The Adventure Begins

I recently opened a Scottrade account with $500. Investing in stocks had always been interesting to me, and while I am fortunate to have a job that offers me a 401k, I wanted to do something more directly. Also, I don't know anything about investing. At all. so this is to be an experiment.

So off we went, and here's how I spent the initial $500:

$300 went into ALMRX, a mutual fund that I used to have, and had been my favorite fund offered through my 401k. Unfortunately, Merrill Lynch got out of that fund, and so did my 401k. So, I figured $300 would go into ALMRX.

ALMRX says this: "Strategy for Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund Class I

The investment seeks long-term capital appreciation. The fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of companies that, at the time of purchase of the securities, have total market capitalization within the range of companies included in the Russell Midcap Growth Index or the S&P MidCap 400 Index, as reported by the indexes as of the most recent quarter-end. Both indexes are designed to track the performance of medium-capitalization stocks. It can also invest in derivative instruments."

Blah blah blah blah words. I don't know what that paragraph means. At all.

Then, I bought $100 of Cisco Systems (CSCO). I use Cisco stuff all day, and I think that their core routing and switching business is strong. I also think their UCS offering is gaining traction in the industry. 

Next, I bought 10 shares of Corning Glassworks (GLW), who makes the Gorilla glass used in Apple iPads and iPhones and whatever. Being that Apple shares are about $600 right now (and overvalued, in my opinion), I figured Corning was a decent bet. That came to about $150.

Finally, I bought a few shares of something called Gas Natural Inc., (EGAS). Apparently they do something with natural gas in Wyoming, Montana, and Maine. Who knows. I certainly don't.

So there you have it. I have $1.95 left.