IF you want to speculate on market movement by short term trading. QLD is tied to the nasdaqu and makes money when the market goes up. QID makes money when the market goes down. They are leveraged at 2x the market.
The advise to purchase an ETF such as DIA and SPY is very sound investing advise for someone who knows nothing about selecting stocks. However, we've had the longest bull market in history, I suspect we are near a market top. I'd hold my cash and wait for the market to pull back before entering.
You can buy more than 2 shares of APPLe, because the stock just split 7 to 1. Appl is considered priced below what its worth.
Also, go to www.money.msn.com (msn money website) and look at what they are doing with the stockscouter ratings. They rate stocks 1 to 10 on whether they are a good purchase or not. They also explain the fundamental and technical indicators on which there rating is based. This would be a handy tool to evaluate your three stocks.
So you want to "play on a stock." Kind of like blackjack, huh? I'm not a huge fan of any of your top three. Caterpillar is the worst of all - they make most of their money in mining, and commodities are going nowhere for the next 5 years or longer. McDonald's is okay, it pays a decent dividend and has some upward potential, but I almost see it as a utility stock at this point - buy and hold for 5 years and you will do okay with it. Apple is interesting, and I do own a bit of it. The new iphone-6 is coming out in fall and some big investor made a gigantic option bet that Apple would be over $700 by October. With all that money on it, it makes sense to own. However, you can only buy about 2 shares.
Starting your investing career with only that amount of money is really going to limit your choices.
But... If you are really liking those three stocks then you might want to think about some option strategies, such as a calender spread. It will allow you to invest in all three companies and make a good return if you are right about them. If not... it could wipe you out quicker.
You are going to need to find a strategy first and then plan around it. You don't have enough money to buy any stocks at this moment but here is always a way of making money in the stock market when you pick a couple of winners.
For the long term, buy the market, SPY, DIA. Not sexy, but steady (if the American stock market keeps on keeping on)
Stock tip? Facebook (FB). According to the "experts" the mobile market will be huge. FB is positioned to make a ton of money and their projected stock increase is 50 to 300% in the next couple of years. I bought some, but I have been wrong before.
Picking winners is difficult. (in 40 years you probably will agree with me)
You don't have enough money to have a diversified portfolio. So the only thing that makes since is an index ETF. Preferably a broad market ETF rather than a sector or specialized ETF.
Also look for one with a low expense ratio, such as: ITOT (IShares total US market) has a 0.07% expense ratio. There are others with low expenses, but you shouldn't buy any market ETF with an expense ratio over 0.1%.
I have about 1000-1500 dollars I want to play on a stock.
My 3 finalists include McDonalds, Apple, and Catepillar. I have also thought about petroleum.
What advise can you give, and what are 3 stocks you think are worth looking at?
