It takes about 2 years for an individual to be reasonably competent in understanding the stock market. I don’t know of any crash course but if you already have an account with a brokerage firm, almost all of them offer seminars instructed by pro’s on various techniques, analysis, and variety of availabl investment vehicles. Some conducts online seminars so that you don’t have to go to any class in person.

Also, start watching CNBC daily. If you are not home during the day, tape or tivo daily and hear opinions of economists and traders alike. If you find that you hardly understand what they all are talking about, you need more than a crash course before investing your hard earned money into the stock market.