Best shares to buy now

Finding the best shares to buy today (or tomorrow) can feel somewhat daunting with so many options right at your fingertips. Investing information can be found just about everywhere you look, but figuring out the best shares to buy now (or later) takes patience and an eagle eye for detail.

The UK’s best stocks and shares to buy April 2024

To help speed up your research, we’ve done lots of the legwork for you. This table scours all corners of the internet for the best stocks to consider buying.

It looks at popular shares from leading investment apps, the stocks with the largest uptick in trading volume, and even the investments being discussed the most in places like Reddit and X (Twitter)

What are the best shares to buy today?

This will depend on how you prefer to invest. Are you looking to make money with a short-term trade, or do you want something to hold onto for the long run?

Looking for quality long-term investing opportunities is our preferred method here at Finder, but the best stocks for you to invest in today will largely depend on what your tomorrow might look like.

Stock-picking can be quite a lengthy process involving plenty of research. If you do want somewhere to start, here are a few ways you might find the best stocks to buy:

Strategy 1: Keep an eye on investing trends

If you enjoy being an active investor and like to engage with the markets on a regular basis, keep an eye out on quality sources of information. If you’re not keeping an eye out, you might miss out on the latest movements.

However, it’s generally best to look at wider macro-economic trends when looking for the best stocks. Each day, the market can change drastically. Ideally, you should look at the bigger picture. Think about where the economy is and where it’s going, how things like interest rates and inflation, or perhaps a recession, could impact sectors.

Social media can be a useful tool to get news fast, but there’s also the risk of getting caught up in investing fads like meme stocks. No doubt a fun way to invest, but not ideal for long-term portfolio performance.

Strategy 2: Check the news

This ties into the first strategy and it is worth being aware of what’s going on in the world around you. Understanding the state of the economy will make it easier for you to find the best stocks to buy for this year and the coming years.

A key area to watch out for is making sure you don’t get consumed by the news. There is always going to be good and bad news related to the stock market. There will always be reasons not to invest. Similarly, there will always be reasons to invest.

So keep tabs on the world around you, but don’t flinch at every news story you read and start acting like Chicken Little thinking that the sky is falling.

Strategy 3: Look at expert analysis

No one knows exactly what will happen, but many of the smartest investors and analysts in the world will publicly give their opinions on stocks to buy.

You shouldn’t blindly follow what anyone says, but it can be worth leaning on some expert opinions – even if it’s just to see whether they agree or disagree with your ideas.

Lots of the best trading apps now have in-built features showing you what analysts think about the best stocks to buy and the stocks best to avoid. If you’re someone who’s still finding your feet in the market, checking what the experts have to say should leave you feeling more informed about the stocks you’re thinking about buying today.

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 today

We’ve got an in-depth guide on how to buy shares in companies. If you want a quick overview, here’s the steps to follow if you want to buy shares right now:

1. Choose a platform. Take a moment to compare, share dealing accounts to find the right one for you.
2. Open your account. You’ll need your ID, bank details and national insurance number.
3. Deposit your funds. You’ll need to fund your account with a bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
4. Research stocks. Carry out some research using resources on your platform or use whatever method you prefer to digest information.
5. Search for the stock you want to buy now: You can check out the table above for some inspiration
6. Buy your chosen shares. Create an order to buy shares and choose how much you want to invest. It’s that simple.

The whole process can take as little as 15 minutes.

Platforms for buying shares

The right share dealing account for you will depend on your overarching investing strategy. If you want a quick and easy way to start, it might be worth checking out some 0% commission platforms that have no platform fee and also let you invest small amounts.

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When is the best time to buy shares, now or later?

George Sweeney

Deputy editor

This is something that just about every investor asks at one stage. The important thing to remember is that when it comes to buying stocks, time in the market tends to be more crucial than timing the market.

There’s never a perfect time to buy shares and you want to avoid analysis paralysis where you spend all your time researching stocks and then never actually invest. The best time to buy shares will be whenever you can afford to invest with a long-term mindset.

Try to avoid simply thinking about the best shares to buy today and instead think about what shares would you be happy holding 5 or 10 years from now.

Bottom line

You’ll want to use all the resources at your disposal when researching stocks and our table covers some of the best shares to buy now, but always remember to think long term. Don’t buy shares today just because they’re popular or trending. Think about how a stock fits in with the rest of your portfolio and ideally, if this is an investment you can hold for years.

Frequently asked questions

• What are the best shares to buy in 2024?

  This will depend on your overall approach to investing. But, seeing as we’re seeing high levels of inflation and much higher interest rates in 2024, it’s worth taking these wider factors into account when thinking about the best stocks to buy.

• What are the best shares to buy for beginners?

  Picking stocks can be challenging and time consuming. One of the best ways for beginners to buy shares is to invest using exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Ideally, ETFs that cover a broad range of stocks like the S&P 500 for the US or the FTSE 100 for the UK.

  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.

• 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.

• What are the best cheap shares to buy now?

  If you want to find low-priced shares, you might want to look at penny stocks. However, whether a stock is “cheap” or not has more to do with its valuation. Valuations are subjective and can change frequently, so trying to find cheaply valued stocks can feel like sifting through a pile of sand being carried by your bare hands.

  If you want to learn more about finding undervalued stocks, take some time to learn about value investing.