buying shares

money_tree

I am a complete beginner,but i have been doing some research,& i would like to buy some shares,so i would like some step by step/nuts & bolts advice on the actual process that i would use to buy the shares.
Which online broker would you recommend to go through?
-Hoodless Brennnan,Self Trade,Motley Fool,thisismoney,these are the names i have come across,but am still confused,& would appreciate some guidance.
Many thanks in advance,MT

gt94sss2

I think Selftrade is a good choice.

As well as online dealing, you can also trade by telephone for the same price/trade (£12.50). They also have no annual or inactivity fees for their standard dealing account unlike some other brokers.

I have also found them very helpful if you ever have any problems.

In addition, it is possible to get £80 for joining Selftrade - take a look at the Selftrade referral thread - my own details are in post 282.. which would pay for a number of trades!

Regards
Sunil

[Deleted User]

Biggest tip is patience, have the patience to buy on the cheap and sell when its way too much.

Look for high earnings growth (based on history not analysts) and possible future expansion, preferably dominating a niche sector and thus putting up entry barriers. Yield stocks put off shorters who can keep some stocks artificially low and trading on 0.1 to 8 P/E ratios.

3 fairly safe stocks you might want to have a look at are 888, Hargreaves Lansdown, william hill + tesco all currently trading at fantastic prices due to the crash.

I have a huge portfolio but alot of them are higher risk plays or in sectors such as mining that might be difficult for a beginner to know when to sell, or buy.

A half decent strategy might simply to buy high yield stocks (as per motley fools HYP thread) + set it on dividend reinvest. Re-researching from time to time.

Generali

The fool's HYP board (link) is excellent IMO.

Something else to consider is trying to drip your money in month by month as it reduces your risk - if share prices rise you win because your holdings are worth more and if they fall then the next month's money will buy you more shares than it would otherwise!

A Random Walk Down Wall Street (link) is well worth a read (no connection). A classic.

cheerfulcat

money_tree wrote: »

I am a complete beginner,but i have been doing some research,& i would like to buy some shares,so i would like some step by step/nuts & bolts advice on the actual process that i would use to buy the shares.

The actual buying process is roughly - 1. Make sure there's cash in the account, 2. Click the " deal " button, 3. Choose " buy ", 4. Insert ticker symbol, 5. Insert amount of cash to invest or number of shares to buy, 6. Click " confirm " - you have 15 seconds to decide.
Demos here - that's Selftrade but it's similar for other brokers.

Which online broker would you recommend to go through?
-Hoodless Brennnan,Self Trade,Motley Fool,thisismoney,these are the names i have come across,but am still confused,& would appreciate some guidance.

Selftrade.

King_Weasel

Hoodless Brennan are cheap (£6.50 flat rate) but I don't find their website all that easy to use. I suggest you take a look at The Share Centre, which is also pretty cheap and much easier to use. For instance, you don't have to go through the nerve-racking "15 seconds to decide" rigmarole. You can opt to specify a sum to invest in share X and it will be bought at the next time the Share Centre does its "bulk buy" (twice a day, I believe). With this option you can also specify a price ceiling for up to 30 days ie "buy £y-worth of shares as soon as the price is below price z."

You should also be able to do trial runs on their website before committing yourself to going with them.

Please note I said "take a look" - I do not consider myself qualified to recommend you a "best buy".

By the way, we are all assuming here that you want to own shares directly rather than via a unit or investment trust.

money_tree

Many thanks for all your helpful replies.
Btw has anyone used the Motley Fool to trade shares with? It seems such an user friendly site,that i would imagine its tools would be helpful as well.
Also any recommendations for buying gold or silver;shares or the physical metal by way of the bullion vault for example?
Again thanks in advance - MT

gt94sss2

money_tree wrote: »

Many thanks for all your helpful replies.
Btw has anyone used the Motley Fool to trade shares with? It seems such an user friendly site,that i would imagine its tools would be helpful as well.

I've used it and its not as use friendly as you may think.. its actually a rebadged Halifax service (and run by Halifax)

You can read feedback on the service on the Motley Fool ShareDealing Service board on the Fool and also about Halifax's own service

Regards
Sunil

cheerfulcat

money_tree wrote: »

Btw has anyone used the Motley Fool to trade shares with? It seems such an user friendly site,that i would imagine its tools would be helpful as well.

You would think so, but sadly I have to agree with Sunil; TMF's ( or rather, Halifax's ) sharedealing service is a bit pants.

Also any recommendations for buying gold or silver;shares or the physical metal by way of the bullion vault for example?

Physical in the form of coins, and/or shares in miners, either individual shares or the Merrill Lynch Gold & General unit trust. You could have a look at the Fool boards for mining and gold.

gt94sss2

money_tree wrote: »

Also any recommendations for buying gold or silver;shares or the physical metal by way of the bullion vault for example?

As well as shares in miners and metal funds, as suggested by cheerfulcat - you may also want to look at Exchange Traded Commodities(ETCs) which are tradable as shares.

ETCs are specialised versions of Exchange Traded Funds(ETFs)

Regards
Sunil

tradetime

You can buy gold by means of an etf, not sure which ones on the LSE but US wise an example is ticker GLD roughly priced at 1/10th of an ounce per share. I would not recommend buying gold this way for long long term, as with this you are buying paper which is supposed to be backed by gold reserves but it is fairly well understood that there is more paper out there than gold. So if you want to hold it for a very long time buy physical gold. Short to medium term the papers fine though imho.