How to find a stock for your kids to invest in

— -- Q: My sons are interested in investing in Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, since we go there several times a week. How can they figure out if stock is available for these companies?

A: It's great to hear your kids are interested in investing. And you're right. It's often easiest to nurture young investors' curiosity by focusing on companies they know and patronize regularly.

Certainly, the grocery store is one of the first places young people encounter capitalism. They see products on the shelves, how they're marketed and sold. And both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are known for their uniqueness, often selling products you can't find elsewhere, as well as personal service. These are excellent aspects of business for young people to observe and learn from.

Clearly, understanding whether a good company is a good stock is an entirely different discussion. And that discussion will get real ugly fast if you start talking about P-E and price-to-book ratios. There's nothing that will kill a young person's interest in investing faster than a mention of tangible book value.

That's why, in this case, you're right to stick with the basics. Your first stop for guiding your kids should be USATODAY.com's Money section. If you go to money.usatoday.com, there's a stock symbol lookup tool that will answer your questions.

At money.usatoday.com, just scroll down a bit to the Market Summary on the left-hand side of the page. There, you'll see a "Get a quote" blank with the words "Enter symbol(s) or Keywords."