Retail Investment: New Hobby or a Way to lose All Your Money

Are you a retail investor? I am, and close to 25% of Americans these days are as well. Before the pandemic, I had no Idea about retail investing and now I only have a little grasp of it without constant reference tools at my fingertips.

Fidelity, moomoo, STASH, Robinhood, etc, are just a few of many companies that are popping up and/or now catering to the quote “Retail Investor”. Having investment opportunities at the flick of a smartphone is rather new in the industry. Before a couple years ago the only thing I knew about investing was that I thought I needed a rep, a firm and, the most important, MONEY. Enough money to invest in anything and come out on top, which I only dreamt of having. Then I found out about retail Investing and fractional shares.

I started out in Meme Stocks, ie., AMC, GME. Meme stocks are a whole thing that I’m not getting into right now, you can google them, there’s a lot of info online you can research. Anyway, I got into buying stocks at fractional share because at the time I only had twenty dollars to invest. After I got comfortable with what was going on, I started buying penny stocks in gold mining companies, cannabis research/retail, renewable energies, and medical research.

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This can be all very confusing. Whats a PUT? What are OPTIONS? WHAT IS A LIMIT ORDER?

I’m still learning what it's all about. I do my “DD”. Due Diligence with people that help on YouTube, online articles, books, friends that are in the know, and just straight up raw data and graphs that look intimidating. Until one does it day to day, as a semi-career, there’s always something to learn or pick up. The most valuable lesson(s) I've learned is to always do your research, and only invest what you're willing to lose.

If this is something you’ve been thinking about, I suggest trying it out. There are many Investment firms to choose from and many ways to jump in and buy orders. I have some links to some different firms and ways to buy in down below. If you need to, consult a professional in person.

Good Luck.

Investment App Suggestions:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/investing/investment-apps/

Stock Order Types:

https://www.investopedia.com/investing/basics-trading-stock-know-your-orders/