Best shares to buy now

There have never been more places to search for the best shares to buy — we’ve seen a huge rise in new stocks being talked about on social media and forums every single day. Luckily, there are always good shares to buy now, even in a falling market or a volatile market. We’ve compiled some of the most traded stocks today and some of the shares being discussed on social media and forums to help you choose some of the best shares to buy now. For a full, 5-year view of each stock, click on its name in the table.

The UK’s best stocks and shares to buy

What are the best shares to buy in 2023?

This all depends on what you’re looking for – if you’re looking for stocks that will grow gradually over time, then you’re not necessarily looking for stocks that everyone is diving in on right now. Look out for stocks on the FTSE 100 or S&P 500 and research some good growth stocks.

If you want today’s trending stocks, we’ve curated a list above of stocks that people are trading at the moment by analysing the percentage change in trade volume. We’ve also created lists of stocks being talked about on Reddit and Twitter.

These stocks might not offer long term growth or stability, as stocks in the list may be being targeted for a short squeeze, similar to what happened with GameStop back in February 2021. Consider taking some time to research any stocks that might have popped up, seemingly randomly to check if there’s solid reasoning behind it, such as a recent (or upcoming) quarterly or annual results, recent announcements or negative press.

How is the stock market performing?

A good way to get a good idea of the stock market as a whole is to look at something like the FTSE All-World Fund (VWRL), which holds over 3,000 of the biggest publicly traded companies from dozens of countries, including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft,Alibaba, Tencent and Samsung. As you can see from the chart below, since the coronavirus stock market crash in March 2020, it’s recovered well.

FTSE All-World Fund (VWRL)

How to find the best shares to buy now

You effectively want to find the stocks that have been mis-priced, before the market realises that it’s mis-priced. There are a few ways to get an idea of which stocks are undervalued, which ones are overvalued and which ones are just right. Here are some of the strategies:

Strategy 1: Keep an eye on the trends

If you’ve got a good idea of which stocks are trending, what some of the experts are saying and which sectors are doing well (or not doing well), you’re in a good position to the best shares to buy in. As well as Finder, there are some good financial news sites such as Bloomberg and the Financial Times. These can help you stay on top of the latest trends and expert views. Our tables above should be helpful here.

Increasingly, social media and forums, like Reddit and Twitter have been a good source of financial insight — but you should ensure that you trust the accounts you’re following. Look out for people with knowledge and experience in the subject.

Strategy 2: Look at the news

Once you know which stocks are trending, find out why. There’s almost always a reason behind why people are talking about a specific stock — sometimes it’s really obvious, for example everytime Apple releases a new product, something happens to its stock price. Other times, the answer might take a little digging.

Looking at news sites can be really helpful here. You can set news alerts or actively search for company names to find out what’s going on.

Traders who keep an eye on the news might be classed as “momentum investors” – people who like to capitalise on the continuance of a trend.

Strategy 3: Look into analysis

There are a couple of different types of analysis available for you to try out, and in some cases, someone else can do it for you.

Both technical and fundamental analysts are hoping to find a stock which is underpriced by the wider market. If they’re confident in their assessment, they can find what they believe is a cheap stock to buy, and make a gain as the price rises.

But, just as you don’t need to be a decoater to re-paint your wall, or a professional chef to cook a meal for your significant other, you don’t need to be a professional analyst to try it out. The GameStop frenzy in early 2021 showed that even the retail investor can give the institutional investors a run for their money. If you’re new to investing or trading and want to give it a shot – go for it. We’ve included some more detail below about the types of analysis.

Remember the golden rules: don’t invest more than you can afford to lose, and remember that your investments can go down as well as up.

• Fundamental analysis

  Fundamental analysis is a method of quantifying the “intrinsic” value of a stock. The intrinsic value can be thought of as the “true” value of a stock, and the market value is the price it’s currently trading at.

  As mentioned above, traders are looking for a mismatch between the intrinsic and market value of a stock and are hoping to make a profit by buying a stock for less than it’s worth.

  Analysts can look at the “fundamentals” of a business to determine value, including things such as a company’s revenue, cashflow, growth rate and future projects planned. On top of that, fundamental analysts will also look at the industry surrounding a business, to contextualise a stock and work out how it might perform within its industry, and how that industry might perform within the wider economy.

  All of that is pretty difficult stuff for the average person to do, and that’s why big financial institutions like JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs hire the smartest talent to do it. These analysts have access to the best information, the best software and tools, and operate within an experienced team of talented and intelligent people from universities like Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge.

  The good news is, you don’t have to do all this. You can read analyst reports on the stocks, which condense all of this research into a summary which you can find commentary on through most financial news sites. The analysts will have a “target price”, which is the price they believe reflects the true value of the stocks, arrived at through their analysis. This can help you understand which stocks are undervalued.

  Just keep in mind that when you’re picking stocks you’re going up against the big guns mentioned above, and that everyone else has access to the same information as you.

• Technical analysis

  Technical analysis is what you’ll see on social media, with traders showing you screenshots of complicated looking charts with lots of crazy lines on them. This type of analysis finds opportunities by looking at statistics and trends, such as who’s buying, how much they’re buying and how much the price is moving.

  Technical analysts believe past trading activity can help predict future price movements, and that they can use this information to get an edge over the market and make a profit.

What are the best shares to buy for beginners?

If you’re just looking to dip your toe into the choppy waters of investing, then it’s best to start off in the shallow end.

Total beginners may want to consider picking a platform which manages all the investments for you, typically called robo-advisors, or take a look at index funds (a literal index of all the biggest companies in a given industry, country, or region. The VWRL example mentioned at the top of this page is an example of an index fund). These are considered a less risky way to start investing, as an index fund bundles together 100s or even 1000s of strong companies, diversifying the risk between them and making the failure of one less of a problem for the person doing the investing.

But if you’re dead set on diving straight into the deep end, the golden rule is to not invest more than you’re willing to lose. An individual stock can drop 10%, 20%, or 50%, or could crash to zero, so imagine that happening with the money you’re investing before you put any money in. A good rule of thumb: if a 20% crash will give you sleepless nights, you’re too heavily invested.

Blue chip stocks and stocks on stock market indices, like the FTSE100 or S&P500 could be good beginner stocks, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely safe. If you create a diversified portfolio with some exchange traded funds, some blue chip stocks and those with good market cap and recent growth, then you can still add some riskier ones into the mix if you’re feeling brave.

Remember, there are absolutely no guarantees with any stock or investing strategy. So make sure you’re doing your research into a stock, regardless of how established the company is.

What are the best cheap shares to buy now?

If you’re looking for cheap stocks, you might be looking for penny stocks. These are stocks that cost pennies to buy (like penny sweets). These are a nice way to create a well balanced and diversified pic-n-mix portfolio on a smaller budget. Penny stocks can be hit and miss — don’t assume that because a stock is cheap, it’s undervalued or that it’ll definitely grow. Some well established companies are penny stocks, such as Lloyds Bank, as well as some that might never see much growth.

We’ve created a list of penny stocks if you’re looking for some of the best cheap shares to buy now.

How to buy shares now

1. Choose a platform. If you’re a beginner, our share-dealing table can help you choose.
2. Open your account. You’ll need your ID, bank details and national insurance number.
3. Confirm your payment details. You’ll need to fund your account with a bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
4. Search the platform for stock code: You can check out the table above for some inspiration
5. Research your chosen shares. The platform should provide the latest information available.
6. Buy your chosen shares. It’s that simple.

The whole process can take as little as 15 minutes.

What platforms can I use?

Top penny stocks being bought on trading platforms today

Rank	Code	Stock	Monthly change in trade volume	Latest close price	3-month price chart
1	88E	88 Energy	209.74%	0.4p	UK stocks Penny stocks
2	VOD	Vodafone Group	132.47%	75.63p	UK stocks Penny stocks
3	PREM	Premier African Minerals	36.63%	0.21p	UK stocks Penny stocks
4	LLOY	Lloyds Banking Group	17.12%	45.445p	UK stocks Penny stocks Finance stocks
5	SYME	Supply@Me Capital	51.38%	0.36p	UK stocks Penny stocks Tech stocks

Bottom line

You need a good resource to choose the best shares to buy now — we’ve pulled together some stocks that have significant changes to their trading volumes (ones that a lot of investors are buying into). We’ve also found some of the stocks currently being talked about on social media and forums. Consider that this kind of investing isn’t a typical long term strategy and falls more closely in the “day trading” category, so may not suit you if you don’t have a great deal of time to dedicate to investing.

Frequently asked questions

• What is the best time to buy shares?

  You’ll hear the term “buy the dip” a lot when researching stocks, but the difficult thing is knowing when the stock is about to rise again or whether the dip will keep dipping. This is something that good charting tools and a lot of research can help you with.

  A lot of inventors saw the coronavirus stock market crash as an opportunity. The key thing is that you’re well diversified and you don’t panic.

• Which shares pay the best dividends?

  We have a really handy guide on dividend stocks that might help you find good dividend stocks to buy right now.

• Which share is the best to buy for the future?

  We wish we could give you a definitive answer to this. Some good stocks for long term growth are blue chip stocks.

This article offers general information about investing and the stock market, but should not be construed as personal investment advice. It has been provided without consideration of your personal circumstances or objectives. It should not be interpreted as an inducement, invitation or recommendation relating to any of the products listed or referred to. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invested, so your capital is at risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you're not sure which investments are right for you, please get financial advice. The author holds no positions in any share mentioned.