[Selanne_200]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet, try to diversify. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. I know it's hard especially since you have a limited amount of start up money but try not to blow it all on one stock. For starter, I would try to start reading up on business news and just news in general, since most stocks generally move in the same direction as market expectation and speculations. Do you have a certain area you feel comfortable in? maybe your own personal insight? For example, one would expect the value of Wal-Mart stocks to rise, if the economy remains slow and since they are a large supplier of commodities and their target market is low income families, I would start connecting the dots that way. Of course, you can always read up on more technical stuff, and learn to read balance sheets, income statements, looking at BETA values, EPS and all sorts of good stuff