by Gary Sacco

Created on: May 25, 2007

If investors have neither the time, nor desire to thoroughly research individual stocks, call a broker and pick a mutual fund. Let the professionals manage your portfolio. Personally, I don't enjoy the endless fees fund managers charge, favor taking responsibility and making my own decisions. Picking individual stocks, on a discount trading site, gives the investor greater flexibility and instant decision making power at his or her finger tips. By the way, if you, like most, are a small time investor, you'll probably never hear from that broker. I whole heartedly endorse autonomously buying individual stocks over dealing with mutual funds.

The discount trading sites have revolutionized investing. Scottrade charges $7 per trade. It is very easy to join and the research section is extremely comprehensive. Trades are made quickly and problems are rare. There are so many useful, informative websites to guide you along the way. www.motleyfool.com is my personal favorite. Investing on your own can be fun, too. Just remember, the money is real and wade in at a very measured pace. MSN Money's stock section is very comprehensive.

Using the oscillators, the little investor can detect upcoming heavy buy or sell movement in a particular stock and beat the mutual fund managers to the punch. You unloading a couple of hundred shares is far easier than the fund manager trying to move millions of shares!

My last bit of advice is to read any book about Warren Buffett's investing style and his insistence that companies have a competitive moat. Mr. Buffett urges investors to buy stock by adhering to a margin of safety. Buy companies dealing with businesses you understand and Mr. Buffett stresses infrequent trading. The worst scenario is to day trade. Stay away from this slippery slope, or save your money and buy a nice mutual fund!

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