Research, Research, ‘Life research’!! Everywhere you go, everything you read, everything you see/hear on TV…there is always a clue to a good stock, a new product, an emerging trend, something you and your friends now use or would like to use. I call this “Life Research”.
What makes you happy? What are you interested in?
Building - Cosmetics - Clean Energy - Education - Electronics - Food - Gardening - Hotels - Hybrids - Kid Stuff - Lithium Batteries - Medical Discoveries - Mobile Web Apps - Pet Products - Pure Water - Recycling -Shopping - Travel - Video Games ... You name it, there is a company that makes it, and many are touting their commitment to Green. Green.
Open an account with one of the many internet trading companies available; E-Trade, Ameritrade, Scottrade, ING, etc. I prefer E-Trade because their customer service is simply outstanding. Their financial screens are easy to use and navigate, and I can buy or sell a stock in 15 seconds. All of my stock symbols are listed on one screen in ‘Portfolios’ making it easy to spot a stock I want to buy more of… or sell.
Note: There is usually no minimum to open an account. $200 - $500 is a good place to start,
Trading Fees range between $4 and $12. The fee is the same if you buy 10 shares or 10,000 shares. This fee is added to each trade, whether you buy or sell.
‘Earnings’ shows if the Company is/was making money, using graphs.
‘Fundamentals’ shows growth rate, # employees, contacts, website address etc.
‘Analyst Research’ provides Analyst’s useful insight to most stocks.
Find the Stock Symbol for those companies you noted during your Life Research. You can do this using your trading account, ‘Stocks & Quotes Tab’, or any of the search engines (Yahoo etc). I prefer to use Google, as other relevant info about the company will show up also.
In the Google ‘Search Box’ type in (sample) Active Power Inc, Stock Symbol’.
Various links to Active Power Inc. will come up with the stock symbol ACPW. Active Power designs and manufactures power and infrastructure solutions designed to deliver
continuous power during power disturbances and outages, voltage sags and surges, and provide ride-through power in the event of utility failure. As of December 31, 2011, it had shipped more than 3,200 flywheels in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system installations, delivering more than 800 megawatts of power to customers in 42 countries globally.. During the year ended December 31, 2011, 42% of its product revenue came from the sale of UPS systems.
Check this easy math:
June 02, 2009 ACPW shares
were at 59 cents. By mid October the stock was at $1.25 so I sold most of it for ,
a profit of over 100%. .... eight days later the stock was at $1.42. So I kicked myself a bit! Currently it is down to 72 cents and I'm watching it with a view to buying in again. Nov. 04, 2012.
Note: On my “Risk Scale” of 1 – 10 (RS/1 being the least risk) I consider ACPW an RS/7, as clean energy companies are having a rough time these days, even with the knowledge growing daily that global warming is a very real threat. This risk is balanced out with a bank stock, for instance BBX (Bank Atlantic).
Bank Atlantic is the Florida bank that was the forerunner in staying open late and on weekends. BBX stock was over $15 in 2008. It took a beating along with the other banks, and by March 2009, BBX shares were at $2.11. Soon after I bought BBX it took a dive to 90 cents, giving me quite a scare. Holding tight, I watched it go back up in May 2009, to $3.83.
To sell and take profits would seem an easy choice, however I decided to continue buying BBX whenever it dipped. BBX was recently acquired by BB&T and the stock is now $6.62 I consider BBX a long term RS/4.
Clean & Green Energy is still an ‘emerging industry,’ struggling to get on it’s feet in the U.S. so be patient.
I will continue to buy these new Clean & Green Energy stocks for long term, and pray they grow and find funding as money becomes available again. Clean Air, Energy and Fuel benefit
all of us worldwide. You, Me, our Families and Friends ~ Everyone!
GirlStocks ~ EasyStep # 4
Onscreen Research: Click on ‘Quotes & Research’ tab on your trade account.
Type in the ‘Stock Symbol’ of the Company you want to buy… YES, you are buying part of that Company…so choose companies you really like.
Click on ‘Snapshot’ screen to see an Overview of the company…
and percent the stock is going up or down that day); Volume; (How many shares are
being traded that day).
decide that you do like the idea of buying and selling stocks.
Your Onscreen Research, together with your Life Research… when you are seeing and hearing everything around you, evaluating new trends and products that fill a need, a niche or an itch…
these are the KEYS to finding potential winning companies.
Buying and Selling Stocks: Now for the fun part!
When you have reviewed all of the info and decide which stock/stocks you want to BUY...,
Log On to your Trade Account home page. Type the Stock Symbol in the ‘Quotes’ search box.
Click 'GO'.
You will be on the company 'Snapshot' screen with 'Buy/Sell' option on the right side of the screen.
Note: Whenever your stock is on the screen there will be a 'Buy/Sell' tab available.
1. Click on BUY: A small screen will appear with the stock Name, + current Market Price.
2.
Order Type:
Box should
say
‘Buy’… (If it says
“Sell”,
change it)!
3.
Shares:
Type
in number of Shares
you want to buy, e.g. 200.
4.
Price Type:
In
the dropdown, select
‘Market’. (‘Term’ is OK at
‘good
for the day’ ).
5.
Click on
PREVIEW
ORDER:
Review
Info!
Number of
Shares,
Price + Fee = Cost.
(See left bottom corner of
screen for Change/Cancel options).
CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU HAVE BOUGHT YOUR STOCK!
