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Tips of the Trade
If you think the price of a stock you own might begin to decrease, you can attempt to protect profit or limit losses by placing a stop order.
If you're placing a buy stop order, your stop price should be higher than the prevailing market price. If you're placing a sell stop order, your stop price should be lower than the prevailing market price. Stop orders must be placed at least .10 below the current bid or above the current ask.
For complete instructions for placing a stop order, visit Placing Stop Orders in the Knowledge Center.
DIY Guide to Investing
Four Easy Steps to Your Investment Future
By Brian Combs, Scottrade Customer Support Specialist
The world of investing and trading can be an intimidating place for beginners. After you make that first deposit in your account, then what? How do you decide where to put your money? How do you know how long to leave it there?
When I talk to first-time investors, I get them started with four simple guidelines:
1. Set Your Goals
Knowing why you're investing and what you hope to achieve is the first step. Every investor's goals are different, which is why there's no single right answer when it comes to choosing investments. Start defining your goals with Scottrade's free calculators, found in the Knowledge Center.
Cost of Waiting Calculator - If you're not sure what to do with your investment funds, this calculator may help you decide how to make your money work for you! Plug in basic information such as the amount you're investing, your expected rate of return, and any monthly deposits you'll be making to get an estimate of your possible returns during any given time period.
For example, let's say your current savings value is $5,000, you expect to have your account improve by 6% per year and you make a monthly deposit to the account of $100. In ten years, your account could potentially grow to around $25,566. But, in that same scenario, if you decide to wait for four more years before you start investing, your account would only be worth $15,844, for a potential difference of $9,722!
Even if you're not considering waiting to invest, this calculator can be helpful. Play with different timeframes, monthly contributions and estimated returns to help you determine your goals and what it will realistically take to reach them.
Retirement Calculator - No matter your age, the retirement calculator can help you make sure you're on the right track toward your retirement goals. The calculator will ask you to estimate several factors such as your financial savings, your age, your investment allocation and your estimate of your retirement living expenses. You may not have all of this information right now, but typing different variations into the calculator can help you decide how you could meet your retirement goals.
IRA Comparison Calculator - Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are a way for you to save for retirement. This calculator can help you decide whether a Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA is the best fit for you. Again, even if you don't know whether an IRA is the right choice for you, this calculator can be a useful tool to let you play with your options.
College Savings Calculator - If planning for your children's college education factors into your investment plan, this calculator can help you examine your options for investing in their future. This calculator is similar to the Cost of Waiting Calculator, so you can use it to select different variables and see how they would play out.
2. Research Your Options
Now that you have a goal in mind, it's time to figure out which investments will help you meet that goal. The best place to do this is the Knowledge Center, which you can access from the Knowledge Center tab after you've logged into your account. There, you'll be able to read about investment products such as stocks, bonds, CDs and mutual funds to help you decide what best fits your needs. Plus, you'll also find articles about different methods of research, called fundamental analysis and technical analysis, that will help you learn how to evaluate investment opportunities to decide when might be a good time to buy or sell.
3. Get Specific
Once you've chosen what type of investment you want to make, you'll need to choose the specific companies or funds in which you'll invest. For example, if you've decided stocks are the best investment for you, now you need to figure out which particular stocks to buy and when may be a good time to buy.
A good place to research potential investment opportunities is under the Quotes & Research tab once you've logged in to your account. Click on the tab, and look at the left-hand column for some research choices. Let's continue to use stocks as our example here.
If you heard about a particular stock from a friend or family member and you want to check it out, just click on Stocks in the left column and type the stock symbol or the name of the company into the search bar under Start Your Research. You'll see a wealth of great information about the company. Different information is useful to different investors, so Scottrade provides you with everything and lets you make the decision.
If you don't already have a company in mind, click on the Stock Screener in the left-hand column under Stocks. This tool will let you type in different criteria that you're looking for in a stock, and it will show you all the different companies that match your criteria. As you select your criteria, the screener will update your total number of matches. Then, when you're satisfied with your selections, click "View ___ Matches" at the bottom to see the stocks you've selected. Clicking on the symbol of one of the stocks will reveal the fundamental and technical information Scottrade has available on that company.
Similar tools are available for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, so whatever your preferred investment type, you have the ability to do the research you need.
4. Make the Trade
To buy or sell an investment product, log in to your account and click on the Trade tab. You'll see on your left that you can choose whether you're trading stocks (exchange-traded funds are traded in the stocks section), options, mutual funds, CDs and bonds, or making advanced orders or pre-/after-market trades.
You can find detailed Help & How To information in the Knowledge Center to guide you through the Scottrade Trading Site.
When buying or selling any investment product in your online account, follow the steps on the trading Web pages carefully and make sure all necessary fields are completed. If you have questions or aren't sure what a field means, just call your local branch office for help.
Subscribe to In The Know RSS| ScottradeELITE | 12/19/09 |
| Trading Web Site | 12/19/09 |
| ScottradeELITE | 11/21/09 |
With more than 400 branch offices nationwide, Scottrade offers live events in neighborhoods all over the country. Visit your local Scottrade office for a cozy small-group Branch Seminar, or get together with Scottrade customers from your area at our popular User Summits.
Browse All Live Events >Education meets interaction in the Scottrade Community. Join Scottrade customers from all over the country as you exchange information, ideas and trading strategies in a comfortable online learning environment.
Interact with Scottrade customers and product specialists. Share your thoughts and learn from others. Grow as an investor. Join our community today!
Learn More About the Community >Brokerage Products and Services offered by Scottrade, Inc. - Member FINRA and SIPC
Online market and limit stock trades are just $7 for stocks priced $1 and above.
Any specific securities, or types of securities, used as examples are for demonstration purposes only. No information on this Web site should be considered a recommendation or None of the information provided should be considered a recommendation or solicitation to invest in, or liquidate, a particular security or type of security.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of a mutual fund carefully before investing. A mutual fund's prospectus contains this and other information about the mutual fund. Prospectuses are available through our trading site or through a Scottrade branch office. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. No transaction fee (NTF) funds are subject to the terms and conditions of the NTF funds program. Scottrade is compensated by the funds participating in the NTF program through recordkeeping, shareholder, or SEC 12b-1 fees.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, charges, expense, and unique risk profile of an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) carefully before investing. Leveraged and Inverse ETFs may not be suitable for long-term investors and may increase exposure to volatility through the use of leverage, short sales of securities, derivatives and other complex investment strategies. A prospectus contains this and other information about the ETF and should be obtained from the issuer. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.
Margin trading involves interest charges and risks, including the potential to lose more than deposited, or the need to deposit additional collateral in a falling market. Margin Disclosure Statement (PDF) is available for download, or it is available at one of our branch offices. It contains information on our lending policies, interest charges, and the risks associated with margin accounts.
Options involve risk and are not appropriate for all investors. Detailed information about the risks associated with options can be found in the Scottrade Options Application and Agreement, Brokerage Account Agreement, or by downloading the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options and Supplements (PDF) from The Options Clearing Corporation, or by requesting a copy from your local branch office. Supporting documentation for any claims will be supplied upon request.
Market volatility, volume, and system availability may impact account access and trade execution.
Testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other clients and are no guarantee of future performance or success.