Investment For Beginners: Archive

Our series on investment for beginners takes you through the steps of getting started with shares.

The content of this article was relevant at the time of publishing. Circumstances change continuously and caution should therefore be exercised when relying upon any content contained within this article.

When investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you put in.

Read More

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, any form of personal advice. Investments in a currency other than sterling are exposed to currency exchange risk. Currency exchange rates are constantly changing, which may affect the value of the investment in sterling terms. You could lose money in sterling even if the stock price rises in the currency of origin. Stocks listed on overseas exchanges may be subject to additional dealing and exchange rate charges, and may have other tax implications, and may not provide the same, or any, regulatory protection as in the UK.

You’re reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Motley Fool’s Premium Investing Services. Become a Motley Fool member today to get instant access to our top analyst recommendations, in-depth research, investing resources, and more. Learn More.

So, you think you might like to invest in shares, but you’re stuck at the first hurdle thinking: “Yes, but what do I actually do?” Well, you’re not alone, and this series on investment for beginners is for you.

Over the past few months, we’ve taken a look at what shares are and how stock markets work, with the emphasis on what you actually do and how you go about setting up the necessary accounts, transferring money around, and actually buying and selling shares. We’ve also written this free guide — “What Every New Investor Needs To Know” — to help you as well.

Plus, we’ve even set up a sample portfolio, to contain shares about ten companies, with the aim of keeping track of news and results. Please note, the focus here is on the practical operation of the portfolio, not the tracking of its performance (though we hope that will be reasonable, too).

Should you invest £1,000 in Ocado right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets. And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Ocado made the list?

See the 6 stocks

Here are the links to the series so far:

19 December 2013 3 Beginners Picks For 2014: BP plc, BAE Systems plc and Persimmon plc

13 December 2013 The Beginners’ Portfolio Gets A Boost From Apple Inc.

10 December 2013 The Beginners’ Portfolio Sells Vodafone Group plc!

28 November 2013 Vodafone Group plc And Tesco PLC Are Looking Good

8 November 2013 BP Plc Is Back On Track

5 November 2013 AT&T Inc. vs Vodafone Group plc Is Scary!

24 October 2013 What If We’d Bought Unilever plc Or Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc?

21 October 2013 Vodafone Group plc Extends Its Domination

15 October 2013 What If We’d Bought Royal Dutch Shell Plc Instead Of BP Plc?

15 October 2013 Tesco PLC Helps Us To A 50% Gain!

9 October 2013 What If We’d Bought AstraZenenca plc?

10 September 2013 Is It Time To Sell Vodafone Group plc?

28 August 2013 News From Aviva plc, Persimmon plc And GlaxoSmithKline plc

22 August 2013 Beginners’ Lessons from Tesco PLC, Rio Tinto plc And Persimmon plc

15 August 2013 The Beginners’ Portfolio Ponders Selling Tesco PLC

6 August 2013 BAE Systems Plc Boosts The Beginners’ Portfolio

4 July 2013 The Beginners’ Portfolio Is Still Trouncing The FTSE 100!

21 June 2013 What’s Been Happening To Vodafone Group plc, Tesco PLC And GlaxoSmithKline plc?

12 June 2013 We’re Watching SSE PLC, Barclays PLC And Lloyds Banking Group PLC

31 May 2013 Should We Sell Vodafone Group Plc? (Vodafone (LSE: VOD))

16 May 2013 The Beginners’ Portfolio Is Up 32% In Its First Year!

29 April 2013 Was It A Mistake To Buy Apple Inc.? (Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL.US))

16 April 2013 Vodafone Group plc And Aviva plc Are In The News

27 March 2013 Vodafone Group plc And Tesco PLC Are In The News

19 March 2013 The Beginners’ Portfolio Buys Aviva plc (Aviva (LSE: AV))

05 March 2013 The Beginners’ Portfolio Ponders Buying An Insurer

26 February 2013 Beginners’ Portfolio Up 22%!

18 February 2013 FTSE 100 Results (BP (LSE: BP), GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK), Vodafone (LSE: VOD), Blinkx (LSE: BLNX))

29 January 2013 We Buy Apple! (Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL.US))

21 January 2013 Watchlist Update (Unilever (LSE: ULVR), United Utilities (LSE: UU), SSE (LSE: SSE), GKN (LSE: GKN), Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO))

14 January 2013 The Unemotional Investor

28 December 2012 Year-End Valuation

24 December 2012 Don’t Overanalyse!

21 December 2012 Watchlist Update

12 December 2012 Three Shares In The News 

22 November 2012 Five Shares In The News 

08 November 2012 Two New Candidates (Morgan Sindall (LSE: MGNS), Weir Group (LSE: WEIR))

24 October 2012 Time For A Valuation 

11 October 2012 A Look At The News (BAE Systems (LSE: BA), Tesco (LSE: TSCO))

03 October 2012 We Buy An Engineer! (BAE Systems (LSE: BA))

27 September 2012 2 More Shares To Watch (WS Atkins (LSE: ATK) and TUI Travel (LSE: TT))

20 September 2012 We Start A Watchlist (Unilever (LSE: ULVR), BAE Systems (LSE: BA), Ricardo (LSE: RCDO), United Utilities (LSE: UU))

06 September 2012 What’s Been Happening

16 August 2012 We Buy A Miner (Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO))

08 August 2012 Time For A Round-Up

02 August 2012 Time To Buy Oil! (BP (LSE: BP))

25 July 2012 Two Woodford Shares To Buy Now (GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK), British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS))

18 July 2012 Let’s Buy A Growth Share! (Blinkx (LSE: BLNX))

04 July 2012 The Latest Purchase (Persimmon (LSE: PSN))

12 June 2012 A New Purchase (GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK))

01 June 2012 Ask A Foolish Question — Why The Market Hates Uncertainty

23 May 2012 We Buy More Shares (Tesco (LSE: TSCO))

18 May 2012 First Purchase (Vodafone (LSE: VOD))

18 May 2012 Ask A Foolish Question — What Is An Unsustainable Dividend?

15 May 2012 How To Come Up With Investing Ideas

11 May 2012 How To Build A Portfolio

10 May 2012 How Much Should You Invest?

08 May 2012 A Cheaper Way To Buy Shares

04 May 2012 Ask A Foolish Question — What’s The Best Time Of Day To Invest

01 May 2012 How Much Tax Will You Pay?

27 April 2012 How To Buy Shares

24 April 2012 What Is A Stockbroker?

20 April 2012 Ask A Foolish Question — What Drives Share Prices?

20 April 2012 What Is A Share?

19 April 2012 Investment For Beginners

 

Pound coins for sale — 31 pence?

This seems ridiculous, but we almost never see shares looking this cheap. Yet this Share Advisor pick has a price/book ratio of 0.31. In plain English, this means that investors effectively get in on a business that holds £1 of assets for every 31p they invest!

Of course, this is the stock market where money is always at risk — these valuations can change and there are no guarantees. But some risks are a LOT more interesting than others, and at The Motley Fool we believe this company is amongst them.

What’s more, it currently boasts a stellar dividend yield of around 10%, and right now it’s possible for investors to jump aboard at near-historic lows. Want to get the name for yourself?

See the full investment case

Should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice.

More on Investing Articles

House models and one with REIT - standing for real estate investment trust - written on it.
Investing Articles

1 FTSE 250 stock trading well below book value

Stephen Wright thinks investors have a number of attractive possibilities with a FTSE 250 REIT trading at a discount to…

Read more »

Edinburgh Cityscape with fireworks over The Castle and Balmoral Clock Tower
Investing Articles

Up 10% and 9% in a week! Are these 2 FTSE 100 stocks set for a stellar recovery?

Harvey Jones picks out two overlooked FTSE 100 stocks that burst into life last week and examines whether they can…

Read more »

Hand is turning a dice and changes the direction of an arrow symbolizing that the value of an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is going up (or vice versa)
Investing Articles

3 standout ETFs to consider for an ISA or SIPP in May

ETF products can be a great choice for an investment account or SIPP. Here are three with significant long-term return…

Read more »

ISA coins
Investing Articles

£20,000 invested in this Stocks and Shares ISA 5 years ago is now worth…

Our writer looks at the typical returns on an ISA over the past five years. But with a bit of…

Read more »

Shot of an young mixed-race woman using her cellphone while out cycling through the city
Investing Articles

Here’s the dividend forecast for Rolls-Royce shares through to 2027

Do predictions of explosive dividend growth make Rolls-Royce one of the FTSE 100's hottest dividend shares? Let's take a look.

Read more »

Businessman hand stacking up arrow on wooden block cubes
Investing Articles

Up 14% in a week but still at a 5-year low! Can this beaten-down UK share lead the next bull run?

Harvey Jones has been keeping close tabs on a troubled UK share that suddenly sprang into life last week. So…

Read more »

Young black colleagues high-fiving each other at work
Investing Articles

I’m no Einstein but these 5 dividend shares could deliver £3,658 of passive income a year

Our writer claims you don’t have to be a genius to see how a handful of dividend shares can help…

Read more »

Artillery rocket system aimed to the sky and soldiers at sunset.
Investing Articles

ChatGPT reveals the 5 ‘safest’ shares on the London Stock Exchange. Should I buy?

ChatGPT just recommended these five British companies as the safest investments on the London Stock Exchange in 2025. But are…

Read more »