You select the stock you wish to own and place your order with the brokerage either by phone or online electronically. The brokerage makes the trade for you, usually within seconds.
The shares that you buy are kept on file at the brokerage. Many companies no longer issue certificates for shares but keep track electronically.
When or if your company issues a dividend, it goes directly to your account.
Scottrade if very inexpensive at $7 per trade. You may be able to find a broker that charges less, but not by much. It you want to buy one share that costs around $15 per share, your trading cost will ruin your investment. You would need the price to double just to break even for buying and then selling it.
If the share is several hundred dollars per share then the cost for one may be okay.
I recommend buying at least a thousand dollars worth of stock at a time to keep the brokerage commission to a low percentage of your cost.
You can get more information at the brokerage websites.
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It is very impractical to buy one share of stock, at least most stocks. Even an online broker will want $500 minimum to open an account. Then you pay $7 commission on a buy no matter how big or small (that is scottrade's price which is pretty low) Let's say you buy one share of Ford at $10.84 per share. You pay another 75 cents commission - that doesn't seem like a big deal, but you have lost money until Ford goes up to $11.59. That is a big jump. Save your money in a bank account for now and when you get to $2,000 or so, then open a brokerage account.
Yes, it's good online business buying and selling share of stocks, but only for those who have a lot money. It's like gambling. Anything could be happen. You could earn more money in few days by investing your money in stock or could loose your whole saving money in few hours. So it is better to save your money in a bank in fixed deposit or in some insurance plans.
You need to open an account with a stockbroker. Can be done online.
etrade.com
you need a bank account to transfer money into your etrade account and then start buying stock.
it is that easy.
How do you buy a share of stock? I want to invest in stocks to prepare for myself financially when I get old. I just want to start off by buying one share of stock. How do you go about doing something like that? Is it something you do online?
