dealing accounts - some are better (and cheaper) than others smile

Darkslider

3,084 posts

219 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
Try signing up to www.bullbearings.co.uk first, it's virtual trading based on the current stock market, they give you 100k to play with and you invest it how you like. Should give you some idea of how the basic system works. For instance I bought £4k of HBOS shares when they were at £1.99 with the expectation they would receive outside or government funding and the share price would recover significantly. However they're now hanging anywhere between 150 and 180 pence.

It's a big gamble and not something I'd want to do with real money yet. A lot of people have lost a lot over the past few days.

Mike400

Original Poster:

1,026 posts

261 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
Cheers guys, doesnt seem worth it in the short term for a few hundred, but I was thinking of spending a little and then forgetting about them, hoping they might mature over the long term.

Obviously even then it wont be big bucks, but a surprise couple of hundred is always nice!

maix27

1,070 posts

226 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
I'd recommend CMC Market's tool Market Maker, you can start an account and just use it to study certain markets/deravatives etc, you don't have to spend money.

It's a spread betting tool but is very clear to use. Go careful though as £1 opens you up to more market coverage, so you can open a £1 a point but it exposes you to a lot more, ie, great if it goes up but you could end up oweing them money if it goes down...

Study and learn a selected market before you jump in :-)

Darkslider

3,084 posts

219 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
As a slight aside to the topic, what buying and selling delay is there on a typical stock market platform? My mother currently holds shares with Tesco through (I believe) a stock broking firm called Equiniti, and she's under the impression it takes 24 hours to sell shares from the point you 'press the button'? Is this typical? As we've seen an awful lot can happen in 24 hours...

Fittster

20,120 posts

243 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
If it is a small amount for speculating on is spread betting not a better route?

Mike400

Original Poster:

1,026 posts

261 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
hmm spread betting you say....I dont mind losing the money I invest, but ending up in debt to the broker doesnt sound appealing....

cardigankid

8,879 posts

242 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
Its tax free, old son, because its, er, gambling.

Have you considered the horses?

davido140

9,617 posts

256 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
Darkslider said:
Try signing up to www.bullbearings.co.uk first, it's virtual trading based on the current stock market, they give you 100k to play with and you invest it how you like. Should give you some idea of how the basic system works. For instance I bought £4k of HBOS shares when they were at £1.99 with the expectation they would receive outside or government funding and the share price would recover significantly. However they're now hanging anywhere between 150 and 180 pence.

It's a big gamble and not something I'd want to do with real money yet. A lot of people have lost a lot over the past few days.
I just signed up to this to have a play..

I wonder if the top traders on this game are working in the industry.. top few have turned thier 100k into 20 billion+, quite impressive.

Mike400

Original Poster:

1,026 posts

261 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
cardigankid said:
Its tax free, old son, because its, er, gambling.

Have you considered the horses?
lol no gambling isnt really for me, hence why I didnt find the idea of getting into debt with spread betting too appealing.

I know trading could be seen as gambling, but you only lose what you put in so its not quite the same IMO?

HundredthIdiot

4,477 posts

314 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
davido140 said:
I wonder if the top traders on this game are working in the industry.. top few have turned thier 100k into 20 billion+, quite impressive.
The prices seem to be delayed, so you could presumably script up a buy/sell agent if you had a real-time feed, and clean up.

Pointless, I think.

shadowninja

80,135 posts

312 months

Tuesday 16th September 2008
quotequote all
Mike400 said:
cardigankid said:
Its tax free, old son, because its, er, gambling.

Have you considered the horses?
lol no gambling isnt really for me, hence why I didnt find the idea of getting into debt with spread betting too appealing.

I know trading could be seen as gambling, but you only lose what you put in so its not quite the same IMO?
The key word is leverage. Your money becomes more valuable with leverage, allowing you to earn more. But it also means you're theoretically risking more. It's not just in spreadbetting, though.

On the plus side, you can get phoned up by your friendly broker or spreadbetting company when you're in trouble. They're called margin calls and you don't want them!