Hi Kim, and welcome.
If your intention is "
trading", then Barney's post is giving you the best advice.
If, however, I interpret your "buying shares" as the intention to start
investing, then any amount above $500 could become a starting point, that being the minimum size of one "marketable parcel".
None of us, old hands or newbies, will be able to tell you what to invest in. You will have to find that out for yourself. But there are various ways to improve the odds when picking a suitable starting point. If you are visually inclined, a simple chart can provide a lead - at one glance, it will show you what a particular share has done over, say, the last 2 years. You will have heard the standard warning "Past performance is not a reliable indicator for future performance." That is definitely true, but if a stock has been well managed and its share price rising for years, it is also less likely to suddenly fall out of bed the day after you bought it.
For a free start into charts, I find
https://www.incrediblecharts.com/ right up there. Other more basic ones are Bigcharts - check out your APD (code for APN Property) with
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=au:apd&insttype=&freq=1&show=&time=9
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/ is also a good free starting point,
Once you have identified a few candidates, it will be sensible to read up on some background:
- What business are they in? Is it future-proof? What are the risks?
- Are they making money or spending lots on research and exploration?
- Have they financed their operation from past profits or are they regularly raising capital?
- Do they pay dividends? If so, at what rate, how consistently and how often?
That should keep you busy for a few weekends, but in the end, you'll be better equipped to decide, where to invest your hard-earned $1,000 - hopefully with less reason to worry about losing it.
On the subject of worrying and losing though: Remember the old chestnut that you should only enter the share market with money that you can afford to lose.
Good luck on an enjoyable journey.