The better bet for the beginning investor is to purchase mutual funds. Mutual funds will pool the costs of many different stocks, lessening the risk of losing your money and raising the chances of gain. Mutual funds may not provide quite the excitement of investing in a lucky stock, but they are good investments for a long-term financial opportunity. In addition, mutual funds are managed by professionals that are well acquainted with the pitfalls and opportunities of the investment sector, which will cut down on both risk and the time it would take to pick individual stocks through research and appointments. Mutual funds will also distribute the risks among several investors, and it is all managed by someone who likely has contacts within the financial world.

For the individual with some extra money, who does not have the time or the expertise to properly play the stock market, mutual funds will prove the better option.

The only thing you can do with small amount of capital is buy and hold (not a bad idea, just not as exciting or benefited by your market expertise). Transaction costs will eat away most of your profit at small amounts. Start a mock portfolio in Yahoo Finance or one of the many others. Study and work with the test portfolio while you continue saving for your investment fund. When that is 10x what you have now, you will be an expert and ready.

learn highest level of risk management from highly professionals. learn those things which are well verified and prove, always determine your risk before investing. set per-defined conditions to avoid uncertainty. 1. make fixed mathematical logic strategy free from predictions 2. verify it historically 3. during historical verification all good and bad area of strategy will appear and modify them to tune up the best approach and then finally is discipline. It took 10 years to reach this level in my experience...

Ok so to start I'm 17 years old (I'll be 18 in September) but I'm really into the stock market. I have money put aside (around 1-2K) I know it isn't much but I want to start slowly. The only thing I'm thinking is. Should I invest in the stock market? I know I could lose money but it can be a good experience as well considering I'm heading into business. What should I look for? What stocks do I invest in? and my biggest question is how do I inform myself more on the stock market? I already know the basics of It but I feel like I need to know more :P Also, my mom approves of it saying it's a good way to learn how to manage your money yet my dad is entertain of it. Should I take a chance?

Thanks guys! :)