<p>I am interested in business and in the stock market. About an hour ago I was given $500 to play with in the market. So what can you do with $500? If that is enough to do some noobwork, where do I start? I know practically nothing about the market, but I would love to learn.</p>
<p>Invest in Enron</p>
<p>@primetimekin</p>
<p>LMAO</p>
<p>Do not invest in AAPL, GOOG, or any of the major companies. I made the mistake of buying 10 shares of AAPL a few weeks ago, I wish I hadn’t.</p>
<p>“Buy low, sell high” <— LIVE IT</p>
<p>Do not buy at the company’s all time low, but do not sell at their all time high.</p>
<p>What companies do you have faith in? What’s important to you? Remember to diversify. Let’s say you buy Intel shares-- be sure to buy Intel’s competitors too, because only one can end on top. </p>
<p>I just recently started toying with the stock market, it’s pretty exciting once you get the hang of it :]</p>
<p>Unless you understand the fundamentals of evaluating the the value of a stock, plus the fundamentals driving the market as a whole, then please don’t put any money into stocks. Buy a CD or invest the money into books that will teach you how to evaluate financial instruments.</p>
<p>By the way, if you have the cash to just burn and it doesn’t matter then I would throw the money at a start-up company. You have a good chance of losing everything, but there’s also a small chance you get a 500-5000% ROI.</p>
<p>I’d invest in BP right now, I bought 200 shares at $27/each, they’re not going to go bankrupt with all of their military & government contracts.</p>
<p>I have a rare investment opportunity that guarantees you a return of 80%! interested? :)</p>
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Holy **** hahahahahaha. This is an instant ****ing classic.</p>
<p>Are there any well-known guides or anything else that I should start reading?</p>
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</p>
<p>Here’s a well known guide on what not to do. Don’t throw all your money into one sector or you’ll get systematically raped.</p>
<p>
Care to elaborate, Copernicus?</p>
<p>
Well, I think you’ll find that there are a lot of different perspectives about where you should start.</p>
<p>There are people who think that investing in low-cost index funds are the best way to build a good long-term portfolio:
[Bogleheads</a> :: View topic - Investment Planning](<a href=“Investment Planning - Bogleheads.org”>Investment Planning - Bogleheads.org)</p>
<p>Here’s an “investing classroom” website that gives an okay survey of basic investing topics:
[Morningstar</a> 101 - New Investor Center - MSN Money](<a href=“http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/learn-how-to-invest/morningstar-101.aspx]Morningstar”>http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/learn-how-to-invest/morningstar-101.aspx)</p>
<p>Here’s an article from the Motley Fool - it’s a bit more practical as to how you might start investing: [Start</a> Investing](<a href=“http://www.fool.com/teens/teens05.htm]Start”>http://www.fool.com/teens/teens05.htm)</p>
<p>You might have already seen these sites looking around on your own, though. They’re all pretty reputable.</p>
<p>If I were starting out with $500, I guess I’d look for an index fund with low costs and a low initial investment requirement. I don’t have first-hand experience with ETFs, though that could be an option for indexing too. But I guess I’m assuming that you want to make this the beginning of a portfolio for the long run, something that you can keep adding to for a while (and potentially draw from during retirement - you might want to look into investing in funds through a Roth IRA if that’s the direction you’re headed in).</p>
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Actually, I have my own bank account with a lot more money in it. I may put that toward something long term low risk, but this $500 was given to me solely to see what I can do with risky investments. The person who gave it to me said it is not a big deal if I lose it. So what I am trying to do is high return, high risk, short-term. Any advice in that department?</p>
<p>Take my advice, simply put the money is a savings account. You should have a reserve of one year’s living expenses before you even worry about where to invest excess money.</p>
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I already have a savings account with my own money in it. I was given $500 solely for short-term, high risk, active investment. It doesn’t matter if I lose it.</p>
<p>Put all $500 into July puts for BP.</p>
<p>If you do not care about the $500 meaning you do not care if you lose it all. Play around with penny sticks then, they can be fun but come with high risk.</p>
<p>I second cheap penny stocks. It really doesn’t take much to get upwards of a 500% return for an up and coming company.</p>
<p>I would also think about investing in BP soon. A quick yahoo finance check shows it’s pretty much at it’s 52 week low, but I might wait until it climbs to 34-35 to buy. </p>
<p>As a general rule, look for companies with a large dividend. Larger dividends mean larger payouts to shareholders.</p>
<p>Perhaps watch Jim Cramer’s Mad Money, although alot of bull **** is thrown around.</p>
<p>Lotto Tickets</p>