Hustle Tip: Get A Bag of Paper Assets - Invest In Stocks
I know what you're thinking...Oh you're a stock expert now Wesley? Naw I'm not an expert, but I was 13 when I first started dabbling in stocks.
In 2000 I took 'Intro to Business' my freshman year of high school, as an elective. One of the units during the class was the stock market.
Our teacher even had use a website that had a fantasy stock market aka paper trading.
Paper trading is when you can buy/sell real time stocks, without actually using your real money. This is great practice to test the waters before you invest your real money. Most trading platforms has this option.
13 yr old me: You mean to tell me I can own a piece of a major company? Bet
I even begged my parents to buy stock in Walgreens..True story you can ask them, but they didn't buy it...My interested in the stock market was not nurtured from my parents or teacher
Even though they did not buy the Walgreens stock or encouraged my growing passion in stocks; While I did fall into the typical high school life of playing sports, being an avid hip hop fan, and chasing girls.. I still keep my eyes and ears on the stock market.
What is a stock?
It's not complicated..A stock is a piece of ownership in a company.
For example:
You buy a stock/share of Tesla, you now own a piece of Tesla. I very small piece, but a piece nonetheless.
The reason people buy stocks, is to invest their money & make their money work for itself.
The reason companies sell stock, is to gain financial money and revenue, so they can use that money to invest and grow the company.
As of October 2020, you can buy 1 share/stock of Tesla for $422.64.
In 2010 that 1 share/stock was worth around $6 a share!
This is an example of a growth stock turning into a blue-chip stock (we will discuss later)
You find a young company that has potential to grow in the future; buy their stocks early and as they grow into a "blue-chip stock" it will pay dividends (literally) in the future..We we talk about dividends in another post
Stock Buying Strategies
Your strategy will depend on your stock investing goals. Some investor's goals are for the short term; which is called day trading. Which is when an investor makes multiple trades in a day, buying & selling a stock that same day to earn a profit.
Stock investing is when an investor is looking to invest in a stock for the long term. This is what we will be focusing on here at the World Wide Hustle Brand.
So if you're looking to make a quick buck in a day trading stocks, this aint for you chief.
Start Off With A Stock You Know
The easiest way to pick a stock to invest in, is to find a company you are familiar with and that you use on a daily basis.
Be aware of your daily consumption...
If you go to Target all the time, why not buy a couple of shares and own a piece?
Are you going to Starbucks daily? Buy some stock/shares in it.
Do you kids play sports and wear Nikes? Buy some Nike or Under Armor Stocks
This is probably the most basic way to get your feet wet when figuring out your first stock to buy.
As you diversify and buy more stocks; you will definitely have to exercise extreme due diligence & research of a company when picking more stocks to invest in.
How Do You Buy/Sell Stock?
To buy/sell stock, you must sign up for a stock broker platform. There are platforms such as:
TD Ameritrade, eTrade, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.
You can even use phone apps like WeBull and RobinHood. I prefer WeBull
Blue Chip Stock vs. Growth Stocks
Blue Chip Stocks are company stocks that are well established, publicly traded for years, historical records of generating revenue, and profit for shareholders. Usually in business for over 25 years. These are the companies that I mentioned that you use daily: Coca Cola, IBM, McDonalds, Walmart, etc.
Growth Stocks are new-to-market company stocks that are from businesses that are showing recent earnings growth and are in position to gain profit quickly in a certain industry. Being that these companies are newly traded, they don't have the a track record of having a reliable operation. You would buy a growth stock based on the potential of generating more profit in the future. Stock like this allow you to buy cheaper stocks for higher potential gains. But are more riskier than blue-chip stocks, because they do not have the proven track record.
Which is why due diligence, research, fundamental and technical analysis is EXTREMELY important when you are looking at growth stocks; You even need to do your homework on blue chip stocks.
You know the World Wide Hustle Brand is all about passive income & asset ownership.
Owning stock is just another tool to help you obtain wealth and financial freedom.
The most basic way you can get into stock investing is to be aware of what you consume. Once you are aware of the companies you consume, due a little research and buy some stock and obtain some ownership.