How to Buy Stocks at Fidelity

You can use Fidelity to buy almost any stock listed on U.S.-based exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, and on over-the-counter markets. It also provides access to 25 foreign stock markets for non-retirement accounts, making Fidelity among the best brokers for international trading. To start buying stocks with Fidelity, follow these steps.

1. Open an account

Whether you use Fidelity or another top stock broker, you’ll need to open an account before you can buy your first stock. There are several types of accounts you can open through Fidelity, but if you want to buy and sell individual stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), you’ll want to open one of the following:

• Individual retirement account (BES): IRAs provide tax benefits when you save for retirement. Depending on the type of IRA, you may qualify for a tax deduction on current-year contributions (if you choose a traditional IRA) or retirement withdrawals (if you choose a Roth IRA). The downside, however, is that you’re usually penalized if you withdraw money before age 59 1/2.
• Taxable brokerage accounts: Taxable brokerage accounts don’t offer any tax benefits, but you can withdraw your money at any time without penalty. Unlike IRAs, they don’t limit the amount you can contribute.

Once you choose the account type you want, you can open a Fidelity account in just a few minutes. You’ll need to provide your name, date of birth, address, email, Social Security number, and employment information to complete your account setup.

Once you’ve opened your account, you may want to download the highly rated Fidelity mobile app, which has an average rating of 4.8 stars on the App Store and 4.5 stars on the Google Play Store. You can use it to manage your account, get real-time stock quotes and market updates, and access a variety of research tools.

2. Deposit money

To buy stocks with Fidelity, you need to deposit funds. Fidelity says the fastest way to transfer funds is via wire transfer.

Most wire transfers are processed the same business day if initiated by 4:00 PM EST, and the money is available immediately. You can also set up an electronic funds transfer (EFT), but it usually takes one to three days for the transfer to be processed.

Fidelity doesn’t have minimums to open an IRA or a standard brokerage account, making it easy to get started without a lot of money. If you’re buying fractional shares instead of whole shares at Fidelity, you can make your first trade with as little as $1.

3. Choose your investments

It’s important to do your homework before buying stocks. Luckily, Fidelity has a few handy tools research stocks These are available both on Fidelity.com and in the Fidelity app.

To research a stock or ETF, you can type the stock name into Fidelity’s stock screener to access a wealth of information, including dividend and earnings history, investor sentiment, analyst ratings, who its top competitors are and more.

4. Order

To buy stock at Fidelity, you’ll enter the ticker symbol in the same field you use to get stock quotes. For example, if you want to buy Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock, you’ll enter AAPL. You’ll need to enter the following information:

• Indicate that you are buying the stocks rather than selling them
• The number of shares you want to buy or sell OR the dollar value of the shares
• Whether a market order or limit order

Once you have provided the required information, you will see a preview of your order. If everything looks good, go ahead and place the order. Congratulations! You have just purchased your first shares in Fidelity.