New to Investing..want to learn more...?

First, pay off all short term debt. If you have a credit card interest rate of say, 21%, that's an instant tax-free return of 21% per year on your money.

Next, if your company has a 401(k) with matching funds, fund your 401(k) to the maximum match amount. Free money is good.

If your company doesn't have matching funds, then fund your Roth IRA to its maximum ($4,000). Tax-free growth is good. I'd go with a no-load, low cost mutual fund company, like Fidelity, Vanguard, or T Rowe Price. If you have money left over after you've funded the 401(k) to the maximum match, do this step with the extra money.

If you *still* have more money for long-term investing, go back to the 401(k) and invest in that up to what you can afford.

And get yourself an elementary education in personal finance. You're going to get a lot advice here, and you won't know who to believe. Well you can believe this: no one is going to care as much about your money as you are. No one is going to watch it as closely as you are, especially someone who's got multiple accounts to look after. So get yourself a foundation, so you'll know if someone is actually giving you good advice or not. Personally, I recommend "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need" by Andrew Tobias. It'll give you an overview of everything you need to know (stocks, bonds, real estate, insurance, etc.). Then you can decide if you need a deeper education in anything. Good luck!

Best way to start is to:

1. READ - there are countless books on investing. Check Amazon or Barnes and noble.

2. Open up a brokerage account. Depending on your needs ... If you're an average investor a cheap online account will work, but if you're high net worth individual then probably go for full service (i.e. Investment banks/brokerages). Make sure the brokerage provider is a reputable provider or has the financial resources so that it won't collapse ... e.g. Ameritrade, optionsXpress, Fidelity etc ... Online accounts are good for basic equity/option trades, without information/brokerage reports ... if you want good quality research and information then open up a full service account - but do keep in mind the premium you will pay for it.

Then start trading. Most online brokerages have "practice" accounts that you can play around with fake money. You can do that if you're scared to lose money. Best way to learn is to actually trade and invest and monitor the markets everyday.

3. ask yourself what kind of an investor you are: long term? short term? saving for retirement? all these things will determine whether you are aggressive or conservative. My feeling is you've probably had your retirement savings invested in some way or another ... either through your retirement plan ... or through some mutual fund manager. If you don't have time and don't like to stress, then you should let other people manage your money, providing they are good at what they do.

Information sources:

Books

SEC website for investors: http://www.sec.gov/investor.shtml

Learn from investors you admire by reading up their history/philosophy

Beware:

The markets are really crazy right now ... and very volatile. Make sure you know what you're doing.

Or else, just put it in an index fund or let other professionals/people manage your money.

Hope this helps

Cheers.

Don't buy stock in a single company...instead buy mutual funds which hold stock in many companies (and therefore spread the risk).

You want to invest, not gamble. Here are basic principles:

1. Do not chase past returns. People that buy funds because they have done well in the past are doing exactly that.

2. Do not market time. Market timing is buying based on your (or your newsletter, or your TV, or neighbor's) guess about what is going to happen in the future. Even if someone knows something, you've already missed the boat. The price already reflects what you just found out.

3. Use index funds. Over time, index funds outperform actively managed funds, mostly because they do not have those high expense ratios. Some actively managed funds do beat their index, but the ones that do usually do not do so consistently. So why gamble? Use index funds. If you want to use a few actively managed funds, make sure that the costs are very low. Vanguard has some good ones.

5. Diversify. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Own a mix of bonds, domestic equities (large, small and mid cap funds), an international fund and perhaps a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) and emerging market fund. Four to six funds is all you need. Know your risk tolerance and set up an appropriate asset allocation. Rebalance as needed.

6. Consider taxes. Use the least tax efficient funds in your tax-deferred accounts and the most tax efficient funds in your taxable accounts.

Go here and learn more about how to assess your risk tolerance and how to set up a diversified portfolio and much more....

http://www.saveyournestegg.com/diy.html

And avoid financial advisors!!

http://www.saveyournestegg.com/scam.html

well there are some good stocks out there that just happened to go down with the market.If fundamentals are good it would be a good time to buy that stock. If i were you i would read and learn but would get knowledgeable on mutual funds,fees asset class company of that fund as well as portfolio manager. Money mag can help and morningstar rating service.

i think in case you replaced the word "perception" with the synonymous word "hypothesis" you does no longer have a topic. until you're thoroughly unthinking, that's impossible to no longer already have a preconceived recommendations approximately what you are going to earnings. there is no longer something incorrect with already having ideals, you won't be able to no longer have them... in any case by using fact the consequence of gaining understanding of you learn in case you have been the two precise, incorrect, or rather the two on your ideals. permit's take something elementary as an occasion. The Earth strikes around the solar. My Preconceived hypothesis: From adventure i will watch the solar circulate around the sky. The Earth appears like that's fantastically nevertheless. an excellent thank you to basically end that the solar is the only which's actual shifting. ^The above is although incorrect. The argument against the above is that once you do the maths that's plenty less complicated for the Earth and planets to be circling the solar and not each little thing circling the Earth. additionally we are able to learn Venus and word how the dark area of Venus differences (see as Venus is going around the solar diverse areas of it are lit up exhibiting that that's shifting around the solar). And why it feels like the Earth isn't shifting is defined by using fact we are in fact "shifting with" the Earth. ===== As an factor word I disagree with the guy who pronounced "ideals tend to get interior the way". it is not genuine, in fact, maximum scientific data are actual "ideals" until now they're shown. you have a perception, you pass out and coach that perception. Copernicus believed the Heliocentric variety, he went out and proved it.

as you said you are new to market.

first of all i would like to say tht if u want to invest your money in stocks then keep one thing in mind tht it is always risky because there is no limit of loss and profit.

1)if you want to invest then always invest for long term.

2)open ur acount thru a broker and ask him to provide u his service.

3)keep an eye on stocks u r interested in.

4)always invest in stocks which are fundamentally strong, whose book value is strong,who's profit of last 4 quarter was good,and who has maximum and large orders in their pocket.and the thing which company is currently dealing with is tht has a scope in future?

why don't you take a look at this website, http://larrysbook.com/ . This's the best book of Larry Levin, a very well-know person. He have a right way to tech you about trading commodities.

GOOD LUCK