best spot/book to learn about investing?

[Love]

Hey all. I'm looking to get into investing. I have a really modest income so it may be a while before I build up the minimum $500 or $1000 I hear you need to be begin. In the meantime, I'm trying to make sense of a variety of different things which are confusing. Hedge fund, index fund, EFT, etc. Discount broker, Regular broker, stock picking advice... It's all swimming about in my head right now. Does anyone know of a good website/or book for beginners? And I'm not talking about the very basics (i.e. this is mutual fund, bond, stocks, do higher stocks if you're young, etc.) I need something that will take me from just wanting to get in the game to actually doing it. Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[RT Wolf]

This dictionary will help you with the terms:

Investopedia.com: Financial Dictionary

The first thing you'll learn about the stock market is that its extremely divided. Everyone has their own opinion about what works. However, there are one or two metrics that everyone follows, one of which is "the market". That is, you see how a stock market index did that year, and use that to compare against individual performance. In the long term, though, the stock market has done an average of between 10-11% a year, which is an excellent return and that's why index fund investing is a great option for most people.

On a more fundamental side, a great book on the subject is One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch. Peter Lynch is considered one of the greatest mutual fund managers ever, so his advice is well worth reading. Another nice book on the value investing side is "The Little Book of Value Investing" by Christopher Browne (I think) of Tweedy, Browne. Tweedy, Browne has spent a long time beating the market, too, and that's a very easy to read introduction to one of the few investing philosophies that have regularly beaten the market.

Its like this: do you have the time, patience, discipline and energy to learn to pick your own stocks? If you don't, then just go buy index funds and sit on them, they're an excellent investment. Should you feel the twinge to pick your own stocks, then allocate a small portion (no more than 5-10%) of your portfolio to your own stocks.

About mutual funds or mutual fund managers: very few fund managers even match the market, so unless you have the ability to pick the right manager who's going to beat the market consistantly, go with index funds.

Fool.com: Investing, Stock Research, and Personal Finance has some good info, but I don't know about their products because I've never evaluated them, they appear to be good, though.

[stocktrading101]

Hi Love!

I actually run a nonprofit organization dedicated to investing and stock market education The organization was founded on Dec 22, 2005 and just over a year later we now have close to 1600 members across the globe! We have our 501c (3) status pending currently, which will make us an official public charity within the United States.

Our website is Falkin Investing Organization, and actually right now we are developing a brand new education system which should be launched sometime in March. But until then, I have and still do teach free lessons on the side alongside some other volunteers within the organization, and would be happy to help you out as time sees fit! You can head over to our Stock Forum, and towards the bottom you will see a "Stock Mentor" section, click there and you'll find my contact info.

RT Wolf's suggestions of heading over to investopedia.com is also a great idea, and here is a link to their investor articles section. They educate some 2 million investors a month, and are actually a sponsor or our organization, so definitely check them out!

[Love]

Thanks for the advice! I'll have a look in the places that you've suggested.
'preciate it.