Investing Basics

Investing, in general, talks about holding some investment vehicle for medium to long term. It could be anything from a few months to a few years.

However, investing need not just be done with stocks. You can invest in ETFs, CFDs and/or properties for that matter.

Here are some articles:

Basic Investing
http://www.investopedia.com/university/beginner/#axzz1XqTBkHGw
http://www.moneysense.gov.sg/resource/publications/guides_publications/IMAS%20Personal%20Investing.pdf

Einstein says Compound Interest is the 8th wonder of the world! So it is important to know.

Compound Interest
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/05/23/how-compound-interest-favors-the-young/
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/04/02/the-extraordinary-power-of-compound-interest/

Other concepts to grasp:

Diversification (or Divest)
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/02/111502.asp#axzz1XqTBkHGw
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm

However, though diversification is recommended, I am a believer of not over-diversifying:
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/01/051601.asp#axzz1XqTBkHGw

Portfolio Rebalancing
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm

Dollar Cost Averaging
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/mutualfund/05/071305.asp#axzz1XqTBkHGw

I believe in averaging in when the market is moving down and do nothing when the market is moving up:
http://www.managedwealthsingapore.com/interesting-thoughts-about-dollar-cost-averaging/

Then if you have decided to go for stocks. The next question will be what stocks to buy. Then we will have to look at investment techniques such as:

- value investing -> Warren Buffett does this
- growth investing -> Peter Lynch does this

In Singapore, I have also heard of friends who focuses on high dividend stocks and doing quite well. So that may be worth considering.

Some books that talk about investing strategies:
The Little Book That Beats the Market - Joel Greenblatt
How To Make Money In Stocks - William O Neil