Have you ever bought a small amount of stocks?

Yes, long ago, and I wish I could now that small trades carry no commission ( I am not permitted to trade listed securities because I work for an exchange.)

Yes. Wish I’d done it 2000 when co-workers told me to. I eventually did in 2010 to 2012. Made some money but an unfortunate event in life happened and I lost interest in trading. Too bad.

As far as practice goes, I have pretended to buy and sell stocks to see if I could make money by day trading. I would not make it as a day trader.