Best shares to buy now: Updated daily

Find out the top trending stocks from leading investment platforms and social media to help you discover the best shares to buy now.

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You can finder investing information just about everywhere you look, but figuring out the best shares to buy now (or later) takes patience and an eagle eye for detail. We’ve gathered the top trending stocks in one place to help speed up your research.

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

We created a tool that scours the internet daily for the best stocks to consider buying. It looks at trending shares from leading UK investment apps, the stocks with the largest uptick in trading volume, and even the investments being discussed the most in places like Reddit.

Stocks trending on Reddit today

Ape Wisdom tracks the most popular subreddits, including r/wallstreetbets and r/stocks, to see which stocks are getting the most mentions.

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 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.

George Sweeney, DipFA's headshot
Our expert says: When is the best time to buy shares, now or later?

"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. "

Deputy editor

Does Reddit have any impact on the stock market?

At the start of 2021, Reddit cemented itself as a key trading indicator for many seasoned and institutional investors around the world. This was because GameStop, a US-based video game retailer, spiked over 700% during a frenzied few days at the end of January.

GameStop sky-rocketed around 8,000% over six months. The stock became a piece in a rather complicated financial power struggle puzzle between a major hedge fund, Melvin Capital, and a group of internet investors who congregated on Reddit. GameStop became the subject of what’s known as ‘short selling‘, a process in which professional investors borrow shares of stock to sell them and then buy them back at a later date, allowing them to make a profit if the stock price goes down. In simple terms, short-selling is a bet that the company will fail, with infinite loss potential.

Long story short, Reddit investors found an opportunity to make some money by aggressively buying GameStop shares, which resulted in an internet pile on, with everyone from Elon Musk to Wolf of Wall Street’s Jason Belfort wading into the debate and hype. A boom of coverage of the now infamous subreddit r/WallStreetBets made sure the frenzy continued through January.

Is Reddit a reliable place to research stocks?

The internet has been used for talking about stocks and investments since its inception. Reddit is just the latest evolution of that. There are some advantages to researching stocks on Reddit, as well as some things you should watch out for.

Advantages:

  • Anonymised forums can provide protection and create an unbiased environment which allows fruitful discussions to thrive. For example, it’s not unheard of for genuine employees at companies to participate and share genuine insight which can help readers achieve higher gains.
  • Reddit’s used globally. You can get access to insight no matter what time it is, whether you’re an early bird, up at the brink of dawn, or a night owl that prefers late night stock searching.
  • The voting system helps you filter discussions. This is great for filtering out some of the nonsense and getting straight to the good stuff.

Things to watch out for:

  • It can be difficult to verify the authority of posters. This means that you don’t really ever know the credibility of anyone in these forums, and should use insight from several sources when researching.
  • There’s a tendency for groupthink. This means that you don’t get a balanced discussion.
  • Some of these stocks can be riskier Sometimes stocks like pink sheet stocks are mentioned, which are riskier. Stocks can become riskier once they’ve taken off a bit, as they can become very volatile.

Like any form of research, Reddit offers some things you can’t get elsewhere, but should probably just form a part of your overall research process – as opposed to being the start and end of your digging.

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 and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track broad stock markets or even the global stock market. These are considered a beginner-friendly way to start investing, as index funds and ETF investments bundle together 100s or even 1000s of stocks to help you stay diversified with a single investment.

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. Tread carefully and make sure that if you buy shares, you do plenty of research first because stock prices can drop or even crash to zero in extreme cases. Blue-chip stocks and stocks on stock market indices, like the FTSE 100 or S&P 500 can be good options for beginners, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely safe. And, you could still just use an index fund or ETF to invest in all the stocks on the FTSE 100 or S&P 500 instead of attempting to pick individual winners.

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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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.

You need to make sure that the shares you’re buying now are still going to be a worthwhile investment down the line. Of course, there are no guarantees that any investment will succeed in the long run, but it’s worth taking the time to figure out if the stocks and shares you’re looking to buy today will also be something that you’re willing to hold tomorrow.

Frequently asked questions

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.

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