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overanalyzer

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2007
909
0
Boston, MA USA
Any brokerage account will do... I'd recommend checking into ShareBuilder, as they have cheap fees and allow purchasing partial shares and investing regularly over time in case you don't have a lot to invest or want to dollar cost average, which is always a good idea for long-term investing.
 

ucfgrad93

macrumors Core
Aug 17, 2007
19,532
10,820
Colorado
I use TD Ameritrade. There are several places to buy them online cheap. Scott Trade, E-Trade, just to name a couple of others.
 

j26

macrumors 68000
Mar 30, 2005
1,724
612
Paddyland
You can send me the money and I'll buy them for you ;)


The easiest way is to walk into your bank and ask about their share dealing service. All of the major High Street banks should have it Or if you fancy searching online there will be online brokers - shop about for fees as they can vary.

Both of these are usually "execution only" services - you put in the order and they put it through their stockbrokers. They don't offer any advice, merely acting as middlemen in the transaction. If you feel you need advice, expect to pay a lot more.
 

00hkelly

macrumors 6502
Nov 15, 2006
259
0
although i have never bought from them http://www.iii.co.uk is a good site that i visit regularly.

talk to people if you can, there is basically no negative to this.

a brokerage is definitely the best if you want advice, but if it is just a few shares probably best to do it yourself as the commission is quite a lot if you are not going to be using their services a lot.
 

portent

macrumors 6502a
Feb 17, 2004
623
2
If you're not sure what you're up to, you might be better off walking into Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Halifax or somewhere like that.

If you're not sure what you're up to, you shouldn't be investing. The stock market is not a game.

If you want to play an expensive game, I'd suggest blackjack at your local casino.
 

Addy1975

macrumors newbie
Aug 8, 2007
14
0
ShareTrade

...I live in the UK, and i use ShareTrade to buy AAPL shares. All you need to do is register, then they will send you a form to allow you to buy US shares, you complete, and send back, then you can upload money into your ShareTrade account and away you go.

IMO - now is a very good time to buy AAPL shares - next week - Jan 22nd is the quarter earnings report
 

00hkelly

macrumors 6502
Nov 15, 2006
259
0
If you're not sure what you're up to, you shouldn't be investing. The stock market is not a game.

If you want to play an expensive game, I'd suggest blackjack at your local casino.

its certainly not something to see as a guaranteed way of growing money. And it is possible to loose a lot of money fairly quickly.

saying that, everybody has to start somewhere. Read around the markets a lot. http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL if its just a casual investment, as long as you keep an eye on them, you shouldn't find yourself in too much danger.

never invest what you can't afford to loose.
 

00hkelly

macrumors 6502
Nov 15, 2006
259
0
...I live in the UK, and i use ShareTrade to buy AAPL shares. All you need to do is register, then they will send you a form to allow you to buy US shares, you complete, and send back, then you can upload money into your ShareTrade account and away you go.

IMO - now is a very good time to buy AAPL shares - next week - Jan 22nd is the quarter earnings report

do you mean self trade, hadn't heard of them before but the ensuing google didn't return anything.
 

hishat

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2007
178
8
United Kingdom
If you're not sure what you're up to, you shouldn't be investing. The stock market is not a game.

If you want to play an expensive game, I'd suggest blackjack at your local casino.

little do you know my friend...

little do you know...

for the guys who answered my question. much appreciated!
 

kellen

macrumors 68020
Aug 11, 2006
2,387
68
Seattle, WA
little do you know my friend...

little do you know...

for the guys who answered my question. much appreciated!

Think he was just saying if you can't figure out how to purchase shares, how are you going to make money in the stock market.

Makes sense to me. Best of luck though!
 

applgeek

macrumors member
Jul 1, 2008
47
0
bakersfield, CA
I use e-trade.

I hope you are getting shares for show and nothing else. Apple has been doing pretty badly lately. If you want to invest, mutual funds are your best bet, but I recommend making an appointment with a known broker.
 

jeffy.dee-lux

macrumors 6502a
Nov 19, 2003
721
0
montreal
meh, you can know a lot about an industry and which company holds long term promise without knowing anything about how to buy stock. I wouldn't buy Apple stock now though, I would have back in 2000 or so, but I was only 15. I don't see all that much room for them to grow right now.

Ford on the other hand, their stocks are damn cheap now, and they've actually started to show some promise with their most recent unveilings, new Fusion, Fusion hybrid, new Taurus, new Fiesta... If I knew where to go, I'd pop 100 bucks on Ford right now and hope for the best. So apparently I should be able to go to my local bank branch?
 

thisonechance

macrumors regular
Feb 22, 2007
135
0
Chicago, IL
I actually purchased some Ford right as it was hitting bottom just a short time ago. I figured since it was so cheap, even if the bottom did fall out from under it, I wouldn't be out too much cash.

It is fun to pick up some "penny shares" every now and then and see what they can do.
 

aethelbert

macrumors 601
Jun 1, 2007
4,287
0
Chicago, IL, USA
Ford? Buying stock in a company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Great advice.
Well, it's not like you have to invest your entire life savings in it. Picking up super cheap stocks in low quantity can often be worth the risk. If it fails, you don't lose much; if it doesn't, the recovery will eventually produce huge gains.
 

MBPDiva

macrumors regular
Nov 1, 2008
173
0
on Orion's Belt
I recall sitting in my broker's office not too long ago (3 months to be exact) and he told me AAPL stock was selling at $100 a share. I shook my head no and I'm happy I did. Now AAPL stock is worth $82 and some change. :D
 

jeffy.dee-lux

macrumors 6502a
Nov 19, 2003
721
0
montreal
Ford? Buying stock in a company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Great advice.

actually, if you read much of the automotive press, you'd know that Ford isn't actually doing all that bad. They've actually gained market share for the past three months, as Toyota, Honda and Nissan have all had tremendous drops in sales lately. Meanwhile, Ford's unveiled a lot of promising new product over the past two months, while Toyota showed us a new Prius and a slightly reskinned Camry, Honda has a new Insight which is impressive, but the midsize sedans are the bread and butter. Right now Ford has impressive new offerings in that segment, whereas the Accord and Camry are old designs. I'm not saying Ford's about to knock them off the top of the sales charts, but there's plenty of room to grow, and that's why buying stock now that they're pretty much rock bottom makes sense to me.

And like it was said, you don't need to pour your life savings into it, the economy could still even get worse, in which case the the entire American manufacturing industry could collapse for all I know. Anyway, all that to say, I"d have much more faith in Ford stock than Apple right now.
 

IJ Reilly

macrumors P6
Jul 16, 2002
17,909
1,496
Palookaville
Well, it's not like you have to invest your entire life savings in it. Picking up super cheap stocks in low quantity can often be worth the risk. If it fails, you don't lose much; if it doesn't, the recovery will eventually produce huge gains.

So long as you don't bet more than you can afford to lose. I bought AAPL in 1997, but their position then wasn't nearly as dire as Ford's is today.
 
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