dandan14 said:I would steer clear of individual DRIPS because they don't provide any diversification and essentially all of your eggs are in one (or two) basket(s).Huh? Buying stock directly can be a great way to accumulate shares in many companies with NO commissions. I have a highly diversified portfolio of about twenty-five companies through direct stock purchase plans.

As for sharebuilder, think about it. If you enroll in the basic plan, you pay $4 per trade. Say you put $100 per month in your account and buy shares in four companies. In one year, you will have paid $192.00 in commissions! Your resulting investments would have to gain 19% just to break even!

I just deposited $1004 because I want to buy $1000 in Home Depot stocks and the $4 was meant for the fees...It is showing $1004 toward the purchase...will the $4 fee be automatically deducted? Or should I change it to $1000 toward the purchase and leave $4 balance? Thanks!

JakeTheSnake said:I just deposited $1004 because I want to buy $1000 in Home Depot stocks and the $4 was meant for the fees...It is showing $1004 toward the purchase...will the $4 fee be automatically deducted? Or should I change it to $1000 toward the purchase and leave $4 balance? Thanks!

Does anyone the answer to this? I emailed Sharebuilder but haven't heard anything back.

it has been my experience with them that the $4 will be deducted from your order and you will get $1000 worth of stock

As for sharebuilder, think about it. If you enroll in the basic plan, you pay $4 per trade. Say you put $100 per month in your account and buy shares in four companies. In one year, you will have paid $192.00 in commissions! Your resulting investments would have to gain 19% just to break even!

Or instead of enrolling in ANY of their plans, and say wants to invest $100 per month. Fund your plan with the $100 per month and only invest a few times per year, say, on a market dip. I do this about 3-5 times per year and at $4 per trade, my buy commisions are only $12-$20 per year.

streetdisciple03 said:Can you sell short in sharebuilder's basic account?

No. Their model is basic buy and hold.

teplitsa said:The $4 fee kills the deal. If you save up $1000 you can get into a good no load mutual fund with a small annual maintenance fee. Over the long term this will increase your returns. Is the OP doing research on the stocks he/she is planning on buying or are you just picking up a "good" company out of thin air and praying for the best?

I have mutual fund options through my work's 401k and so I wanted to buy "stocks" and I am ashamed to say this but I am picking a company and praying for the best. I am not too sure how to research on a stock. On the 401k, it's easier to pick a fund because I only have 10 choices and that's relatively easy to pick...I look up the rating on Morningstar and then just pick the lesser of 2 evils. LOL...Any suggestions on how to research stocks?

Also, is it better to pick a company that gives dividends then one that does not?

check this website out to start with Investors Business Daily and pick up a copy at the news stand. Check out the free learning center. I personally love this newspaper because other than quotes they track earnings growth and performance saving you a lot of time reading and doing math. I'm looking to fork over the $235 subscription price next month.

I would start by reading some basic books like One up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch, Real Money by Jim Cramer and other books you can find about valuing companies and learning what all the acronyms mean. I would also read biographies about superstar investors and stock traders to learn what their strategy was.

If you feel you are ready go to Yahoo Finance or MSN Moneycentral or some other website, pick a few stocks and make a sample portfolio and see how you do over time. Or risk a few thousand $$$ as play money. Next go back and reread the above to see if you made any mistakes. The companies you invest in look up their past earnings, calculate the growth, calculate the estimated growth, estimate the stock price, listen to the earnings conference calls, and try to buy in at the right time. IBD is great at teaching people to buy in at the right time to minimize risk. And finally work out a strategy. Some people like to hold for long periods, others like to buy and sell after 10% - 20% profit, others rely soley on charts. If it makes you money use the strategy. If you bought Microsoft 20 years ago you would be rich. If you traded stocks every month for the last 20 years you could also have become just as rich because there were periods of several years when MS didn't move and you could have put money to work somewhere else.

I had accts with them and closeded them. They were too expensive sine I only had a few companies and only wanted to invest bi/yearly

Sharebuilder is too expensive over the long run.

If you're interested in systemic purchases of certain stocks, then you can still purchase 'odd-lot' shares for $5 a trade at Ameritrade's Izone.

If you prefer mutual funds then try setting up an automatic savings plan.