Investing experiment

jupiterpig · #1 07-25-2007, 08:52 PM

I know that you usually need to have a lot of money to invest, like $5000 or more, to get a good return but I want to treat this as a learning experience to see how things work and maybe learn a little about investing in general. I have some money that I have made on the side playin poker that I want to "learn" with. It is only $500, so obviously I can not afford stocks like Apple or Google, but I am looking to invest maybe in the Semiconductors or Alternative Energy area. I have done some research based on some reading and have seen stocks like FSLR (First Solar) which cost too much but have increased 5X in the past 6 months. Also, there are other alternative energy and semiconductor stocks that are in the 10 - 20$ range, which is where I would be looking. Some of these include Ascent Solar Technologies, Intel, and Duke Energy to name a few. I was wondering if you would have any suggestions for stocks in these areas that would be good to "learn" with, and possibly make a little money. Thanks in advance for the help.

BTW I have plenty of money in savings and CD's so i know about the earnings there but like i said, i want to do this to learn something!

kimchi · #2 07-25-2007, 09:54 PM

All you'll learn is that you can't overcome the expenses of investing if you start with $500.

I suggest you create a simulated portfolio and trade/invest with that. If you can show profits with reasonable risk, then you can invest some of your saved money.

jupiterpig · #3 07-25-2007, 11:24 PM

What if I were to create an account at like ameritrade and invest all in one company for the 6.99 or whatever and then let it sit there and see what happens??

Shoe · #4 07-25-2007, 11:35 PM

[ QUOTE ]
What if I were to create an account at like ameritrade and invest all in one company for the 6.99 or whatever and then let it sit there and see what happens??

[/ QUOTE ]

I would suggest using Zecco with such a small amount of money. Free trades ($0 commission).

emon87 · #5 07-26-2007, 12:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
What if I were to create an account at like ameritrade and invest all in one company for the 6.99 or whatever and then let it sit there and see what happens??

[/ QUOTE ]

You'd have a decent chance of losing most of your capital through bad luck, but it's only $500 so go for it if you want. But you won't learn a whole lot from just picking one stock...

jupiterpig · #6 07-26-2007, 11:27 AM

[ QUOTE ]
All you'll learn is that you can't overcome the expenses of investing if you start with $500.

I suggest you create a simulated portfolio and trade/invest with that. If you can show profits with reasonable risk, then you can invest some of your saved money.

[/ QUOTE ]

Took the advice and made a "simulated portfolio" on Google, thanks for the advice I think ill learn a lot!