should a university student invest in the stock market?

why don't you try mutual funds first. then when you have had some experience, go for stock trading. investing is risky. accept that you may win some, then may lose some. then if you are well familiar with the system, you might just decrease the risk. take note, decrease. you might as well go for bonds once you are there. tax will always there, you can't avoid it (unless you can find a loophole somewhere). i'm not an expert, but i just got interested with it for some time.

If you want to learn make sure you start small, if you can leave your stock for some time it will not be as expensive as if you turn over often. There are even penny stocks you can play with. Read all you can and take time to chart several stocks you might want to invest in for several weeks, just to become aware of how it works.

If you have a good know-how when it comes to the stock market, perhaps it's a good idea to start even while you are in your Junior year. Just be sure that it's okay for you to lose whatever it is you are willing to lose. However, you mentioned that you don't have the patience.. if you know that for yourself, perhaps you shouldn't venture on something like this unless you are pretty sure that you can handle long term goals..

Why not? If he can read the pulse of the stock market and has some cash to invest, he can easily invest provided he has the time to spare for it.

Hello there dear friend. I am doing virtual stock investment via Citiseconline here in the Philippines. So far when I started, I got a feel of some of the risks that I might face in the future. Right almost of my shares are in negative but last time there well all doing well. In short, the trending really depends on economic situations. But the bottomline of everything is that if you are to do long-term investment then do cost-averaging. Do a regular investment, say on a monthly basis regardless of the economic situation and wait for its growth in the next 10 to 30 years. The longer period it stays there, the higher profit you will again. Trading is far more different from investing and this is where people get all the wrong notion.

Well, I have invested in the stock market for several years, but I didn't earn a little money, otherwise, I lost a lot of money. Most people in the stock market can' t earn money, I heard.

Share/stock market needs a lots of knowledge on Statistics and Finance. Its not easy to follow the trend. and for not being able to do that peoples often loose their monies. But hey you dont learn to win unless you loose few times first, but i think since you are still studying, you should concentrate on studying for now and get a decent job first. Share market is often termed as gambling and its tends to work bad if you are not lucky and skilled. Also required patience and the long term vision which you lack. probably not the best idea for you :P

Yes, I will invest in the stock market. As the money will be less and less if you just keep it in the bank. The inflation will cover everything. At least it gives you a chance to earn extra. Nobody was born to have the experience. I think it is a good idea for you to try to invest to the stock market. I know you are just a junior. But it means that you have much more time to learn in this aspect. You can just invest to it with little money. You won't lose much anyway. But on the contrary, you shall learn more from it. Good luck! I love China

You can do systematic investment in bluchip companies or mutual funds. If have some good amount don't invest at once but divide it in to 4 parts and invest gradually. You will have to pay tax for buying and selling plus have to pay the commission to broker.

I am trading in stock market since i was in college.I would recommend you to read trading for living written by Alexander Elder.That book is excellent for all traders and investor.I studied it and it has been very much useful.

Dear ypyanyan, I started invest in stock market when I am in college too. My brother taught me to invest. At that point of time the shares are relatively cheaper compared to now. The risk was then much lower. In Malaysia, buy and sell of shares had to pay brokerage and stamp duty too. However, there are no gain tax imposed at the moment in Malaysia (I think). The risk to invest is quite high as the shares has gone up quite a lot in this 2 years. You only go in when the 'blue chip' shares went down in crisis like the Euro Crisis or the Japan earthquake recently. Then, if you managed to buy at lower price, once the economy improve or no more bad news, the shares price will go up again. However, you must be able to monitor its prices so that you did not miss it when it goes up. If you have spare/extra money.. you can invest in good shares that pays high dividend like Nestle, big corporate company. Or you may try to subscribe new shares via IPO, when a new company go for listing in the stock market. Always bear in mind, shares are quite risky. I lost my one whole year pay/salary during market crash 10 years ago. Analyse the company that you plan to invest.

Well, while you are in the early bird better to learn it to face your future. Work young and rich on the older.

Yes, stock market is very risky if you don't know what you are doing. You need to have enough knowledge to succeed, and success is not impossible. You almost don't have to be scared about anything if you have the proper guidance. I would recommend this site, and if I am 100% sure that you will succeed. http://trulyrichclub.com/

There are several websites that offer virtual investing, practice accounts if you will...Investing requires research, not just looking at the exchange and noting which stock is rising and which is lowering, you need to look at the companies, the history, if the stock has split, if it is paying dividends, what projects the company is involved in and what is being proposed... "Playing the market" is gambling, no matter how you look at it, it's gambling. You are betting that for ever dollar you are putting in you will see a larger return, others are gambling that the amount a stock is at is as high as it will go. Sellers often affect the price of stocks, a large sale will reduce the sale price measurably while a large buy will increase it. Those experienced in the market will follow what they consider trends. For example a stock is rising and looks like a good buy, several buyers put in orders, some will be selling after a small increase, others will hold on believing it will go higher yet. But one purchaser who holds a large number of those stocks finds he needs to sell in order to purchase or offset another stock, sells to meet his or her needs, this large share of stock being dumped on the market signals others that it's time to get out. This floods the market with that particular stock, now buyers aren't so eager to pay the price, they are worried that the company is in trouble, so they begin to sell too. The smart investor will have done research on the company and will begin buying up this abundance of stock because he/she knows the company is solid and will continue to grow...other investors will begin to follow suit and the stock returns to rising in price. If you want to invest, go with bonds, mutual fund trusts are the most recent thing on the market and fairly secure, with the added bonus that someone else, more experienced in investing is keeping up with the research and keeping your investment funds safe.

Ofcause you have to pay tax, trading stocks is just a job like most others :) Well before starting any kind of trading, stocks or currency, you need to study alot before you start on the real deal, as if you dont you are alot more likely to loose the money you invest. but once you know how to do trading, you can earn a living by working just 5-10 hours a week :) But ofcause you earn alot more working full time.

Well I have little knowledge about Stock market.. But never experienced it. I had watched people investing in Stock market and from that i can tell that mostly all day traders ended in loss. So better do long term investment. Day trading attracts more because of fast money but level of risk is surely high.

Ohhhhhhh friend stock market investment is risky. I was investing at the time reliance share but lost my all money so now I am not interested to invest the money in stock market. Yes it not cheap and do everything on your own risk. Lot of experience is necessary for invest in stock market.