Hi, Read your tips on moneyam.com, new at this game, have about 2k to play with never actually brought stock and shares.

How can i find things like penny shares and how do you do the research on a particulare share.

Who to use to buy and sell the shares and what their rates are like.

I hope you don't mind me approaching you like this.

Would prefer to buy shares that are termed as pennies shares (below 1).

Also is a minumum buy and a maxium buy of the Shares ?

Any tips - Help !!!!!!!!!

Thank in advance.

I use Halifax share dealing, no monthly fees a flat commission rate, I would advise using a system your most comfortable with - sounds obvious but not every site has the same needs for everyone

To Billytrip,

Thank you for the time you've taken to explain sharedealing in more depth.
You obviously know much more than me so I have copied and pasted your script onto a word doc. so I can go through it later - slowly....

Out of interest - how long do you spend researching a company before you invest and what % of decisions you make turn out to be right. When I say right I mean investments which either made you money or broke even (I consider break even a sucess in an enviroment where you can easily lose money). In fact my motto is first try not to lose money - second try to earn money!

I have a list of around 40 companies that I compile from news items, the FT and just personal exposure to them, I add and take off companies depending on there movements (i.e if it has been dropping for months with no positive news then it gets "relegated" from my list etc. Split between all industries.

Researching - well I am fortunate enough to work as a marketing specialist so part of my full time job involves researching companies so I use some of this knowledge for sharedealing, If I didnt work where I do then the amount of research would depend on:

* The amount invested (for 1k I would not do as much as say 5k)
* The Company and its share price
* Analyst ratings/Targets etc

Hypothetically speaking if you could afford to buy the whole company outright, would you? becasue if you wouldnt spend x Million on the whole company then dont spend your x Thousands on shares.

What % has turned out right? - without cursing myself over 9 Trades since October last year when I started, I have 100% record with an average 27% return. - Mainly due to a spreadsheet I created tracking prices and targets etc and BUY and SELL guides + other infomation.

I have 3 rules

* Never buy on someone elses advise, unless you research yourself
* Always set a BUY and SELL price and always stick to it
* Never panic BUY or Sell, just ride out any fluctuations in price

Good advice.
I wonder if you have Celltech (CCH) on your list. I have some shares in this company because I thought their prospects were beginning to improve. However after their results posting yesterday the city would appear not to agree with that!
What are your views - if any on this company. I would really appreciate your opinion. (Down 4.5% yesterday, down 1.5% today)

Yours nervously.....

* Always set a BUY and SELL price and always stick to it

If you invest in a company and accept that its share price is in part a reflection of the fundamentals of that company, the fundamentals of that company may change while you are holding its shares. This could happen, for example, if the company posts better than expected results or benefits from substantial new business where the value of that contract or business is known, and therefore it's effect on future results and the value of the business as an ongoing concern can be calculated.

In these circumstances you still may wish to stick to your pre-set exit price and then go looking for a new opportunity, but there can be value in staying with what you are in, because X% growth in your current investment is worth more than X% in another stock, due to trading costs and spread.

It's worth re-assessing your holdings on a regular basis. Asking yourself the question "would I buy it today?" can be helpful.

* Never panic BUY or Sell, just ride out any fluctuations in price

Although... if everyone seems to be panic selling, and you can't work out why, be extremely wary. What do they know that you don't? :-)

Your are right of course, but each to his/her own methods

I set the sell price becasue if I keep holding on to a rising share and get too greedy and it suddenly falls it would be annoying to say the least, but of course you do need a degree of flexibility as things change in the share market everyday. Buy price I just set as I have missed out on low stocks before as I kept expecting it to keep going down and it didnt.

The panic buy/sell, well I made the mistake of doing it once with GWP and the price dropped 15-20% the next day - fortunatly it went up eventually to a profit but you have to learn from your initial mistakes.

To Guysands - I do have Celltech on my list, up until february this year they were tipped buy four Analysts as BUY - ING Financial, Lehmann, SG Cowan and UBS Warburg, so some pretty big hitters there - Have now heard that their target price has been slashed to 300p by Panmure!

This may sound silly - apologies - but I have 2 ask: Day trading/Spreads vs. swing vs. "going long" (mmm ... traders sound like a kinky bunch 2 me) - my question - when people talk about loosing their "shirts" and closing a "loosing" trade asap, I assume it's about ANY trade, be it 1 min after buy, 2 days or even 2 years after purchase - if things go "south"? What confuses me is the following - if I'm DAY TRADING (sweaty palms & all) and things go south, am I obliged to take action THAT day, as a day trader, or can I B-com a SWINGER for awhile on that stock, hoping for a recovery that my research may indicate.

If U trade daily - semantically, U're a DAY TRADER - if U let it lie awhile - U're a swinger & if U let it lie a few months, well, U're either a "trade-wimp" or U've got a life (with loads of dosh) - I'm not sure - (I'm both wimp and lifeless, bankrupt and a newbie to top!!)

I just don't understand - apart from spreadbetting, or the company goes into liquidation, etc. etc, (mmm, all those etc's.) how U can loose everything - unless of course, DAY TRADING forces you to close your position by 16h30 - daily. Does it?

OK, OK, I can hear the roar of laughter - I just don't get it. If it's not favourable to sell, well, the glass if half full, it will recover, even if it takes 10 years. Let the stock lie and move on to new ground - am I being naive?

To make money (& release cash) you have to buy & sell. If your shares are going down, you cash in taking the loss, and then try and make back the loss on new purchases. The problem comes when you continue making losses, and the pot get smaller and smaller......until it just disappears.

A friend, was left a portfolio by her mother a few years ago. Over the last 3 years as the shares dropped in price, the broker keep selling and buying to try and recover the losses, but now there is nothing left. The portfolio used to produce a reasonable income, but the money moved from high yielding shares to high risk shares. (I think panic set in, and he decided to go high risk in the desperate hope the market recovered - but instead the many of the companies just went bust or got wiped out!)

I have quite a bit of money tied up in loss making shares. The ones paying dividends, I'm ignoring as they should one day recover. So far I've been short of cash to invest, twice twice this year, as I've seen a share drop to a price I believe I can make a quick profit so I have taken a loss from a share that I don't get any dividends to provide cash flow.

prometheus - you don't have to close positions at 16:30. If you are (day) trading on margin then you can lose more than you have. For example, if you put 10K into a stock (actual shares) and it declines such that a week later it's worth 7K you've lost 3K. If you believe it will go back up maybe you ride it out. If you're trading on a 2K margin buying 10K of CFDs (for example) then you lose all your 2K plus you owe your CFD provider an additional 1K (if it gets that far) - at the point you run out of cash or whatever your provider requires you to have liquid in your account you get margin-called.

Also, if you are long on a stock you pay interest to your CFD provider (they are basically - theoretically at least - lending you the additional 8K) so you can't necessarily sit on what you hold for months waiting to break even - you're chasing an ever-rising target. (If you are short you get paid interest though - in principle).

You may need to look into some of these issues further but I hope that provides an outline explanation.

THanX 4 that ... I get it - it's about preservation of a "scarce resource" - my booty - without, I cannot play - unless I win the lottery!! :-)>

here's a scenario:

I want to annul my bankruptcy and have loaned 20k from a family member who took out a loan - which I repay monthly, BUT short 5k and this is due in 2 weeks time.

Question:
- Can I trade as a discharged bankruptee (awaiting annullment)?
- The "right" stock obviously would be one that BE's + offers an additional 25% return.
- Would U do it?

I would certainly invest in a stock that gave a guaranteed 25% return in two weeks, whether I was bankrupt or not. After all, if you work it out that means that if you continued to invest for a whole year at the same rate of return you would have 331 times your original capital at the end of the year, and at the end of two years, 110,000 times... And those sort of returns just being a first time investor! This trading malarkey certainly sounds like a sure deal.

;-> wouldn't this B nice! But my wife won't let me risk the 20k to make 25k. I don't blame her. A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush (mmm?!)

What I really wanted to know is if it is possible to turn 20k into 25k over 2 or 3 weeks of trading. Or R the risks/expectations 2 high?

Miller & Moglianni (Nobel Prize recipients) postulated that U don't need 2 invest in more than 10 stocks in your portfolio to fully reflect the inherent risks that exist within the market. Which 10 stocks though, I guess, is the million dollar question. Especially if one is looking for a 25% return after breaking even!! I wish I had a few years trading experience behind me - the timing is all wrong for me - don't U just hate that!

prometheus, I'm not sure you read my answer carefully enough :-) If you can turn 20k into 2,200 million over two years, then it is likely that you will be able to turn 20k into 25k in two weeks, since it is the same rate of return.

Hi Kayak - thanQ 4 u're response - I'm not sure I understand u're logic or whether u're being facetious (ironic) - no matter ;-)>

I just picked a random share - STF: it opened at 28p and closed at 39p today - investing 20k, by my reckoning I'd have a kewl 7k profit for the day, turning my 20k into 27k in 8 hours. (71k shares; BE = 28.1p)

Of course it's not gauranteed that a share move 10p in a day - but it does and has 'appened.

Wot is it I'm not getting? R my calculations incorrect? Apologies 4 all the dumb questions - I just want 2 get it right - theoretically, B4 I start trading.

I would say don't even THINK about buying anything, (company shares I mean), for at least a few months; no matter how much you're itching to join 'the game'. But DO click onto here as often as you can, just read and read. Also, get the 'Shares' mag every week and maybe 'Investors Chronicle' too, again just read and read. Don't flap about most of it going straight over your head either, more and more will become clearer over a short time. Make posts on here and pester folk, they seem a decent lot. Just force yourself to hold on to your cash mate, or sure as eggs is eggs, it will vanish just as you're getting the hang of things. There are a few free seminars you can visit too, you'll find them advertised in the mags and on here too, let them show you a little about charting. If you ever find yourself wondering about a little 'flutter' on a spread bet... slap yourself really hard and say ten hail Mary's. Consider a 'self select ISA' and deal from 'inside' that.
Trust no one. Ever. If you fancy a share, (AFTER you've studied a while), set up your own 'stockwatch' on this site and see how your judgement would have made you a fortune, or lost the lot, you can easily watch a dozen or stocks pretty comfortably. I would urge you to learn charting, just the basics, cos no matter HOW much 'fundamental' analysis you do, there is always a 'good' or better time to buy.. and most CERTAINLY to SELL. We could all spout pages and pages on here, but so will you before long. Finally, don't fall in love with anything you buy, it wont love you when it's bankrupted you. If it's going south, sell the bugger. Good luck.

Prometheus

"...What I really wanted to know is if it is possible to turn 20k into 25k over 2 or 3 weeks of trading. Or R the risks/expectations 2 high?..."

Yes it's certainly possible. Yesterday I made a 6.9% gain (after costs) in under 3 hours on ARK during its rapid afternoon surge. I staked 10,000 and collected 10,690. Some astute experienced traders will have captured far more of the available gain and played with even bigger stakes. But the risks in doing that are extremely high (especially if trying to close out late on a Friday afternoon when brokers are busy and sellers are everywhere. I usually shy away from Friday afternoon trades - all the more so ahead of a long weekend).

The nms (Normal Market Size) on ARK is high enough to be able to trade sizeable quantities. Be very very wary of stocks where the nms is being relaxed when you buy - allowing you to easily acquire a bigger quantity than normally allowed - but is rigidly enforced when you come to sell, preventing an easy exit. It happens all the time.

And you have to allow for the possibility that - no matter how confident of your position you may be - it can (and sometimes will) go horribly wrong. "All of us live in a novel, and none of us do the writing. Just offstage there are grim old men planning to cut off the lighting" (Doris Lessing, I think. Mixing her metaphors). Share trading is a game of snakes and ladders in which some of the snakes are invisible. So never ever risk more than you can afford to lose. You can easily bankrupt yourself within a day. I've seen it happen.

Remember that shares are constantly passed around from sellers to buyers - like a huge daily game of pass-the-parcel. Nobody wants to be holding the parcel when it comes undone - but somebody will be. There are always losers - the winners require there to be. As a beginner you will be heavily outnumbered by players who know the game better than you do. Take care. And never assume that your computer - or that of your broker - or money-am price feeds - will be working at the crucial moment you need them to be!

Hi Chrissie, I had a similar sized stake to begin trading with some time ago about 3yrs ago and I'm pleased to say it is now worth considerably more at about 17k all profits made in the last 18mths. Initially I traded on researched tips & news from daily & weekly papers & magazines, web sites such as this (there are a whole host of them - all informative)and bulletin boards. Further research in the fundamentals of each company and Multitex Broker Analysis & Consensus partially confirmed the tips and news articles. However, losses where greater than modest gains because generally the tips & news items about growth stocks are reporting on events that have already happened and near the cyclic peak or that rapid growth may happen sometime in the future (but when and if and how reliable ????).

The main quest to trade on reliable news and make a profit requires some technical analysis & charting yourself but to do this manually is very tedious & time consuming. There are at least 2750 Plc's listed on the FTSE & AIM indexes and to pinpoint the trading opportunities is somewhat elusive unless you have a technical analysis and charting TOOL in the way of a computer software program to help you make the right decisions of when to BUY or SELL.

The software tool, Metastock and End of Day data stream, (Open, High, Low, Close mid prices & Volume) I purchased to do the job took me about 3mths to get the hang of the power of the built-in proven professional fund managers technical analysis systems, indicators and charting tools and has since disciplined me to make within 95% accuracy all my BUY & SELL decisions. Hence the reason my portfolio of shares in UK equities is rocketing. In the main I use a rigid set of day trading rules and 3 technical analysis indicators to make my decisions with. The indicators I use are the MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) RSI (Relative Strength Index) and Bollinger Band indicator of the RSI indicator.

The Metastock EOD version daily downloads the data of approx. 6000 equities and tradable financial instraments to my computer which takes about 4 minutes. I then launch a built-in Explorer which then trawls through & tests all the equities in about 6 minutes to then give a list of equities that fit the criteria and gives accurate BUY / SELL signals. Once I have this list I then spend about 1hr to do a bit further research on the internet on news and fundamentals with complete confidence in my decisions for the following day of trading of what & when to BUY or SELL and make a profit.

Good luck in your trading.

prometheus - I don't blame your wife. My late father traded all his life, and it provided a very good income for a lot of his life. But he did almost lose a lot of what he did not spend a couple of times, and each time, my mother had to bail him out from money she put aside for herself. This all happened over the 40 years they were together, but my mother only remembers the losses and not that for more years than not, it gave her & us a very good life style.

You are obviously itching to have a go, so why don't you compromise. Just invest a small amount, say 5,000 into 2 or 3 shares. Worse case - you had a go, you still have the rest - but don't touch it the rest - no matter what happens. If you manage to make any profits - you can use this amount to start your new portfolio, returning the 5,000. If you manage to do 25% or more you will have over 1,000 to start your own portfolio without risking any other money.