How to Invest in Your Favorite Companies
Investing in companies whose products you like can be a good and fun investment strategy. Because you like these products, other people probably will too, which can mean long-term success for the company. The best way to invest in your favorite companies is to do some research and find either if the company is publicly listed on the stock exchange, or if the brand is owned by a publicly listed company. Open a stock account and purchase the stock.
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Instructions
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Research the company or brand to determine what the name of the publicly listed entity is. For example Apple Inc. is fairly easy to find by going to Yahoo Finance and typing in Apple in the quote section. The ticker AAPL will come up. Click on it to see company and stock price information for Apple. Other brands or companies, for example, Marc Jacobs, will take a bit more work. Hoovers is an excellent site for corporate data and shows that the Marc Jacobs brand is owned by publicly traded company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (ticker LVMH).
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Open a brokerage account. Online brokers offer the best deal if all you want to do is purchase the stock. If this is your first stock purchase, consider using a full-service brokerage firm that can also provide in-person or advice over the phone, on the stock itself and if now is a good time to buy.
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Transfer funds to the account and purchase your stock. Most brokerage companies will provide periodic statements to let you know how the stock price is moving.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't watch the stock price every day. The price will move up and down with the market. The long run is important. Check stock prices quarterly at most. Warren Buffett said: "Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the market shuts down for 10 years." Long-run prices will determine if you have made a good investment.
Consider selling the stock if you notice a significant fall off in the quality of the products that the company sells or greatly reduced quality of the service if it is a retail or service-oriented business.
References
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