Does anyone here invest in stocks and make a decent profit? I'm interested and would like to learn more. 
thanks!
I dable, I have an investment portfolio. I started with a financial planner and later switched to do it all on my own. I read suzi ormans latest book before I switched to managing my own investments. It is really not as hard as it sounds.
@Anonymous wrote:Are you making any net profits and how did you get started?
Just read up as much as you can. I my self don't have the time or the understanding of all the different companies, so I just invest via index funds. I use an target retirement in my IRA , its just easy it covers everything. Also in my taxable brokerage account i have an few etfs.
@Open123 wrote:When starting out, low cost ETFs are the way to go. Actually, just start out with buying the any low cost S&P 500. DO NOT buy high fee ones, pay any commission, or any of that smart beta crap.
Start with a Fidelity Brokerage & CMA. Their brokerage has a variety of no-fee sector ETFs with low managegment fees around 12 bps, best in class, when it comes to cost. It's a loss leader for them. Just read a little, and use their free asset-allocation program, which is the same as from any fee-based Advisors (all rip offs, since they can't promise or deliver alpha). Use the CMA for your banking, such as checks, bill pays, and Fid Amex 2% card. Leave all your funds in the brokerage, and move it over to CMA when it comes time to pay bills.
Always separate your brokerage portion from cash-managed portion.
After you start this and become more comfortable, then you can branch out to individual stocks, options and more exotic investments. Until then, stick with the basics and pay NO fees! Can't stress the latter enough, and too many people get caught up into paying fees they shouldn't be for S&P index-like performance.
Good luck!
THis is very good advice , I believe all Ishares etfs are fee free at fidelity. I would disagree just an bit , I would suggest going for Itot which is an little bit more diversified than an pure s&p 500 etf. I believe expense ratio is very low like .07%. You can start with something like that and maybe an an interenational stock etf like IXUS.
I have something like that in my taxable brokerage account, I use vanguard, but its all pretty much the same. I think vanguard is an bit more diversified because it includes small cap , but fidelity, schwab, and vanguard are all good.
