Apples Shares

[Shaun.P]

I'm 17 years old, I'll be 18 on 14th May, I have around £70, and I'd like to buy some shares, I think in Apple.

I'm a little confused on how to go about this, and I'm confused to what a 'single share' of Apple Computer costs - its it $30 dollars? I always thought shares cost pennies, like 10p or something

the Company posted a net profit of $290 million, or $.34 per diluted share.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Another thing, I like in the UK (most specifically Scotland), where do I buy shares - a bank?

TIA!

Whoops I've posted in the wrong forum.

 

[clayj]

You buy stocks through brokerages, either bricks-and-mortar or online. Brokerages make their money through transactions fees they collect from you each time you buy or sell, so you will want to do some homework and find someone who's not gonna screw you over for fees... especially since with £70, you're only going to be able to buy 3, maybe 4 shares of stock. (Apple's at $36.57 right now, so let's say 3 shares.)

In the UK, share prices are usually listed in pence, IIRC, even if the stock is worth more than £1 per share. (For example, 290p = £2.90.) In the US, stocks used to be listed in dollars and fractions (1 7/8, 36 5/8, etc.), but we underwent our own little decimalization a few years ago and now it's all just dollars and cents (no fractional cents).

 

[mfacey]

I'm 17 years old, I'll be 18 on 14th May, I have around £70, and I'd like to buy some shares, I think in Apple.

I'm a little confused on how to go about this, and I'm confused to what a 'single share' of Apple Computer costs - its it $30 dollars? I always thought shares cost pennies, like 10p or something



Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Another thing, I like in the UK (most specifically Scotland), where do I buy shares - a bank?

TIA!

Whoops I've posted in the wrong forum.

Buying shares is a lot of fun and a great experience. However, for 70 pounds it really isn't worth it. The cheapest transaction costs I've ever come across were $10 per transaction. So that's like 5+ pounds. The rates you can expect to pay at a brokerage or bank will be considerably higher. So think about it: You'll be paying 5+ pounds when you buy and 5+ pounds when you sell which leaves you with very little to invest. You'll have to make quite a profit to cover for these costs too! I'd save up a little more and only invest if you're willing to take the risk and accept the fact that you might end up with less than you started!

Do some good thinking first!

 

[killuminati]

I'm also going to be investing in Apple but I was told by my Dad to wait.

 

[~Shard~]

I applaud your attitude, but you really need more money than that to make it worth your while. If you bought 3 shares in Apple, you would only make $3 for every $1 the stock went up. Meanwhile, your brokerage fees for buying and selling would be way higher, so you really have to look at the percentages.

When I bought Apple last year I bought 300 shares @ 28.50, so for every $1 the stock moved up I would make $300. Selling at $41.50 made me a nice profit. However if I had only had 3 shares at the time, a $13 gain like that would have only got me $39. It's relative in a way to how much you invest, and the percentages, but still, you have to be educated and know what you're doing and what is the best use for your money.

 

[AppleMatt]

Remeber shares go down aswell as up, past performance isn't solid grounds to base a decision on. The stock market goes forwards not backwards.

AppleMatt

 

[clayj]

I applaud your attitude, but you really need more money than that to make it worth your while. If you bought 3 shares in Apple, you would only make $3 for every $1 the stock went up. Meanwhile, your brokerage fees for buying and selling would be way higher, so you really have to look at the percentages.

This is a very good point, and one I was hesitant to make. Buying only three shares or so, the commissions to buy and sell are going to represent a substantial fraction of your investment... in fact, you will lose a good chunk of your money when you first buy the shares, and again when/if you sell them down the road. You're really not going to make much money by buying only a few shares.

Now, if you are just interested in owning a piece of Apple, then that's cool... but this is more of a symbolic investment than an actual money-making investment.

 

[MongoTheGeek]

This is a very good point, and one I was hesitant to make. Buying only three shares or so, the commissions to buy and sell are going to represent a substantial fraction of your investment... in fact, you will lose a good chunk of your money when you first buy the shares, and again when/if you sell them down the road. You're really not going to make much money by buying only a few shares.

Now, if you are just interested in owning a piece of Apple, then that's cool... but this is more of a symbolic investment than an actual money-making investment.

If you are interested in something like that to own the one share take a look at the google ads. There is one down there for a company that sells a framed stock share.

As for investment. At that level bonds and cds may be the best way to invest. Mutual funds could be another. Some banks do investment with great deals if you do an automatic fund transfer in.

 

[~Shard~]

This is a very good point, and one I was hesitant to make. Buying only three shares or so, the commissions to buy and sell are going to represent a substantial fraction of your investment... in fact, you will lose a good chunk of your money when you first buy the shares, and again when/if you sell them down the road. You're really not going to make much money by buying only a few shares.

Now, if you are just interested in owning a piece of Apple, then that's cool... but this is more of a symbolic investment than an actual money-making investment.

Exactly. I even cringe sometimes when I have to pay $25 for a limit order through my online trading account, and then end up only making $450 on a trade. I have to pay $25 in, $25 out, so $50 in total, and even though I cleared $400, I have to pay the borkerage $50, which is over 10% commission fees! Ah well, you have to spend money to make money....

 

[~Shard~]

Remeber shares go down aswell as up, past performance isn't solid grounds to base a decision on. The stock market goes forwards not backwards.

AppleMatt

Yep, an excellent rule to remember. Another good one is that the stock market owes you NOTHING.

 

[calyxman]

At your age and with the money you have I would not even be thinking about buying shares in any company. Put life's priorities first That money could be used for buying books for school, paying tuition, and so forth.

 

[rdowns]

At your age and with the money you have I would not even be thinking about buying shares in any company. Put life's priorities first That money could be used for buying books for school, paying tuition, and so forth.

The fact that he is young and interested in investing is a good thing. Life priority #1 - pay yourself first! That advice has me in a position to retire within the next 6 years (I'm 42) and do anything I want.

 

[Shaun.P]

Thank you to everyone for the help.

Basically buying the shares was meant to be sort of fun, something like a hobby, but I think when I'm older, and have a full time job it is definetely something I want to pursue.

What makes stock go up and down?

For example, if Apple were to release PowerBook G5's today, would the price of shares go up? If Apple were to announce a new range of iPods today, would the price go up?

What factors determine if stock goes up or down?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[AppleMatt]

Thank you to everyone for the help.

Basically buying the shares was meant to be sort of fun, something like a hobby, but I think when I'm older, and have a full time job it is definetely something I want to pursue.

What makes stock go up and down?

For example, if Apple were to release PowerBook G5's today, would the price of shares go up? If Apple were to announce a new range of iPods today, would the price go up?

What factors determine if stock goes up or down?

Thanks for all your help.

There are two types of analyst, fundamental and technical. A fundamental analyst would say "The release of the Mac mini alongside new iTMS stores, combined with 10.4 Tiger will push shares up by 0.35. So buy AAPL now." whereas a technical analyst would say "shares have been increasing on average by 0.08 per day, however they are approaching their resistance level so do not buy AAPL/sell AAPL."

Basically: It's unpredictable, there is no science in trading (if there was a formula to earn money everyone would be doing it). Case in point, Apple recently did a stock split. Companies usually do this because the stock is reaching a point where people do not buy because they perceive it is too expensive (it's purely psychological, as it's all relative). It's also a way of 'silently' saying that you are confident in your own company.

So Apple have an excellent quarter, announcing things like the Mac mini, announce a stock split. Therefore logic would dictate that people think "wow, Apple are confident and it now costs me less to invest in AAPL" and the stock price soars, however it hasn't, most likely because AAPL was over valued.

My personal opinion is that I don't care why stock in a particular company has gone up or down, I just care what the effect on me is. Also, don't invest in pharmaceuticals.

You might want to google for things like "fundamental vs analyst", "stock market analysis" "resistance levels" "bull bear market" etc etc.

AppleMatt

 

[~Shard~]

You can also learn a lot at Investopedia - it's a good resource if nothing else. I've been trading for quite a few years now, and although I had great luck during the dot-bomb of 2000, I'm still learning everyday (and making mistakes), and I find the whole thing fun and fascinating.

 

[~Shard~]

<double post, server acted up I guess...>

 

[Dr.Gargoyle]

Hmm, as many previous posts already have pointed out, you need to invest much more money in stocks to make it worth while.
First of all, most brokers (where you buy the stocks) have minimum fee (courtage) that is between 0.1% to 0.25% of what you invest or something like $20 (also dependent with whom you buy from).
I would think twice about investing right now, since the market is very volatile (many ups and downs) right now. The interest have been rising lately, and will probably do so in the future too since the US deficit is .... well BAD. When the interest is rising, the stocks prices fall. (Nasdaq is down 11% this year)
Anyhow, if you really want to invest right now and you think the tech stocks will go up, I would suggest you pick a fund that focus on tech stocks. Much lower fees, and far more diversified (more than one stock).
My personal advise to you would be to wait. The stock prices depend solely on expectations. Just one hint from Jobs that the iPod sales arent selling as they use to do, and the stock will fall. Remember, that the Apple stock has gone up a LOT lately.
Given the big picture, deficit, interest, and many other factors, I would stay away from the market right now. I might have given another advice if you had much more money to play with. But in your situation, I would reconsider.
Ask yourself if you are OK with being without your money for e.g. five or ten years. If you do, ok invest. But if you don't, wait...
Just my humble opinion of course. I hoped it helped you some how

 

[Shaun.P]

Update

Well, here is a little update since I last posted.

I have opened myself a Halifax ShareBuilder Account, when you only pay £1.50 commission for a deal. This is because they only allow you to buy your shares 4 days out of the month, so when the bank goes to buy them, it can buy everyones at the same time.

I can only buy shares that tade on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) I think that is a shame, because I really wanted to buy shares in HP and IBM.

Anyway, I bought £25 of Tesco (the worlds biggest supermarket) and £25 of Lloyds TSB (a bank). I also forgot to mention, when I was younger, I had a bank account with the Leeds. The Halifax bought over the Leeds, and in return I got 200 shares. The Halifax later merged with the Bank of Scotland, and these shares are worth now £8 each! However they are in an account I own, however I still have to get it fully transfered over to me as my parents have control right now because I was a child when it got opened.

My dad was also telling me years ago he bought £1000 worth of shares in 'Greenwich Resources PLC' (getting 2860 shares) (@35p each). Years later I checked them online for him and they are only worth about 2.5p!!! So, worth only about £80.