How to Invest in Microsoft Stock

Open a brokerage account if you do not have one. Alternatively, you can invest 'directly' via Microsoft's transfer agent. Either way, you will need an account which you can use to purchase Microsoft stock from (see Resources below).
Deposit funds in your new account, or if using an existing account, verify that you have sufficient funds to complete your purchase.
Decide how many shares you want purchase, and under what conditions. If you want to buy Microsoft stock today without regard to its current price, you need a market order. If you want to buy only if the price is a certain amount you need a stop or limit order.
Give the order. Whether online, through a broker, or as part of your application, you must instruct the agent to purchase your shares. You must specify the quantity of Microsoft shares you would like to purchase, the type of order to execute (market, limit, stop), and any time limits on the order (Good Til Close or Good Until Canceled).
Verify proper execution of order. Review your trade confirmation to ensure that your order was executed as you instructed.

How to Calculate Stock Basis for Exercised Options

Receive notification from your brokerage that an option has been exercised. This will most likely come in the form of a trade confirmation the day after option expiration. If an option is 'In-The-Money' by even one cent, the option will be exercised.
Determine your initial cost in the stock. This will be the share price you paid to buy the stock for the first time.
Adjust your cost basis by calculating the total option premiums you have collected against the stock. Keep in mind that options which expired previously without being exercised also reduce your basis in the stock.For example, let's say you bought 100 shares of XYZ in January for $10 per share. You then sold the February $12.50 call option and collected a $1 premium, lowering your basis in the stock to $9 per share. On option expiration day in February, the stock is $11 per share, so the option expires worthless. You decide to sell a March $12.50 call, and this time you collect a $2 premium, lowering your overall basis to $7 per share.
Calculate your profit or loss. If an call option is exercised at a strike price higher than your basis in the stock, you have made a profit. To calculate the profit, you must subtract your basis in the stock from the strike price of the option.To use our earlier example, on option expiration day in March the stock is $13 per share. The option you sold is exercised at its strike price ($12.50). Your basis in the stock is $7. Therefore, $12.50-$7=$5.50 profit per share on the trade.If an option is exercised at a strike price below your cost basis, you have a loss. To calculate the loss, subtract the strike price from your basis in the stock.
Calculate your tax basis. For tax purposes, your basis in a stock also includes all the commissions and fees you incurred during the trade. The easy way to calculate that is to add up all the commissions and fees and divide the total by the number of shares you own.

How to Find Stock Prices (5 Steps)

Peruse the Wall Street Journal, or WSJ.com (subscription required), the Financial Times, Barron's or the financial section of your local newspaper for closing stock prices of most listed stocks. If your investment horizon is long-term and your portfolio contains financially sound, high quality shares, real-time stock quotes of your holdings throughout the day may not be necessary to making buy and sell decisions. I
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Check stock price information through the trading day if you plan to buy or sell a company based on fundamental or technical information. Obtain this information by going online. Google Finance, MSN Money, DailyFinance from AOL and others offer free real-time price information about most exchange listed shares. Yahoo Finance offers streaming real-time information for a small monthly charge. MarketWatch consolidates news from a variety of market resources for busy investors. Streaming services for your mobile also provide access to real-time price information.Broker-dealers may provide real-time stock price information free of charge as a customer.
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Get quotes directly from the exchange floor throughout the trading day. NASDAQ offers a free stock market ticker to provide constant stock price updates as they occur on the trading floor. The New York Stock Exchange Euronext offers many free tools including charts of individual stocks and market indices during the trading day. Some market index information may be delayed up to 20 minutes, according to the NYSE.
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Check the Investor or Investor Relations page of each company's shares in your portfolio to stay advised of price and relevant information that impacts share value. Not all companies maintain a real-time price. If you are concerned about intra-day price movements, you should also use real-time stock price quotations.
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Watch CNN's cable television broadcast to obtain real-time ticker information about stock prices and market indices, as well as interviews with marketplace personalities. Many stock traders keep CNN on throughout the day to learn about news events that drive market moves while at home or in the office.
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How to Buy Budweiser Stock (7 Steps)

Decide whether you want a full-service (higher trading fees but more management advice and services) or discount (lower trading fees but less or no management advice or services) brokerage account. Visit the Consumer Search review of online brokers (http://www.consumersearch.com/online-brokers) to help with your decision. This information will help guide you in your goal to buy stock in Budweiser .
Make sure that the brokerage you are choosing can take orders for the Euronext or Brussels stock exchanges, or the American OTC Pink Sheet Exchange, where Anheuser-Busch InBev is traded. The easiest way to do this is to search a brokerage's website for Anheuser-Busch Inbev stock and see if any results are returned. Many brokerages are able to find Anheuser-Busch InBev through the stock symbol AHBIF on the Pink Sheet Exchange.
Open your brokerage account.



Search for Anheuser-Busch InBev stock through the brokerage website by looking up the symbol or by using the common AHBIF symbol.
Make an order for the number of shares you would like to purchase at the current market price, or place a limit order where the shares will only be purchased if they are at a certain price you have set.
Execute your order.
Congratulations, you now own stock in the company that makes Budweiser.

How to Buy Stock with ShareBuilder (8 Steps)

Log in to the ShareBuilder website (sharebuilder.com). If you don't have a username, then you need to register. You'll need to provide your Social Security number because earnings have to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. ShareBuilder also verifies that you aren't a professional trader.
Select the 'Trade' tab. Then click 'Trade Now.'
Select if you want to buy or sell stock. Enter the stock symbol or look it up using the 'Find Symbol' link if you don't know it. Enter how many shares of the stock you wish to purchase.
Select the type of trade you want to perform. You can select:
Market, which is a trade that happens now;
Limit, which happens once a trigger has been reached (which you enter); or
Stop-Loss, which happens once a stock drops below a certain price (which you enter).
Select your funding source. If you have already have money in your account, then you can leave it alone. If you want to add money, then click the 'Express Funding' radio button.
Click 'Next.' If you selected 'Express Funding,' you'll be prompted for your bank information like routing and account numbers.
Confirm the order and then wait for it to post. You can view your open orders by navigating to the 'Accounts' tab and clicking the 'View Orders' link.
Do your research before purchasing a stock. The tools are available on the website. If you have several thousand dollars in your account, you can trade with Margins, which means that you can borrow ShareBuilder's money to trade with at a low interest rate.

How to Check on Staples' Items in Stock (6 Steps)

Open your Internet browser and visit Staples' website. Look at the list of departments on the left side of the screen and click on the name of the department the item you want to buy is in. Browse through the list of results until you find the item you want to buy and then click on it.
Look underneath the price of the item to see if the item is available for purchase online. If it is, you will see a box in which to adjust the quantity you want and a button that reads 'Add to Cart.' To purchase the item, indicate the quantity you want and click 'Add to Cart' to determine if you want the item shipped to your home or to your nearest Staples location.
Click on the 'Check in Store Availability' link if you see it on the page. Enter your personal address or zip code as well as the radius of miles you want to search and click 'Search.' You will then see which Staples locations nearest you, if any, have the item you want to buy in stock. If you don't see the 'Check in Store Availability' link on the item page that means you can only purchase the item online.



Visit your nearest Staples retail location. To find the nearest location, use the Staples Store Locator online.
Look in the appropriate department for the item you want to buy. If you do not see the item on the sales floor, ask an employee in that department to check the store's inventory to see if there are more of the item in the store's storage area.
Ask an employee at the store to search the inventory of other nearby Staples locations to see if another store has the item you are looking for. If so, have the employee give you the phone number, address and directions to the other store, if possible. Visit the other Staples location and purchase the item you want.

How to Invest Wisely in Penny Stocks

Use caution when investing in penny stocks. These stocks are like after dinner mints. They complement the regular investment but never make up the entire meal. Don't invest all your money into one stock.
Investigate the company. Sometimes the company is a start-up one with a great idea. See how long the CEO has been in the industry. See if he was a CEO of other companies. When you invest in penny stocks, both the product and the people are important.
Investigate the history of the price. When you invest in penny stocks, you might see movement that encourages a buy or tells you to be cautious. It takes very little growth to show a huge increase by percent. Be aware that someone may control the price by buying or selling shares and make it seem more, or less, attractive.
Use the information if you see a pattern in the penny stock price movement. Create a limit order for both buy and sell. Put the buy limit at the lower end of the price cycle and wait until you purchase the stock at that price. Then use a limit order for the top price you want to sell the stock and when it reaches that price it automatically sells. When you invest in penny stocks sometimes you make money with the cycle of buying and selling. This may take weeks.
Hang on to the stock if you hear of new innovations at the company. Purchase for long-term investments, regardless of the day to day movement. If you invest in a penny stock, don't sell just because the price went up if you believe the product has a future. Make it a long-term hold.
Track any events that may make your stock more valuable. For example, if oil prices go up, an ethanol company has a better chance of success.
Expect to lose your money. Penny stock is a gamble and only use money not involved in important goals. Really low priced penny stocks are fun to play with but also potentials for loss. Keep this in mind before you invest in penny stocks.