That's about it Each trade at SCOTTRADE cost $7.00, thats at purchase and when sold. You'll have to open an account with an amount your conjfortable with, probably $500. minimum but more if you can. You go to their site and follow the instructions and BUY AAPL. Your account balance should cover the total. AAPL pays a dividend so quarterly you'll get the dividend added to your cash balance. I wouldn't jump in with 50G for starters nor would I buy 1 share. Watch the market and get some experience before jumping in with both feet.

For stock broker commissions to NOT kill you, you can invest as little as $500 at a place like Tradeking.com that only charge $4.95 per trade - you could but 5 shares of Apple for about $500

You would pay the price of the stock at the instant your order was put through, not the day's closing price,

In addition to the cost of the stock, you pay a commission to the broker.

you have the math correct

remember, the cost to trade is around $8 a trade, so it costs just the same to do 500 shares as it does to buy one share.

I am planning on investing, but I have no idea on how it works. I am trying to educate myself first before I give it a try.

how does it work?

how much can I invest?

apple's stock were at 99.62 at closing today. does that mean that I could purchase a share for that price?

if I wanted to purchase 500 shares @ 99.62 I would need to invest around $50,000 +?

enlighten me.