Would it be better for me to invest my $10,000 into a discount bond or a stock?
446681
A basket of stocks called an ETF.  Bonds don't beat inflation plus taxes (unless you buy an I-bond for your Roth IRA).
477495
Take ten million dollars and invest it in the stock market. In a year, you'll have your one million dollars.
66179
Check out Barron's Weekly and the Wall Street Journal.  Also, most broker web sites present this general information on a real time basis.  P.S. Even highly rated corporate bonds can go sour over the long term; you may be better off buying longer-term Treasuries.  Bond investing is generally much more difficult than stock investing.
734077
A stock broker will charge you commission on trades, which may be several percentage points of what you invest.  The commission fees generally make this an unacceptable option when you are investing small amounts of money.  You have to remember with a stock broker that the broker doesn't make money unless he's making trades for your account (unless there is a fee arrangement of some sort).  For small amounts of money, mutual funds are probably more reasonable.  The pros of mutual funds is that they are a generally low-cost way to invest across several different companies, and there are professional investors who get paid well to make good investment decisions.  The cons to mutual funds is that they also charge high fees, generally 1-2% and often have really high turnover which can leave you with a hefty tax bill.  Further, it is proven that professional investors rarely beat the stock indices (S&P 500, Russell 2000, etc) over the long term.  My best advice for you would be to explore low cost ETF (Exchange Traded Funds) products that would give you exposure to the market.  Vanguard is well known for a very low cost fund that tracks the S&P 500, which is roughly the largest 500 stocks by market capitalizaiton.  There are also funds that track bond indices, like the Lehman Aggregate index, but assuming that you are younger, you don't really need to have much exposure to bonds right now.  If you can't invest directly with Vanguard or a similar firm that offers low-cost exposure to the market, then you could open an account with a low-fee online broker like Etrade or Ameritrade and then buy broad market ETFs that track something like the S&P 500, etc.  You would also want to consider putting about 10% of your portfolio (assuming again that you are young) in international stocks, which could also be accomplished through low-cost ETFs.  \nThis probably sounds kind of confusing, but the key point here is that stock brokers and mutual fund companies charge high fees and rarely beat the broad market indices.  If you are being charged 2%, then your fund needs to return 2% more than the market for you to come out ahead.  That's much easier said than done.
87614
Since you're already just throwing money at the market, Here's three suggestions:\n\n1. Save up $1000 and make one good trade at a time. Don't worry about being left behind. Check out how William O'Neil trades, how Gary Kaltbaum trades, how Warren Buffett trades.\n\n2. Put it in mutual funds.\n\n3. Buy a single call option on awesome companies. Read William J. O'Neil's How to Make Money in Stocks. This is the most risky proposition of the three. Highest possible pay off too. You seem to like risk though! :-) Just keep in mind, if they're out of the money when they expire, they go to zero!\n\nOptions are not for everyone, they are very risky.
190710
Put it in a CD until you have $ 10,000 to invest in Exchanged Traded Fund
334081
dont place all your money into one type of bond, split your money up into stocks and bonds... put your money as a medium type, not agressive, if the stock market crashes, then all your money goes...it also depends wheither your investing in a 401 k or something else, different savings plans offer all different kinds of options
72424
it depends if you are going to invest it take the up front. your opportunity cost of not getting even the modest 3.5% gain from a CD would be worth the getting the 4mil up front. if you plan or know your going to go nuts take the over time so at least you cant blow it all at once
615545
There's been some incredibly bad advice so far, so I will try to set the record straight and help you out.  Bonds are not a better long term investment for someone who has young kids or for someone who IS a young kid.  What bonds are, principally, is a safer, lower-yielding alternative to stocks.  What they SHOULD be, is part of anyone's, at any age's diversfied portfolio.\n\nSecondly, in no universe is Microsoft a big-dividend stock.  It has a yield of 1.56, which you might recognize as being less than your savings account.  Considering the S&P AVERAGE dividend is 1.8, that makes Microsoft a BELOW-average dividend stock.  Bad avice there as well.\n\nUGMAs and UTMAa are fine if you're okay with your kids buying a motorcycle or whatever else they want when they turn 18 (or 21, depending on your state).  They are in irrevocable gift to the minor, and they can spend it as they see fit.\n\nSome parents would rather keep some control over it, and put it towards college.  A 529 plan would be the best way to do this.  In addition to a wide variety of fund choices, if used towards post-secondary education, any and all proceeds are federally tax free, and in some cases, state tax free as well.\n\nBut how to invest?  What to buy?  You can start for as little as $100 a month at most firms, investing systematically, month after month, which is the smartest way to do it by the way, whether you have $100 or $100,000. Actually, I know at Edward Jones you can start with mutual funds for as little as $25 a month, and that counts for 529 plans as well.\n\nWhat to invest in? I'd suggest buying a diversified series of mutual funds. If you want to keep it simple, most 529s have age-based allocation funds that get more and more conservative as your child gets older.  If you want to get a little more actively involved, then make sure you hit all the asset classes, like Large cap stocks, small/mid cap stocks, international stocks, emerging markets stocks, government debt, corporate debt, hi-yield debt, foreign debt, emerging markets debt, real estate, commodities, and precious metals. That's 12 categories right there, and there are good mutual funds that allow you to invest in all of those.  Again, an asset-allocation portfolio could be a simpler way of accomplishing the same thing.\n\nThen sit back and rebalance each year, back to your original percentages. This is called asset allocation. The thinking being, what's BEEN hot is more than likely not going to STAY hot.  No one can predict what's goigto be big next, no matter how much they say they can.  Cause if they could, they wouldn't be saying, they'd just be doing it.\n\nThis sort of portfolio should average 8-12% per year, so just split the difference and say 10%. Will it do 10% EVERY year? Of course not. I'd be surprised if it ever did EXACTLY 10%. That's an annual average. With that average, your money should double roughly every 7 years.\n\nSo, if you start with $1000 and never add to it ever again, in 7 years you should have about $2,000\nin 14 years you should have about $4,000\nin 21 years you should have about $8,000\nin 28 years you should have about $16,000\nin 35 years you should have about $32,000\nin 42 years you should have about $64,000\nin 49 years you should have about $128,000\nin 56 years you should have about $256,000\nin 63 years you should have about $512,000\nin 70 years you should have about $1,024,000!\n\nA long time to wait to become a millionaire, impressive as that compounding is!\n\nOf course, if you keep adding money in systematically like I suggested earlier, say $100 a month, you'll become a millionaire MUCH sooner. The key is discipline, and sticking in when markets are up OR down. Don't try to time the market--you'll NEVER get it right.\n\nHere's a handy formula:\n\n$100/month x 12% return x 20 years = $100,000. \n\nSo if you want $500,000 20 years from now, just save $500 every month, and go with th
400953
For the $10,000 you can't risk, you could buy a US Treasury Bill, they are pretty safe if low yielding.  For the other $1500 Gold is a possibility, even at the high price it's at now there is still a pretty good chance it will continue to climb, or you could try a Precious Metals or Commodity ETF if Gold itself is to risky for your taste.  Energy sector ETF's look good at the moment (at least to me).  Another way of thinking about this is what companies are producing things that China needs, and investing there.
437445
That's Simple.\n\nIf you have 10+years, there are several balanced mutual/index funds, that have returned more than 10% on average.\n\nUse a fund stock screener - you can see them - pay attention to upfront and ongoing expenses.\n\nIs it the best way? - It's the only one I know that is available to the average guy.\n\nGood Luck!
1166517
If you are serious about investing I would talk to a financial adviser first. stocks is a little risky but if you want to take the risk then go for it. Just talk to a professional and get his advice. If you are going to do it yourself make sure you do the research on the company that you want to put the money in. Make sure it is not going to be bust. look into perhaps small cap stocks as they will be good, risky but all investing into stocks are a risky bet. Wish you the luck and hope that whatever you do decide works out for you
408301
10 times double, huh. Talk to a stock broker. Futures in food and gold are good but that's a pretty high goal to obtain. Good luck.
219365
i would invest. you can write off home interest.
456175
conservative-semi-aggressive:  50% I bonds, 30% stocks for companies that you've heard of before, 15% stocks that are recommended in the health care sector, 5% the latest, hot IPO. \n\nYou might also try to find a 0% loan for three years (most likely one for one year) for the amount of $10,000.  Credit card offers sometimes do this, but make sure to read the fine print.  Put the entire amount in a money market fund and get the interest at the end and pay off the loan before interest accrues.
744172
if you are looking for an investment for a youngster with long term horizon then I would consider stocks rather than bonds.  bonds simply can't provide capital appreciation...\n\nconsider buying a stock and ordering the stock certificate and framing in their room...heck look at google or some marquee big name...\n\nbut if you insist on bonds then go with the the I bonds. good luck.
329108
A mutual fund is your best bet.  Remember that "quick" money means risky when it comes to investing.  Better to go slow and not lose your money.