Beginners

No one likes to say that they’ve just started in the stock market, but all of us started out at the beginning. Sometimes it’s the new guy who does well. (in my first three months, my portfolio grew 68%) and when you look to the experts, you will see that they’ve lost more money than you’ll ever see in your life time. They’re human too, but with an arrogance to them that sometimes bites them in the butt.

As a beginner you may want to just start with a “mock” portfolio and watch the stock market until you get more of an overview of how the stock markets work.

Amateurs

The amateurs are beginners with an attitude. They are the type that have been doing this for a short time and have had some positive results during that time. They look at what they’ve done in a few months and think that this whole stock market thing is easy. HA! They are also the first ones to think that they have it all figured out and they’ll be quitting their jobs in pursuit of trading stocks full-time. Once you have a good understanding of the stock market, your next step is to possibly stick with ETF’s (exchanged traded funds) or Mutual Funds. You can sit with an adviser to help make the choices that you need. Be aware though that these managers get paid by how much money you invest into their funds. The commission can range from .01%-5%, which can make all the difference in the world

Semi-pro

These are the type that got burned when they thought that they knew everything. They’ve done a lot of homework on how to reduce their losses, but they’re still not doing enough research into the companies that they want to invest. What they do is they trade in penny stocks (share value <$5). They feel that the risks are low since each stock is “only” $1.22. What they don’t know is that penny stocks are much more riskier than other stock (company) in the markets. Penny stocks are not a sure thing. Just because the share price is less than $5 doesn’t mean that it won’t go down more or even become bankrupt. When you play at this level, you must be aware of changes that will occur without warning and be prepared. If you feel that this is the way you want to go then make sure you check out each company in great detail.

Professionals

This last group is not the guys who work in Bear Sterns or Morgan Stanley (remember these are the type of guys who cause the housing and credit crisis from their immoral ways. A real professional doesn’t let his emotions get in the way of his trades. They do their due diligence and detailed research into each company they’re thinking about. They don’t just dump money into a stock because the herd is doing it. They take their time, they know that it’s a matter of patience and discipline. If you are at this level (or think you are), don’t sit back on your laurels. Just keep doing what professionals do…study and practice.

Typically a penny stock is a stock that is valued at less than $5.00, but others say that it’s less than $1.00. Buying penny stocks can be a profitable venture or a losing proposition.

Penny stocks are stocks of a new company that is trying to raise capitol for one reason or another. Since they are new and small, the information on these stocks are limited and may have restricted liquidity. Also a financial report could be hard to find on that particular company. The risks involved in trading them can vary. The stocks are not as active compared to others in the market which makes it hard to predict.

A penny stock can move up or down by 50% or better in a single day. This does make trading penny stocks quite attractive. To reduce your risks, you need to do research on each company that your looking to invest in. Do not trust someone else’ research, many brokers will inflate numbers to look more attractive than they really are and in doing so you can lose everything that you invested

Many people who are buying penny stocks are usually considered day traders. They’ll buy a stock one day and wait for the gains that they are looking for and sell the next day. They also tell everyone that they know that this is a great stock just so you will invest in the company causing the price to go up to where they will get out with their profits and leave you high and dry. Anyone that tells you that they have some great insider information on a company and that you should get in on the action, is someone that you shouldn’t be listening to in the first place. It’s illegal for anyone who has information that has not been revealed on a company to pass that info to someone else.

The issue with buying penny stocks is that it is very risky. The statistics for investors who trade penny stocks and lost money is some where near 70%, so the odds are against you. You also need to be aware that there are some brokers who will inflate the stock by dishonest practices. You need to research the broker who offers these stocks just as much as you do in the stock itself. If they claim to having insider information, that is a sign that you need to walk away from that firm. The only way to find a good penny stock to invest in is to consult with a broker, but be careful they make money by make sales and may only have their own interest in mind. There is big money in trading penny stocks for these guys and to do that they need to sell you the stock.

Many investors have made a fortune in buying penny stocks, but for every great windfall stock that made millions, there are about nine that lost billions collectively. Look at Yahoo, they were trading at $0.78 a one time and now trade in the $20 range. Like I said though, that’s only one of thousands of companies that are traded every day.

When you want to start buying stocks I suggest you look at ETF’s (Exchanged Traded Fund) and Mutual Funds. There are costs to each of them. You need to do your due diligence in looking for the right one. If your are starting out with less than $50,000, ETF’s and Mutual Funds are the way to go.

Buying penny stocks is what people who are uneducated in the stock market do. Don’t get me wrong, many people become very rich trading penny stocks. You hear it all the time, but what you don’t hear is that many more lose money playing it this way.

There are great companies that are on the rise in their industry, but not many. For every ten companies that are started, nine out those ten fail. Out of the ones that make it far enough to be traded on the OTCBB (over-the-counter bulletin board), at least 30% never make it past their initial public offering price.

You need to do research on the companies that you want to invest in. Learn to read financial statements, balance sheets and listen to conference calls on their earnings reports. Typically you need to do 5-8 hours of research for each company you are looking to invest in. After you buy into a company you will need to do at least one hour each week on each company. Do what I like to refer to as doing you due diligence, will end up saving you a lot of headaches later on.