Picking Your First Stocks (For Beginners)

Picking your first stock can be a difficult and challenging task, and if you do not have the confidence in your ability to find a good stock, consider getting some help.

A few beginner tips for picking the right stocks and shares:

1) The first step when buying stocks is to do your research on what company to buy stocks in. Before picking a stock, you should find out some relevant details about the company such as the company type, management information, financial records, line of business, source of investment funds, etc.

2) After identifying the companies you are interested in, then you will need to do a financial analysis to assess their financial performance, debt level and the like. The price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) is probably the most widely used measure by many investors to value a company share. It measures a company's current share price against its earnings per share. Generally, a lower P/E ratio would indicate that a company stock is under-valued and a "good buy".

3) A well established stock investing forum is one of the best places to find stock picking advice and tips. There are many forum sites available for you to join and learn how to invest online, choosing stocks and reduce the risk while investing in the market.

* Next: How to Buy Stocks Easily

Author

Kelvin Wong Loke Yuen is a highly experienced education writer. He has obtained many certifications from the UK, USA, Australia and Canada, including an MBA and a Postgraduate Diploma from Heriot-Watt (UK's World-Class University) and a BCom degree from Adelaide (Australia’s Group of Eight University). Follow him on: LinkedIn