important are they in the stock market?

Open up a portfolio without using real money. You can give yourself as much or as little money to try out the market. The stocks you want to focus on is consumer staples, consumer discretionary, and healthcare. These are DEFENSIVE stocks that will survive through good and bad times. Most of my positions are in these stocks. Some names include 3M, Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Exxon Mobil, Walmart, Costco. Everybody's got to eat and wipe their butts regardless of the state of economy. Many of these companies survived through the Great Depression.

That's the benefits. You can sleep at night knowing your money is doing well. There are NO guarantees that you won't lose money. It's just that these stocks are the best. They pay good dividends too.

Then once you're comfortable and test the waters of the market, you can finally put some real money in. Go to Scottrade.com. They're excellent for beginners.

If you're new to stocks, DON'T DAY TRADE. You'll a rookie in a world of professionals. I tried day-trading with Citigroup and AIG when they were a little bit over $1. I had some luck at first, making about $30 a day but I was way over my head. My luck didn't last long and I had to rethink my strategy.

Day trading involves A LOT of commissions to the broker. With all the commissions deducted from each trade, you'll be lucky if you only lose half your money.

I would just day trade using Yahoo! Finance. Open a stimulation account, give yourself $100 worth of fake money and play it in the stimulation format. You'll see what I mean by losing money every easily.

I would just day trade using Yahoo! Finance. Open a stimulation account, give yourself $100 worth of fake money and play it in the stimulation format. You'll see what I mean by losing money every easily.




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