How do I beging to "play" the stock market?

Question

I am completely lost as to how the stock market works...what it does, everything...

Answer 1

Forget the stock market. For a much more stable way to invest check out www.prosper.com

The stock market is not a game. I know, because I lost 20 large trying to be a day trader!

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Answer 2

the stock market is a lot more volatile than any other investment.
You can trade stocks through online brokers such as e*trade, scotttrade, ameritrade etc.
the stock market is from 9;30-4;00 (new york time) . the prices of stocks are usually different from when they close to when they open the next day so stocks are extremely volatile compared to cd's, 401k's etc.
there are many type of investments blue-chip stocks, growth stocks, dividend stocks, penny stocks etc.
blue-chip stocks and dividend stocks are usually pretty safe.
a stock only grows if a company grows so some companies that can't grow much anymore (like microsoft) pay dividends to shareholders.
penny stocks are the riskiest: they are cheap stocks that are usually under $1. Their volatility could bring in huge profits or they could doom you. I wouldn't recommend trading penny stocks unless you are willing to take much more risk but possibly earn lots of money.
your investment strategy depends on how much risk you are willing to take. some people don't even invest in penny stocks because it is too easy to lose your investment.
either way, if you invest, i would suggest that you diversify your portfolio with a bit from each category of stocks and maybe a bit of safe mutual funds to balance out your losses (if any)
if you choose to play the stock market, then good luck investing