My first investment account

So, I finally started an investment account with Banc of America Investments, a subsidiary of Bank of America. Why? Because it was there. I also plan to open a Roth with ING (reminder to self; must call for appointment) but I bank at B of A and they constantly advertise on their site. Oh, and it's nice to be able to see all the accounts at once. I highly recommend this.

It took about a day for my new account to show up, and since I get paid tomorrow I will try to fund it then. For my first stocks, I am choosing SunPower, Pacific Fuel Cell (a penny stock...scary!), Wild Oats, and Vivendi. You may notice that some of these sound a little hippie granola-crunchy, and yes, that is my intent. Vivendi is company that created and sustains WOW (World of Warcraft for all you non-geeks out there), and my husband plays it enough I should get something out of the deal (LOL).

But the rest I found using this website listing sustainable stocks. I have always had a distaste for business because I don't like the corporate mindset particularly well, but I have decided that I can still use and direct my money for profitable ventures that will improve the world rather than continue destroying it. I could probably make money speculating in oil or real estate, but developers? They are evil. And although we need fossil fuels to maintain our way of life, it's still a hard pill to swallow and I don't want to encourage them. Give me ethanol and support midwestern farmers anytime.

I want to note that the Bank of America interface looks really nice, but I am having a hard time transferring money. The instructions say I can just hit "transfer" and choose the account, but it doesn't give the account as an option. Since I will actually have a decent amount of money in my checking account tomorrow, I will call and fight with them about it then.

Whoo hoo! My investing has begun.