>>70311147Have you ever bought coins or gems or whatever for a gacha game? It's basically the same as that but through a slightly more archaic interface.
>>70311698You can't directly trade with the stock exchange yourself, you have to go through a company, which is the broker. Used to you needed a bunch of money and had to pay per transaction, but in the current environment you can buy 1 stock with $30 bucks at most of the major brokerages and there's no fee.
If you're in the US then you likely want to go with one of the big three: Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab. They're valued in the trillions, they're not going to fall and they're not going to fuck you over by trying to wring an extra dime out of you. They don't make their money off of traders, they make their money off of their ETFs and other investment vehicles. Their trading platform is a funnel to get people to buy their ETFs, so you're not the product. With other brokers, like Robinhood, you are the product, so they're trying to squeeze as much out of you as they can then sell your trading data.
Regardless of which broker you choose you make an account, connect a bank account, transfer money, and buy a stock through their interface. EZPZ. No forms to fill out or any of that shit, usually no minimum purchase since all of them moved to fractal share trading. They'll send you your tax forms every year, you just enter the numbers they send you in your favorite tax prep software.
