Yes, I have investments.
Practice with free simulators before actually spending real money, look up and understand the laws and tax implications, and look up all the terms you don't know. There's so much jargon out there that first off, you should read, know and understand the basics before even investing. Then figure out which brokerage you want to go with (fees, tools and services they provide). Also get to know either Google or Yahoo Finance very well. Personally, I prefer Google Finance.
After learning a Finance site, learn to read the graphs and know what the terms on there mean and what they show you. Then start doing research on the companies that you are interesting in. Research research research. Understand their financials, their market, their competitors, their industry. Research and understand as much as you can about that company, and about that company relative to its peers and competitors, and against the broader economy overall. Understand current geopolitical and economic issues. Violent flare ups often send the broader market down. You know know when they will exactly happen, but being knowledgeable about potential hot spots and exposing yourself to an acceptable amount of risk is a good thing; being blindsided is not.
And with all of it, read the fine print. A lot of "live" quotes online are actually 20 minute delayed, though I think Google Finance is now practically if not real-time for at least certain exchanges.
If people want to discuss individual stocks here and use their ticker symbols instead of the company's name, I suggest people follow what Google Finance does and add some sort of exchange identifier or code before the symbol, at least for lesser known companies/symbols. Example, Ford from above would be "NYSE:F" and cross listed companies such as BP would be "LON:BP" when referring to the London listed shares and "NYSE:BP" when referring to NYSE listed shares. It's not really a problem with large companies since most people can probably search and figure out what it is, but for small caps that are regional or country specific, it may make the discussion clearer.
As an investor, in the end, you have to understand and determine your own risk tolerance, then invest accordingly. Remember, stocks, as with all other investments, can gain or lose money over time. This is even before we get into more complex public traded financial instruments where your potential for losses can be infinite.
