Buying shares how do I go about it?

[ladynade]

I am interested in buying shares - it seems to me that this could be a way of smart investing. But i don't know any women who do it and it doesn't seem a topic that friends are interested in talking about. Why does it seem so private and secretive? I am fascinated by it but it all seems a bit high brow and above me. I would like for example to buy shares in tesco or carphonewarehouse but I feel completely out of my depth - any ideas about where I could start?

ladynade, I am a fan of shares (or "equities" if you want to sound important) as one of the components of a well-balanced investment portfolio.

I use Edward Jones, but any IFA will do. If you are not looking for advice, and know exactly which shares you want to buy (as you have described), then I am sure you can buy them off share brokers or sites off the internet for much lower/no commission? - but I have no experience of this and maybe someone else will come along and advise.

From what I have gleaned, there are various investment strategies with shares. Stockpicking (buying specific shares) is the most risky and potentially rewarding. If you are the sort to watch the market, you can trade in them on a daily/frequent basis (but you got to know what you are doing) or if you have no time, buy to keep longterm once you have identified certain safe stocks.

Less risky is to buy into discretionary unit trusts (with an ISA wrapper for tax efficiencies) managed by a fund manager that makes the investment decisions. But these come with initial costs and annual management fees. My current preference, is to buy a tracker fund that just passively tracks specific stock indices (eg FTSE All-Share) - advantage is low management fees.

Bear in mind that if you/partner have a large pension, it is likely that most of it is in equities anyway, so to that extent, you already have exposure to shares.

Ahhh blueshoes!! I envy your finance speak! I will check into tracker funds tonight - I have bought shares with Walker Crips Stockbrokers for my son (the chartered trust fund money!) Poor thing-he doesn't know his mama hasn't really got a clue! But when I did my research it seemed like a good thing...got to take a risk though in life sometimes...
I phoned them up today and they said they could buy shares on my behalf if i just tell them how much I want to invest in the company-she said the tariffs were competitive-I better read the confusing small print though! She was talking of 1% but I'll have to wait till the stuff comes through to have a proper read.

Well done, ladynade. I wonder whether you can get lower than 1% commission though. If possible, you could still try to shop around. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable could enlighten.

that reminds me, i must check my share price.
i think im gonna be in the moany!!

yay! makes a bloody change!

I dabble, albeit in a very small way and am not rich yet as I don't really buy enough.

I started by reading the share pages in my daily newspaper (ehem Mail) and stuck with popular shares to start with, they are usually listed as the 20 top companies within the share prices.

From what I can see, the way to do it is to buy what they call 'penny shares' those under a pound and hope to hell they go up. The observer money magazine is a good buy for this. I also started off doing fantasy shares to see if would be any good. It does depend how much you want to invest and whether you want to sit back and watch growth. A good bet is a company whose assets match their worth.

Also if you are investing 1000's, the yield will give you a cheque every 6 months or so, even by you not doing anything.

I AM NOT an expert and have only been dabbling for a while so I am sure there will be someone who knows much more than me.

Your bank will possibly do you a good deal on buying & selling, if not google brokers. Hargreaves & Lansdown are reasonable and reputable.

ladynade, I also dabble in shares, albeit in a very small way due to lack of funds. What I would highly recommend is looking at the Daily Mail's thisismoney.co.uk stocks and shares talking point message board. These are a good way to learn the ropes - if you search old messages or just ask for help someone will help, (they are a very friendly bunch). Also you could start a power portfolio, this is basically a way to track your shares for a practice run for a few months to see how you get on.

I would highly recommend buying a book first or there are various web-sites that have learning areas, but I can't remember them now. Also look at the Halifax.co.uk website who I deal with, they have an option to buy shares at a pre-set date per month for just £1.50, (good to get you started), or if you ask on the thisismoney web-site they will tell you who they use to deal with. They all do it over the internet as it is cheaper and quicker and usually has a phone option also if you need advice, (although of course if you need advice this will cost you more). The most important thing with shares is knowing when to buy and sell - so don't rush in.
Hope that helps - I feel a bit of a nerd but it is quite addictive and you can make, or lose, a lot of money.

Yes, I want to "dabble", I'd like to make some money - but don't have wads of cash or experience yet- - yes the buying and selling part and knowing when to do it...when I look at those figures in the paper I just don't know what they mean...and I feel a fool asking someone to explain it as if I were a 5 year old! I am going to research everything you have all suggested

ladynade - suggest you look at posts on thisismoney a few days ago entitled spread betting. Sounds interesting if only got a little money to play with, (highly geared so can make a lot more than by buying shares normally). Obviously you have a lot to learn before actually buying, (don't mean to sound rude), do your homework first so you don't make a costly mistake first off. Whhen I have more time tonight I will look into the sites I used to learn - very interesting! When I have some spare money I intend to dabble quite a bit more{grin}.