With so many different companies offering such a wide variety of stocks and bonds, it can be difficult to keep track of which ones are good investments and which ones will cause you to lose money. If you aren't sure how to tell the good stocks from those that aren't so great, or simply don't have the time that you'd need to keep track of all of the different stocks so as to know when it's time to buy or sell, you might want to consider hiring a stock market analyst.

A stock market analyst is an individual, sometimes as a part of an investment firm, whose job it is to watch the changes in the market and keep track of which stocks and bonds are performing well and which ones aren't.

If you think that you might be interested in hiring a stock market analyst but aren't sure how you would go about doing so, then the information below should help you begin your search.

Find Local Analysts

The first step in hiring a stock market analyst is finding one to hire. You can often find listings for market analysts or investment services in your local phone directory, and many analysts are likely to advertise in the financial section of local newspapers and other financial publications. You might also try searching the internet for information about financial analysts in your area.

Once you've found the analysts that are closest to your area, it's time to begin investigating the services that they offer and finding the one that's best for your investments.

Compare Prices and Services

Obviously, stock market analysts are going to charge for their services… after all, it's how they make a living. You should take the time to see how much the various analysts in your area charge, and find out exactly what services that price covers. Some market analysts might have several different packages at different prices, offering different services for different amounts so as to cover a variety of different service needs and financial limits.

Take some time to compare the prices that each analyst charges and the packages that they offer, and when you've decided upon the one that offers the most services that you desire for the best price begin checking to see how good they are at their job.

Check References

Taking the time to check references and to see if your potential analyst has any major complaints against them can help you to avoid having to repeat your search in a short period of time. In most cases, you'll find that businesses such as stock market analysts will have customers who are more than willing to allow the analyst to use them as a reference because of good experiences that they've had. If they don't have any references that you can use, take a little time to ask around and see if you can uncover any good or bad experiences that others have had with them in the past.

Though it may seem like a lot of work, you want to make sure that the person that you hire will be able to do the job that you're hiring them for.

Making Your Decision

After you've done some checking around and gone over the information that the analyst has given you again, it's time to make your decision. If it seems as though they'll do a good job in advising you on your stock choices, go ahead and hire them… if not, you should continue your search until you can find the one that will.