Getting Started in Investing
 

I'd like to start to study investing, and I'm wondering if anyone has a good starting place. Any titles of books that are good? Thanks.

What kind of investing..

As a job (day trading), or just as a long term money-making alternative?

Also, are you more insterested in investing in single stocks, or the more stable, but (arguabl) slower gaining, mutual funds?

In terms of some general advice that works regardless of what type of investing you are doing.. Do research and don't rush into anything. The type of research you do will depend on the type of investing you are interested in, but generally I think taking it slow is a good idea.

The thing is I don't exactly know what I want to do. I'm pretty young and want to investigate the area, as it might influence my major. I'm probably more interested in stocks versus mutual funds. Thanks for the reply Grondar.

Although some people's opinions disagree with mine on this, I would recommend "The Motley Fool" trilogy to get you started in the financial world.

There are 3 books in the series, and it explains in a no-nonsense, easy to understand, and even entertaining way the ins and outs of the business. People that have followed their advice on investing have usually done fairly well, at least the several people that I know.

The three books are, in the order that you should read them...

1) Motley Fool's You Have more than you think: The Foolish Guide to Personal Finance

2)The Motley Fool Investment Guide: How the Fool Beats Wall Street's Wise Men and How you can too

3)The Motley Fool's Rule Breakers, Rule Makers: the Foolish Guide to Picking Stocks

Silly names, indeed, but very, very informative. You can pick them up on Half.com (a subsidary of ebay) for probably less than $10 for all three of em.

Basically, the first book goes over personal finance, the second is a broad overview of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and options, and the third is a more advanced, in depth study of the stock market. I highly recommend them, as they contain a lot of good info and are actually semi-entertaining to read, which is very uncommon for financial books.

Enjoy :D

I have a soft spot in my heart for the fool.

When I ran into their website (fool.com), it sounded so much like my first year econ teacher, I thought he might be a writer for them! And he was a riot. =)

Not a huge fool fan beyond a certain point. Then again, it will depend on what kind of investing you are looking to get into. If it is stocks, I would start with an old book by Benjamin Graham, "The Intelligent Investor" It is a classic....and absolutely as useful today as ever.