I’ve been looking at Amazon for a while and think it’s a good company to hold onto for the next decade. They have great Prime services, solid cash flow, and a strong business model.
To diversify, maybe NVDA and AMD because they seem to have strong potential in AI, CPU chips, and maybe GPUs. Or should I just go with VOO?
VTI, VT, or VOO are more diverse and safer than picking individual stocks. You have time on your side, and there are many ways to invest. If you want simple, slow, and steady strategies with solid returns, check out this forum’s recommendations on index investing.
I personally invest in VOO, AVUV, and VXUS, but I would recommend either VT or a target date fund if you’re just starting. Don’t bother with individual stocks right now. If you want to take risks, play online poker with fake chips, not real money.
Just put everything into an S&P 500 fund. Pick something like VOO or SPY and stick with it. ETFs are fine, and mutual funds work too, just choose one with the lowest expense ratio. It used to be that ETFs were always cheaper than mutual funds, but that’s not the case anymore, so compare both. You don’t need to invest in individual stocks at 18. Focus on your education or career. You can worry about stock picking in your mid-20s. For now, just put your savings into index funds and don’t think about it. If you do decide to invest in individual stocks later, consider using satellite portfolios. But right now, it’s index funds all the way.
It’s great that you’re starting to invest early. But before jumping into single stocks, make sure you understand diversification. VOO is a solid start, and VTI could be a good alternative, as it offers even broader exposure to US stocks. If you’re interested in international stocks, VXUS might be worth looking into. Here’s a breakdown of VTI and VXUS: https://insightfol.io/en/portfolios/report/2cb672e00c/
Diversify. Put your money in a high-cap growth fund and continue contributing for the next 20 years. When you’re older, you might want to shift to more stable investments. I like VUG as a good growth ETF.
Do you want to spend a lot of time researching and tracking stocks? If not, putting your money into a broad index ETF like VOO or SPY is a safer bet. If you want to take on more risk for potentially higher rewards, you can try VOOG or SPYG. They carry higher risk but may pay off more.
But if you’re interested in learning through experience, maybe put a small portion of your assets into individual stocks to get a feel for it. But be careful, as following stock tips from forums like WallStreetBets could lead to losing money. As for diversification, more is usually better. But personally, I think international diversification won’t help much compared to just investing in US stocks, which have been outperforming international assets for a while now.
Consider buying stocks from investment companies that have consistently increased in value for the past five years or more 
A good mix is 70% VOO, 20% AVUV, and 10% VXUS. It’s fine to take some risks with individual stocks, but only with 5-10% of your portfolio. The other 90% should be in these three index funds.
Check out what Warren Buffet buys through Berkshire Hathaway and consider investing in that. Or you can stick with an S&P 500 index fund, like FXAIX, which has the lowest fees. Just make sure you do all of this in a Roth IRA, not a traditional one. Roth is key here.
VOO is an index fund, not a stock. While many people on this forum like index investing, that wasn’t your question. You asked about individual stocks. And that’s something you need to figure out for yourself.
Since you’re looking to hold for a decade, you’re probably willing to take on some volatility, but you still want to beat the market. I’d suggest looking at the top 10 stocks in the S&P 500, researching them, and picking the one that feels right for you.
You could look for a hot stock, but if you’re in it for the long haul, it’s best to stay away from meme stocks, as they can be a gamble, and timing them is tricky.
GME. You could learn a lot there.