I'm utterly new here and have been reading up on stocks and other forms of investing over the past ten days or so - doing research as everyone should. I have a question...as a new college grad, piled down with college loans and a not so high paying job with a wedding on the way, is buying into ETFs the smartest move at the start of my investing career? I would only be able to start out with about $100 or so in January, and could maybe add about $25-50 a month afterwards until a real career comes along.

My worry is that $100 wouldn't get me a lot of gain and if I were to trade using a low fee site like Zecco I would still be bogged down...so I "think" what I need is something which is diverse and can sit for a while because I don't want to get hit with any fees. So would ETFs be the right thing to start with?

Thanks a bunch!!!

Eve123

Well, on a $100 investment you will likely lose $10 in fees, which means you are already done 10%. Having said this, it's never too early to start. ETFs can be great ways to invest, however, there are literally thousands of them now. It really depends on which etfs you choose. Stay away from any leveraged ETFs for now, as they are not meant as long term investments.

So from your experience, what can you suggest in terms of picking the right ETF for long-term? Should I choose metals? I feel kind of cringy about biofuels because of some lectures I heard about them. Did you know that it takes just as much oil to turn corn into ethanol and the ethanol is less potent than the oil? It's robbing Peter to pay Paul with less value. So I figured Bio-stuff is going to go down hill....but Gold seems to be going up; I figured metals would be hot right now.

But any more advice you could swing my way in thoughts of long-term advice would be great.

Again, Thanks.

Eve123

If you are going to invest small amounts, use sharebuilder to build up. ETFs have annual cuts and are not always the best option. I prefer the stocks themselves, but that is just me. Do what makes sense and invest in areas that you are familiar with. We will always need energy. That is my focus in investing.

I am agree with darklumina and I also prefer the stocks if I have little money to invest because ETF has annual cuts.
http://RoboticTradingSystems.com

It might be to your advantage to invest in the actual stocks instead of an ETF.

ETFs shares are preferable due to some tax advantages to those investors holding them in non registered accounts. Due to this, they have become one of the fastest growing product on investment industry.

You're right return on $100 will be very less, and you will loose alot in fees.

You should better try with a demo account and start with atleast $1000.

Get at least $1000 to start, and pick the most predictable instruments to trade. Beginners usually don't know how to appreciate their risks, so a little bit of reasearch is needed before you invest in something.

You'll need at least $1000 to tarde ETF's, and earn at least something. With a $100 account you can trade forex only.