Playing the stock market

[Nelli]

I would really like to play the stock market and learn about buying and selling the right shares at the right time, etc. However I do not have a clue where to start. It would be great if there were a guide book or similar, where I could get started, or somewhere i could get free, or, at the very worst, cheap advice. Any ideas?

[boncey]

The safest way to make money on the Stock Market is to go for long term growth. Trying to second-guess shares and make quick money is very difficult indeed - that's why the people who do it well get paid so much in the City. :-) Lots of sites give you general advice on good shares to buy, www.iii.co.uk, www.thisismoney.co.uk are two I use a lot.

[mozzer]

The best advice is the most obvious - stuff like "don't put all your eggs in one basket", "don't invest more than you are prepared to lose", etc. Boncey suggests iii, and you can register for free and set up portfolios and so on. I suggest you "paper trade" for a while, i.e., set up a portfolio of a few shares you fancy (without actually buying them!), see how it goes, see it your judgement appears sound. If it does, give it a whirl! But many people have doubts about where the market is heading. It's not an easy time to be starting out. Finally, iii have lots of bulletin boards about specific shares. These can be useful, but be very wary of "hot tips" and so forth - there are lots of sharks, liars, and plain stupid people out there (this is not iii's fault, obviously!) Good luck!

[grasshopper]

Take a look at the Motley Fool website (www.fool.co.uk), it's got a great range of things for playing with the Stock Market etc.

[grasshopper]

Oh yeah, and if you register, you get their (actually fairly entertaining) book of "UK INvestment Guide" which has been a great help to me and explains everything.