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Background: I am a 14 year freshman in high school

I wanna get into the stock market and begin investing.

I often try to learn new things through a strict procedure. I have one of each of the following: a textbook on the topic I wanna learn, a regular book, an online source, and some primary sources like raw data from the market. I'm going to try to take notes on these and then try to memorize and understand what I read through things like quizlet and other methods of testing myself. To gain experience, I will try to trade stocks with real money rather than paper trade and try to look at the market and understand what is happening.

I also have other questions to ask as well. How much should I know in the following areas: Mathematics, Economics, Finance, Statistics, and Computer Science? Is it possible to only learn this on the weekends?

Apologies if my approach to learning seems dumb in any way. I'm open to feedback on both my learning process and I'd also like some recommendations for sources.

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You need to start the process of becoming financially literate. Start by reading beginner level introductory material. There are a lot of "XYZ For Dummies" books. Build a basic foundation and as you understand more, seek out more complex books in areas of the market that interest you.

Understanding financial markets is like learning a foreign language. It takes time and effort, something most people don’t want to do and as a result of failing to do so, they often lose their money. Financial markets can quickly take the money of the inexperienced and uninformed.

There's no need to approach this so rigidly. There's no need to memorize and test yourself. It's not a school exam. There are going to be a lot of things that you read and you don't understand. If so, move past them and if they're relevant, come back to them later. They're like jigsaw puzzles - in time, the various pieces will start to fit together.

Also, don't worry about how much Mathematics, Economics, Finance, Statistics, and Computer Science you need to know for investing. You're going to take many of these courses in high school and college and down the road, you'll have a much better idea of what interests you as well as what else you might need to improve your expertise.

You're 14 years old and you have an awful lot of weekends remaining until you are established in a career and you have enough money to make a difference in your investing. Just start learning and let the process take you where you want to go rather than trying to figure out now where that is.

Get a library card :->)

Good luck.

Bob Baerker
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Here’s a brief background about me before I answer your question. I am an equity analyst at a boutique asset management firm which uses a bottom up investment approach. We are generally focused on the underlying fundamentals of a business and less concerned with timing the market from an economics perspective. My job is to analyze the financial statements of businesses and use our proprietary valuation model to assign a fair value to the business.

Pick up a copy of “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham as your personal read and introduction to equity markets. The type of textbook I’d recommended really would depend on your investment thesis. Specifically, do some research on market efficiency and form your own opinion. This will help you determine whether you’re someone who believes in technical analysis, fundamental analysis, or neither.

How much to know in certain subjects varies, in my opinion, on the type of investment approach you seek. There are strategies that use a fundamental “top down” approach which places a focus on world economic conditions, so, obviously in this case having a strong foundation in economics is essential. In contrast there’s those using a “bottom up” approach where the focus is on the fundamentals of each company individually, so in this case a strong foundation in accounting and finance would be essential. Mathematics and statistics are always important to have a great understanding of, especially if you intend on utilizing large data sets to make investment decisions. However, mastery of these subjects is not generally required to be successful in the industry unless you’re going after a quantitative role in which case a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science will be important.

I know my answer was fairly vague, but if I spent the time to answer with much specificity I’d be here all morning. If you have more specific questions, do ask me directly I’m happy to answer.

DannyDimes
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