OK, this isn't just a case of what stock should I buy as this is exactly what gets noob investors into trouble. Asking somebody else's opinion (including brokers in many cases) is a dangerous game to play because nobody cares about your money more than you do... The way to go is to learn to do your own research and make well timed purchases and sales
If you want to make money in the stock market I suggest you read some economics books for starters, I am sure that you have a good grasp of this being a Business Major. Remember there are two Human forces working the market thats FEAR and GREED.
I personally use a Growth stock strategy, the kids that are telling you to buy GM are on a Value strategy i.e buy a stock when its down at a bargain price because you can get more "value" for your money. Growth investing involves hunting out new and emerging companies with innovative ideas and management within one to three years of going public. Look for solid fundamentals on the balance sheets, you said that you have been studying to do this, well look for stocks with massive increases in sales and profits over the last 2-5 years. They need to be small cap stocks (i.e those with few investors holding the stock) as these have a much higher volatility and can move up (and down) in price quickly, dont bother with large caps ie mcdonnalds and walmart they have so much stock outstanding and move really slowly, they are boring.
Next learn to read the market as stocks follow the general marked trend. Do you know what the market has been doing over the last year or so? Yes we are in a historic recession but the Market actually is doing well at the moment and now would seem like a strong time to buy as the market is in a confirmed rally and bottomed out in March.
Now learn how to read stock charts. There is a lot of voodoo chart readers out there who swear this is the way to pick stocks (sometimes known as Technical Analysis) but in reality it is a blend of skills needed to be successful in the market. I could go on for ages about this but basically look for a bassing period in a stocks chart that shows steady buying. With a growth stock, look for it emerging from its first consolidation period since it was a IPO. Then get the timing right with the market and combine it with outstanding fundamentals and bam buy time.
Now plan your strategy. I will buy stock and set an automatic stop loss at 7% below the buy point, then if it suddenly drops I don't have a difficult decision to make about selling, the stock automatically sells out If the stock and hey I loose 7% but if I back a winner, I will normally sell once it has risen 20% or so unless it goes up massively in a short space of time then I will hold on for the ride!! As you can see you can loose on 2 stocks and win on one and your up 6%
Seling, This is often the hardest part as Greed (if its going up) or fear (if its going down) wont let you leave a stock but remember, its always better to sell on the way up because its hard as hell to guess the top. I will sell if it looks like the general market is starting to go south or if I see massive price spikes and volatility.
I use scottrade as my online broker as its cheap to buy and sell (7 dollars for a market trade) and its easy to get money in and out. Consider starting a ROTH IRA if you want to avoid paying tax but this has to be a long term option.
hope that helps, read investors business daily every day (subscribe to them if you really are serious and use investors.com for your daily market updates. thats the best advice i can give
..wow this is what happens if i don't go skiing on a friday night. I'm off to jump on the trampoline. Peace.
ohh PM me and let me know how you are getting on
