You may also want to find your stock broker and consult them. Sometimes, they offer free seminars and an online access to their sites that gives you more articles to read and other tutorials. Stock market is easy to understand but very complicated at the same time. Sometimes, you really need to be involved and get first hand experience to really understand the concepts. A stock broker may give you a demo account to try. good luck to you.
I agree that it's a good idea to consult with one or more pros if you have at least a few grand to invest and have little or no knowledge of this stuff. Even if you talk to a relatively inexperienced pro at a good, reputable firm, they will be eager to earn any and all business when they are new and will have the benefit of the firm's research and experience backing them.
I had the same problem too. If you don't have stellar grades from an ivy-league school, it's really difficult to get your foot in the door in this industry since investment banks won't hire elsewhere. I think the best bet is to follow the footsteps of some self-learned investors such as Michael Burry who learned everything just from reading a lot of books. Google Michael Burry's recommended reading list and you should a find a reading list that'll get you started.
I would also agree that The Essays of Warren Buffet are a great place to start. That book helped me clear $5000 in my first year tinkering around with the market. He also helps you with a solid plan for your future.
Thanks to all who posted, I will check all of it out. I'm new to the stock thing and the various books that people recommended are a great way to jump into this new venture of mine.
I started reading The Essays of Warren Buffet and found it to be fascinating reading. He does present the material in a way that even the most inexperienced person can make sense of it. Thanks for posting that info wanderingwildman.
All of the authors that were mentioned are terrific. I checked out all of them and went through a lot of their material and learned a lot from it.
Really appreciate this tip. Been reading some articles on Burry's strategies and a lot of what he's talking about seems to make sense to me. Certainly feel a hell of a lot more comfortable than I did a few weeks ago.
Sit down for at least a week or two, preferably with someone already in the business, and just learn everything you can in that amount of time. Then start out slow. Take a dollar. Try and turn it into two dollars. Once you've worked that out, go for ten dollars to twenty. Fifty to a hundred. Slowly work your way up to the point you're comfortable with, and re-evaluate that position every now and then.
Great tips indeed, as soon as I have some extra cash I'll make some investments myself. My colleague has a really basic, but effective view on the subject. Just select a few solid companies whose stocks are low and buy them, they will rise soon enough.
