Stock Market Today

How to invest depends on what you already know. We’ll assume that you’re beginning.

A good primer is How to Make Money in Stocks by William O’Neil. You can get it cheap just about anywhere. It’s widely available new or used.

Another good one is one of Jim Cramer’s books.

But books will only get you so far. At some point, you’ll also want to get at least a little training. There are some great education companies if you want to make the investment. Investools.com or optionetics.com are both very good companies as is tmitchell.com

For free, you can start by visiting thestreet.com. That’ll get you a pretty good primer so at least you’ll understand what the markets are and what a stock is, etc. If you get a chance, watch Mad Money on CNBC. Don’t trade any of his picks. Just use the show to get you to understand some basics and get a feel for the market itself.

Next, subscribe to something like investorsbusiness daily or something like that that can help you identify good stocks.

Do a quick search (at the top of the page) on ROTH IRAs. You’ll want to put some money in there.

Once you understand stocks, go to 888options.com. It’s a website that’ll help you understand options (what they do, how they work, etc). You don’t need to trade them, but the more you know, the more you’ll see how options can really be the safest way to invest (once you’re educated).

As you get more advanced, you might want a technical analysis book like Murphy’s Visual Investor or A Technical Analysis Course by Meyer.

If it’s discipline (which is crucial to successful trading), probably Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas or Mastering the Trade by John Carter

I know that’s a LOT to absorb. Just take it one step at a time for now. Start slow, then as you figure things out, move out of mutual funds into ETFs and/or stocks.

Congrats again on getting started. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Hope this helps!