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.

syed_22

Do not listern to BB hype, they love newcomers like you and your cash will quickly disapear.

Dont come into this thinking that in the first year you will turn your 2k into 10k, because you wont. If you have anything left you would be doing well.

syed 22
if the fundamentals in stocks you hold are good dont worry about market movers trying to downgrade stocks,and ultimately try to get small holders of stocks to panic and sell,when the price drops,winterfloods did this with rtd the other day.

syed_22

Your example above is a typical stock quote.

The mid price is 64p. The bid and offer are the prices at which the market makers (who trade the stock) are prepared to trade. If you want to buy they'll let you have it at 65p. If you want to sell they'll take it off your hands for 63p. This "spread" between the 2 prices is how they take their cut for trading it and the mid is the average of both those sides.

The last close of 64p is the mid price the stock closed at yesterday. The volume is the number of shares that have been traded today so far; that includes both buys and sells.

Hope it helps.

Al

EDIT - I'd suggest you find a decent book on the basics of investing. Most good bookshops have a section devoted to all you need to start.

Big Al thanks for that makes more sense now - need to find a good online broker now. There are so many out there not what to choose from.

Do any of you guys have had any bad/good experience with any online brokers.
And when they charge you (between 7 - 12) does this include the stamp duty ???

syed_22

Any quote they make will be their commission. Stamp duty will be over and above.

I use Comdirect for self-select ISA. They deal too. Had no trouble and comm. is a flat fee. I think there are probably better ones. I also trade spreadbets with CMC and CFD's with GNI. Both these are margined accounts and I would not recommend you consider one of these until you know exactly what you're dealing with as regards buying and selling shares.

I also have a fairly redundant account with Stocktrade, but have not used it for ages. There's a few dogs sitting there!!

To start, I'd probably go for the best flat rate deal I could find. There's adverts all over the websites and magazines such as Shares or Investors Chronicle.

Al

hoodlessbrennan are currently doing a first month dealing free & then a flat 7 per deal. I have a comdirect account, but am moving over to hoodlessbrennan as it's cheaper. (see directory above for thier details)

headlessbraindead?
hmmm not one I would recommend

You have such a lovely way with words .... They were recommended to me by someone who is extremely happy with their service. I've had a lot of different types of dealing accounts over the last 20+ years and come to the conclusion that the service is only as good as the current staff the brokers employ at that time!

Therefore I now just go for cheap! As long as I can buy & sell without too many drama's and it doesn't cost much - I'm happy.

little woman,

Can your "cheap" broker get you into or out of a position before 8am? How much of an effort will he make to get you within the spread? And what about size? Will he he let you short a p!ssy small cap or OFEX cr@p? How cheap is he really?

No he can't but nor did any of my expensive brokers!

A fixed fee of 7 a deal is the cheapest I've ever had. So far I've also been able to purchase within the spread too. I still have an account with comdirect which I thought was pretty good, but paid 12.50 a deal. I just need an execution only service - was paying 25.00 minimum until I opened the comdirect account. I'm not knowledgable enough or have enough spare cash to really take it beyond the basics.

The above simply goes to prove there are many things to consider. Cost is one, but service is also another. It also depends on what you want and the time of day you wish to trade.

If you're buying and selling between 8am and 16:30pm, then fair enough, but there can be great advantages to having a broker that can get you in and out outwith those hours.

And that was the Crux of a recent dispute on The Traders thread!We all read and learn.

syed, just a word on penny shares - don't be lulled into thinking they're cheap. A company whose shares cost 1 with 1 million shares in circulation has exactly the same value as a company whose shares cost 10p with 10 million shares in circulation, same for 1p share with 100 million in circulation.

A share whose value goes from 20p to 10p will do the same to you as a company whose shares go from 2p to 1p - a dog is a dog!!!

Sorry if this sounds very negative. All I mean to say is do your homework before you start. Trade on paper first, then trade with money you can afford to lose. I always work out what my breakeven price is before I buy after taking into account the buy and sell commission and 0.5% stamp duty. Then work out my target price, and my stoploss and how much I would lose I it went down.

My formula is:

(Using ComDirect @ 12.50 per deal, who I use and am very happy with - not the cheapest but usually very reliable)
Say 1000 worth of stock. Using your example. Buy @ 65p
So, 1000 less 12.50 commission = 987.50. Stamp duty of 0.5% means divide by 1.005 leaves you with 982.59 for your stocks.
982.59 divided by 0.65 (pence per share) means you will get 1511 shares
You now need to know your breakeven. The shares have cost you 1000
You will have to pay 12.50 to sell them, so your total cost is 1012.50
Divide this by 1511 gives a figure of 67.001p to breakeven. So, your 63p bid price needs to rise to 67p before you even make any money. Patience required. And, timing your entry to get the best buy price is crucial. Having said all this, on a 63/65 spread, you could probably have got the shares within the spread at (say) 64.8p depending on the stock.

One final negative, most traders lose a lot of money before they get it right, I did (edit and still often do) and most of the well known names on these boards did as well.

I hope this isn't simplistic and grandma / sucking eggs approach. Just trying to help. And good luck.

Guys thanks for the advise, Here i come.

Think i might get some shares in NEWMEDIA SPARK, there was a good article about them in shares. Went to LSexhange site :

Had a look at the trends looks good and now I hear they have 51 million in the bank.

What do you think guys good move ????

Also is a simple formula at hand to work out what you have to do to break even

And do you put the stamp duty when you sell and when you buy ?

Stamp duty is only on buys not sells.

Break even is (purchase price + stamp duty + commission)/ (current bid + commission)

Divide the above by the number of shares to get breakeven per share.

Thats make so much sense now, thanks guys...

Syed_22

What do you guys think about me buying my first shares in Newmedia spark ????

Have you registered to play the game at www.comdirect.co.uk?

They give you a virtual 100,000 to play with over a month. Also you then have access to research on the shares you buy.

I often try out shares on the game, to watch what they are doing. This month one of the shares I'm playing with in Newmedia spark and I am currently showing a loss!

(I think one of the directors sold some shares on the 13th, the day after they announced there results.)

Suggest you get a copy of the annual report.

Also New Media Spark tipped in Shares magazine - there will be a lot of folks buying on the strength of that - then wanting to get out just as you get in. Wait, play the game virtually. The market will ALWAYS be there - will you?

Sorry - but this is the voice of bitter experience talking. Once you can identify a stock easily and you have more winners than losers, use real money. Even now, after doing this for years, my finger sometimes hovers on the buy button and I get cold feet.

The main thing is plan plan plan.

I can recommend Sharescope end of day program to quickly flick through & find out which stocks are on a rising trend very easily. After initial purchase it costs 11.95 a month. Most non daytraders use it.