Hi Gurus

This is my very first post (as some of you may have guessed it from the subject!).

I tried to look up this answer on the forums but couldn't find it. So please don't yell at me if this is a repeat post.

My question is - Can I buy one stock of a company? For example, today GOOG is at $583. I have money to buy one stock of google. I know it's a good company and the stock may go up in next few weeks / months. So can I buy just one, single stock of google, as oppose to buying hundreds of penny stocks?

Your response will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Yes, you can do that, but I wouldn't advise it if $583 is everything you've got!

I bought one FSLR @ 294.92

yes you can. but  what I do lets say have a $100.00 to invest and buy to shares of AA for about $84.00 with the balance especulative stock like viv.

I wouldn't personally buy in on GOOG because I don't buy in on lawsuits. The anti-trust possibility hasn't been priced in yet and I wouldn't know how to price it in. But this question also applies to other issues like berkshire and other high price rarely if ever split stocks.

In terms of how many shares of a stock to buy, it's not important, what is important is the total cost basis of the purchase. Around here if you aren't paying for commisions that even doesn't matter.

The main thing to consider is what percentage of the transaction does the commission take up, and try really hard to keep that under 1%.

If you've done your research and like what you're seeing, there's absolutely nothing wrong with paying even a $4.5 commission on one ~$583 share.

Yes, you can buy just 1 stock of any company.  I got 1 stock of google when I first started.

At the same time, I wouldn't recommend buying 1 share of google is that is all you have right now.

Without 2500 you'll be charged commision, and on top of that, you're putting all your eggs into one basket.  I'd either try and put 2500 in to avoid commision, or eat the commision and buy a couple shares of cheaper companies.

I am sure all the other posters got you the answer you were looking for (plus a lot of advice on the pricing future at Google).  But as a take off of your question, I routinely start my new investment positions by buying one or two shares to start with.  It always makes it more interesting to put your money where your mouth is (even if it is only one share).

Normally I have had the stock on my Watch List radar for some time and I have done some checking in on the superficial stuff (finacials, charts etc.) about the company.  And by only putting in one or two shares worth of money, you commit to a company, but you don't REALLY commit.  This will give you a chance to really scour every nook and cranny for all the info you can, both good and bad.  If you like what you find, awesome.  Now you can put bigger chunks of money in for the long haul.  If you like what you find and the price has dropped a little from that first share  Even better!  You will get the stock you liked and at a better price to boot.  To me, having these free trades is really great for a long term investor, because you don't have to just dump money in all at once and pray.

MJK58:

I am sure all the other posters got you the answer you were looking for (plus a lot of advice on the pricing future at Google).  But as a take off of your question, I routinely start my new investment positions by buying one or two shares to start with.  It always makes it more interesting to put your money where your mouth is (even if it is only one share).

One of the best incentives to investigate an industry or sector is to own some shares in that sector. It's amazing how much more interest news in that area becomes when there's some  money of your own at stake. Sort of like that illicit sport betting that happens everywhere, but nobody knows anything about. ;)

Normally I have had the stock on my Watch List radar for some time and I have done some checking in on the superficial stuff (finacials, charts etc.) about the company.  And by only putting in one or two shares worth of money, you commit to a company, but you don't REALLY commit.  This will give you a chance to really scour every nook and cranny for all the info you can, both good and bad.  If you like what you find, awesome.  Now you can put bigger chunks of money in for the long haul.  If you like what you find and the price has dropped a little from that first share  Even better!  You will get the stock you liked and at a better price to boot.  To me, having these free trades is really great for a long term investor, because you don't have to just dump money in all at once and pray.

This is an interesting idea, it's especially interesting when investing via a commission free method. Zecco with sufficient value or sometimes directly through a company. It's worked well for me in the past.

Additionally, you do get to create watch lists here that have a quantity for shares as well as for price. It's a great way to stage future purchases as well.

   Thank you all for your quick reponses. What a great site!

 

Well, I'm sure you can but, WHY? if it goes up a penny you get a penny, a dollar for a dollar. On the other hand, if you start smaller, say a $5 security, you would get over 100 shares, then a penny is really a dollar and a dollar rise is really $100. If you are wanting to hang the certificate on the wall, you'll pay a hefty sum to have it sent to you, thus rubbing out a respectable profit potential.

On the other hand, maybe they'll have a 2:1 or better split and you'll get 2 or more shares for your one. Do that enough times (how old do you expect to get?) and one could build up a respectable qty of shares. Check out Starbucks split history (SBUX).

when you say you want to buy stock in something its refered to as a share. you want to buy one share of google.i wouldnt buy google if the net worth of the account would mqake google th e biggest portion of your portfolio with just one share. there are many other stocks that hacve a chancffe at getting huge gains as it is. i personally am in siri (waiting for FCC aproval), snda, akns,  and i hold about 40% in cash. i make it a rule of mine to always have aat least 15% in cash so when share privces dive i can scoop up the bargains.

Yes.

 

That is your option to purchase one share or a thousand shares.

 

Have fun

Yep, I am aware oif that option, but I'm trying to figure out why one would buy just 1 share. I'm thinking there may be an advantage that I currently am unaware of and may wish to exploit.

Hey, this is a New Investors forum and this is the place to learn, right?

For example, I recently purchased 5000 shares of a security @ .50 and watched it hit my sell @ 1.56 within 3 days, well to make a long story short, the $7800.00 (5300.00 of profit) would have been a mere 1.56 had I only had one share, with 1.06 profit.

How does one profit from a single share is my question?

of course it will be yess.. if you buy  one share of Berkshire Hathaway stock at current price of 121,510.00 and it goes up 30 percent within a year youve just made 36453. of course if you buy a stock worth 50 cents and oyu have 2500 dollars to invest and you just sit on your hands with the remainder....youll make nothing. its about the current price of the stock compared to what you  thinnk it should be worth later on down the road and thats how you make money. if yopu find a cheap stock its usually cheap for a reason and youre not just investing youre gambling! by gambling i mean gambling in the same way as buying a lottery t icket is gambling.... one in 44 million win! its a VERY bad judgement call to do that. zecco allows you to buy stock for free so theres no real benefit between buying multiple shares at once.

 

note: i wouldnt go with google because google doesnt have a lot of room to go up compared to its 52 week high at least from a percentage perspective.

 

i like: snda, akns (wait for 5 dollars), and ntdoy when it drops to 62

akns is a solar company

snda is a chinese online gaming company that has a bunch of MMORPGS out (chinese love those types of games)

 

ntdoy is nintendo....25m+wiis sold, a profit off every system since launch, virtual console, wii ware.... this is a pretty safe bet if you get in at the right price