Getting started - buying stocks, shares

mark13

I don't have the time to research 100's of companies.
I began with a "watch" portfolio of about 10 shares, after researching them, and what they offered, these included mainly FTSE 100 shares, such as NG. , SSE & VOD ( mainly dividend paying stocks) . Once I had researched them and watched the up's and down, and learned dividend dates etc, only then did I invest (on the drops in price & with stop losses) . Gradually, I have researched riskier shares, and added them to my watch list. There is lot of information on company websites, and also on the bulletin boards ( though need to take some of the information with a pinch of salt) .
I currently have 5 stocks I am invested in, and a watchlist of 20 shares. If I see a share that takes my fancy, I'll replace one of the shares on my watch list so that I only have a few shares to monitor.
This works well for me.

planteria

"I'd try out some funds, I am particlarly interested int he narual resources or commodity funds, I can't see them doing badly this year"

tend to agree.

my ISA includes Investec Enhanced Natural Resources and Xstrata shares.

cheerfulcat

Hi there, cardigan,

FWIW, I use a stock screener like the one at Digitallook to find large companies with a well-covered and generous dividend, because I need an income. For the growth part I look at investment trusts ( info from AIC to start with ).

I also look at a couple of boards on the Motley Fool for ideas - Value Shares is a good start, and PaulyPilotsPub has a lot of interesting discussion (more focussed on small caps though, so on the risky side ). The Oil and Gas board has also been very useful.

One way of narrowing down your search is to look for trends, and then search for types of companies which might benefit. An aging population might be good for care homes and suppliers of mobility aids, for example. Another way is looking for undervalued companies ( the value approach, as in the board I've linked to ).

You can also look at the holdings of well-regarded fund managers, bearing in mind that they are holding a large selection of companies.

Most of those thousands of companies you mention will be duffers, and easily eliminated from consideration.

ETA -or you could buy a tracker fund.