I'm completely new to the world of investing and stocks. Knowing that I shouldn't invest or buy stocks until I know it well enough, I was wondering which cheap or affordable resources would be the best to get started?
I've seen quite a lot of books and websites that teach investing, but it's hard to choose. To narrow it down, what book and/or what website would you recommend that does a good job teaching investing in stocks to beginners?
The Motley Fool's How to Invest
Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor
If you like The Intelligent Investor then try Benjamin's Security Analysis. But that one is not a beginner book.
If you just want to save for retirement, start with a financial planning book, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Simple-Financial-Strategies-People/dp/0743269942 and here's my editorial on the investing part: http://blog.ometer.com/2010/11/10/take-risks-in-life-for-savings-choose-a-balanced-fund/
If you're thinking of spending time stock-picking or trading for fun, then there are lots of options.
Web site:
Morningstar Premium (http://morningstar.com) has very good information. They analyze almost all large-cap stocks and some small caps too, plus mutual funds and ETFs, and have some good general information articles. It doesn't have the sales-pitch hot-blooded tone of most other sites. Morningstar analyzes companies from a value investing point of view which is probably what you want unless you're day trading. Also they analyze funds, which are probably the most practical investment.
Books:
If you want to be competent (in the sense that a professional investor trying to beat the market or control risk vs. the market would be) then I thought the CFA curriculum was pretty good:
However, this will quickly teach you how much is involved in being competent. The level 1 curriculum when I did it was 6 or 7 thick textbooks, equivalent to probably a college semester courseload. I didn't do level 2 or 3. I don't think level 1 was enough to become competent, it's just enough to learn what you don't know. The actual CFA charter requires all three levels and years of work experience.
If you more want to dabble, then Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor certainly isn't a bad place to start, but you'd also want to read some efficient markets stuff (Random Walk Down Wall Street, or something by Bogle, or The Intelligent Asset Allocator http://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Asset-Allocator-Portfolio-Maximize/dp/0071362363, are some options). It wouldn't be bad to just read a textbook like http://www.amazon.com/Investments-Irwin-Finance-Zvi-Bodie/dp/0256146381 which would be the much-abridged version of the CFA level 1 stuff.
If you're into day trading / charting, then I don't know much about that at all, some of the other answers may have some ideas. I've never been able to find info on this that didn't seem like it had a sketchy sales pitch kind of vibe. Honestly in a world of high-frequency trading computers I'm skeptical this is something to get into. Unless you want to program HFT computers: http://howtohft.wordpress.com/
The Winning Investor
http://winninginvestor.quickanddirtytips.com/
This is a blog and a podcast. Load a bunch of these onto your iPod and start listening.
Stikky Stock Charts
http://www.amazon.com/Stikky-Stock-Charts-professionals-smart/dp/1932974008
This is a beginner's guide on how to read charts. Lots of charts, not too many words.
There is only one book worth reading in my opinion: One Up on Wall Street.
It's short and no other book even comes close to it for honesty, correctness and good sense. Also, it is written by the second most successful investor of all time, Peter Lynch.
The Intelligent Investor has some good technical content, but the book is dated and a lot of it is irrelevant to the modern investment environment. When I was younger I used to ready books like this and when a friend of mine asked for investment advice. I said "Look at stocks with a PE ratio of 5-10". A few days later he comes back to me and says "There are none". Right. That pretty much sums up the problem with the I.I. Graham himself in interviews during the 1970s said that his book was obsolete and he no longer recommended those methods.
Los Angeles Times Investing 101
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-moneylib,0,3098409.htmlstory
Clark Howard's Investing Guide
http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/personal-finance-credit/clarks-investment-guide/nFZK/
