Buying Shares

[RabbieBurns]

How do I go about it? Im wanting to start investing, but have no clue of where to begin. Do I need to have a financial advisor or can I do it on my own?

 

Also, is there some sort of share market emulator I can play with before I begin so I can get a feel for it (using real market data but pretend money)

[vikpaw]

You should be able to find some kind of emulator online, but if not, just do it on paper. Many websites will give you buying and selling prices. I did this at university, and quickly realised it was worth dabbling in cash; if you were willing to lock up money for the long term there's low risk.

 

You don't need an IFA and it will no doubt be costly. You can just walk into a bank and ask to purchase shares, they will usually request that you have an account with them though, so just go to the bank where you have a current account.

 

Natwest have a good online service which also means that you don't need to hold certificates, but also makes selling quicker and easier. You still get your dividends but don't have the option to reinvest them automatically. You also don't get to vote on stuff (you should be able to as a shareholder, but i've never had the option, nor the inclination for that matter).

 

It's relatively cheap to get started, there's usually a fixed fee or percentage to pay, e.g. £25 per transaction, it's £15 online. Also there's a stamp duty of 0.5%.

 

www.natweststockbrokers.com can get you started, though recently there has been a fee involved if you don't have funds/shares totalling £2000. Nonetheless it's a pretty good site with quick execution. I'm sure there are plenty of others, but as i bank with them it's easier.

 

www.londonstockexchange.com will give you lots of info on the market and prices so you can play your virtual portfolio to test.

 

It's a shame you didn't ask sooner, a company called Jupiter is launching in the next few days and it would be a good time to get in on the IPO. I think you may have left it too late to sign up with a broker.

 

One thing to consider is buying shares as part of an ISA, that way, i think it's tax free on capital gain (not sure you'd have to check) but at least the dividend should be tax free, else there's no point in doing it. Natwest have a Self-select ISA so you can pick and choose what you buy, as opposed to the normal investment ISAs where you just invest in a general area / fund.

 

Another website to look at is www.shareview.co.uk and also check out BBC2's Working Lunch if it's still on.

 

If i think of anything else i'll add it later.

[RabbieBurns]

Thanks,.. All my money is in AUD now, my UK accounts are sitting empty, so it wil need to be with my bank here. I will pop in and see the branch on Tuesday..

[vikpaw]

Whoops forgot about that. Well if you have any kind of UK residency the same advice applies, and even if it doesn't, the same thing can be done in AUS. Just bear in mind, that there are strict rules about what you can buy and where. Especially with the US, even data about a company isn't allowed to be communicated there sometimes:

 

e.g. with regard to the Jupiter IPO i mentioned earlier

NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR

INTO, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN,

SWITZERLAND OR THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

 

If you did want to play the UK market it should be okay, and for converting, i'd recommend www.xe.com always gives me a good deal. )

[vikpaw]

For anyone else reading this and perhaps relying on the information i must add, that i am just a lay dabbler in finance and not a professional, i am just giving my views based on experience.

 

The value of investments can go up as well as down and you may lose your investment or not get any returns. If in doubt, use the services of an Independent Financial Adviser. A list of FSA accredited bodies in the UK is available here www.fsa.gov.uk/register.home.do

 

Having said all that, just a correction that NatwestStockbrokers do now offer a service to reinvest dividend income as well as foreign exchange services. When it reopens tomorrow i shall be checking out what else i can do.

 

Once again : CAVEAT EMPTOR

Edited June 13, 2010 by vikpaw

[Jamman960]

Fantasy Share Trading, Spread Betting and CFD Trading Game is a good site for fantasy shares

[Kipling]

If you were still UK based I’d recommend www.iweb-sharedealing, a First class fixed cost service. But I’m sure you’ll find something more “local” though

 

Whoever you choose to be your online broker - make sure they also have a backup phone service that you can trade over, its “funny” how many times the internet goes down at a crucial time!

 

For emulating I think ADVFN.COM are about the best real-time share price provider, you can set up a portfolio and watch it (whether you have the shares or not). The free service gives you tones of historical data and charts plus forums. A lot of other online price sites are 15 minuets delayed – which is a lifetime when things start moving.

 

I can also recommend a fantastic book called the naked trader (I’ve got a feeling you’ll remember the authors name without any problems:) )

 

Good luck.

[joe90bass]

@kipling Thanks for the book suggestion, just ordered it! I've been dabbling for the last year, my best investment seems to be FOGL unfortunately as I don't have that many I won't be able to retire no matter how well they do!

 

OP, as I'm only dabbling I just set up an Investdirect account with my bank HSBC, I only have shares in 6 companies so tracking them using a Vista gadget and spreadsheet isn't too difficult for me! I'm not likely to make a fortune so I don't have them in an ISA. Each online transaction is about £10 (I think, been a while since I bought any!)

[RabbieBurns]

If you were still UK based I’d recommend www.iweb-sharedealing, a First class fixed cost service. But I’m sure you’ll find something more “local” though

 

Whoever you choose to be your online broker - make sure they also have a backup phone service that you can trade over, its “funny” how many times the internet goes down at a crucial time!

 

For emulating I think ADVFN.COM are about the best real-time share price provider, you can set up a portfolio and watch it (whether you have the shares or not). The free service gives you tones of historical data and charts plus forums. A lot of other online price sites are 15 minuets delayed – which is a lifetime when things start moving.

 

I can also recommend a fantastic book called the naked trader (I’ve got a feeling you’ll remember the authors name without any problems:) )

 

Good luck.

Ah I forgot I wrote that book

 

Cheers.. will have a play at the emulating game, once Ive got my virtual million Ill dabble with the real thing.

 

Not really got much to invest just now just a couple of grand but will see how I go...

[tech_guy]

I do daily trades with some shares. A handy site to look at and subscribe to is the Motley Fool (Fool.co.uk: Stock Investing Advice | Stock Research). I've picked up some good tips on there over the years.

 

They have a good section on getting started.

[Kipling]

There’s also the naked trader website to go with his book, he lists all his trades along with profit/loss; its quite revitalizing to see odd losses from someone who’s clearly a skilled trader – it makes you feel better when your own latest “sure thing” takes its inevitable nosedive:)

[FN-GM]

Just be careful, there is a maths teacher at our place who does shares. He is currently £13,000 down

[mattx]

Just be careful, there is a maths teacher at our place who does shares. He is currently £13,000 down

 

http://www.gifbin.com/bin/1232550426_worf%20face%20palm.gif

[SimpleSi]

With amateur share dealing you either got to be lucky or have some information/belief that others don't in order to make money.

 

Now - if you've got the information that others don't - you should make loads of money.

 

If your beliefs on future trends turn out to be true you'll also usually win.

 

If your lucky - great.

 

but if not.....

 

regards

 

Simon

[vikpaw]

With amateur share dealing you either got to be lucky or have some information/belief that others don't in order to make money.

 

Now - if you've got the information that others don't - you should make loads of money.

 

...

 

I think that is deemed insider trading and is highly illegal (the worst kind of illegal )

 

Amateurs have the same access to information as any other trader, what they lack is skill and experience in determining trends and most importantly impact of the myriad financial factors that influence the markets. Fund managers have the luxury of commanding huge sums and being able to buy/sell large volumes to capitalise on relatively small profits.

 

The easiest way to invest for a beginner is to buy units in a managed fund, and so take advantage of the professional's skill with less risk. If you dabble as an amateur, unless you have lots of time to study the markets and can afford to have the money tied up until you make a profit, it's always going to be a luck thing.

 

For anyone interested in playing, don't forget that you need to look into capital gains tax, as, you can't just buy low and sell big hoping the government isn't going to want it's share - but you have to make over 10k before that kicks in.

 

A fun thing to do, is to go for shares, where there are some kickbacks / shareholder benefits, e.g. Cadbury's used to give free tickets to their factory, you could get a free shot of whiskey at a distillery, discount at hotels with IHG etc. I think Martin of moneysavingexpert.com had a guide on it or there was one out there, sometimes you only need to own 1 share. The problem with this is that they have to be bought and certificated, not bought online so the fees are higher, also the fee will seem higher as a percentage if you are only buying the minimum one/25/50 shares. I think you used to be able to buy 1 share in Ferrari and get the certificate in a frame from firebox or something like that.

[Hightower]

My shares are sorted by a PFA (my brother haha). Basically, he said do you want low/medium/high risk shares, I said high, and he did the rest. They are managed by an account manager which costs no more than £50 per year. The first couple of years I made a loss with the recession, but as advised I put more and more money in, and I got the statement the other month to see I've gained by nearly £2000 in the last 12 months (on an account with £5000 in!).

 

I tried the DIY way before, but was a pain trying to keep up with it. Now a professional does it for me and I don't have to worry. I'd seriously recommend that if you wanted to do this to do it the 'easy' way. Also, may sound obvious, but don't put EVERYTHING you have into shares. They can be seriously high risk and it always pays to have other forms of saving/investment too.

[witch]

mrwITch and I use the motley fool site and find it quite useful. the best thing to do is to start small with a bit of money that you 'could' lose if push came to shove. Play around with that for a bit before you really start using money that you cannot afford to lose Edited June 19, 2010 by witch

[DSapseid]

I use The Share Centre | Buy & Sell Shares With A Share Account for dealing in shares. You can pay a quarterly fee to get reduced trade fees as well. Really easy to use website and they are very helpful on the phone as well. You can also set up a practise account with £15k in it to play with first. I got mine to in excess of £23k in about a month despite dropping to £11k at one stage.

 

My stepdad does this for a living now he has retired and last year made a profit of a 1/3 of his origanal investment. He bought the sharescope software ShareScope - the UK's Best Investment and Trading Software and it is brilliant!! if you pay for level 2 it gives you live trading room floor pricing and you can watch the way the lines are moving and decide whether to jump ship or to hang tight!

 

If you dont want to pay for the software then the yahoo finance charts are some of the best as you can edit them to add bolinger bands etc. The google finance gives you a weekly news as to what companies are going to be releasing there results this week and also in the next couple of weeks so you can jump on if they are going to be good results and make a very quick profit!! My record is £800 in 3mins.

 

Another good website is London South East - Stock Quotes, Charts, Trade History, Share Chat, Financial Terms Glossary as you can look at all the chat and reports for companies and also add all your shares to one portfolio so you can see how your doing at one quick glance.

[Rydra]

About 10 years ago while I was still in school (!) there was a virtual trading site running, i've long since lost the address to it, but it ran directly off the yahoo financial feeds.

 

I actually found it quite fun as a teenager! The thing to remember, is there's no such thing as a "Get rich" scheme, be it quick or over a long period of time. You can play on the margin's, which can be high risk, and the potential profits if done right can be great. Or you can play on investment over time.

Buying into a football club, BP, or if you'd been a poor bugger with shares in Rover, would be likely a bad move. Investing in larger companies, such as Google, Microsoft, or other companies tied to new technology will likely be a good move over a longer period of time.

 

I am actually eyeing up AMD shares, and wondering if I can get in on those; they slumped last year big time, but have been rising fairly steadily since; the fact that they now have some tech on the market that doesn't suck is helping rather a lot!

[TechMonkey]

Sorry to go slightly off topic but if you just want an investing medium not specifically shares you could try something like Zopa. Basically a community bank where you put money in, set a rate you want to receive and away it goes. Meant to be about 8% at the moment. Not risk free but your risk is minimised by no single person lending all the money, they split the loan across a few people. Been around for a fair few years so not fly by night.

 

Just an option.

[joe90bass]

My copy of the naked trader arrived Wednesday, and I have to say it is a good easy read. I've also now signed up on ADVFN (free), the book has been a help in getting me started on here to.

[SimpleSi]

Play around with that for a bit before you really start using money that you cannot afford to lose

 

Can I just say that people should NEVER invest money that you cannot afford to lose.

 

People are talking here like its some sort of game/make money - you basically only make money if someone else loses it - and vice versa.

 

You hear much more from people who've made money - the ones that didn't tend to keep quiet.

 

For an example, I had a spell of online poker gambling - did really well on the practice tables - did really well on low stakes (moved from £25 to £34 over a month ) so I decided to move up and had lost my entire £25 in about a week.

 

And if you think that margins dealing is different from online poker then you've not got a good grasp of the situation!

 

Work to earn money until you make millions and then invest it in something that gives you a return and keeps other people in works as well

 

regards

 

Simon

 

I've never lost money on share dealing BTW - but that's only because I was given the initial shares for free in the first place!

[joe90bass]

Work to earn money until you make millions and then invest it in something that gives you a return and keeps other people in works as well

 

regards

 

Simon

 

 

I only work in the day to enable me to do my real job, that of a musician