newbie questions

[crockpot]

i'm thinking of tossing some of my poker profits into the market. anyone have some basic advice on:

...the best numbers to look at to evaluate a stock's potential?
...where to go to trade online (cheaply and reliably)?
...is right now a good time to jump into the market, or should i wait a month or two?

thanks to all who reply.

[Ray Zee]

crocky,

1. you need to do alot more research so get on it.
2. open an account with fidelity or vanguard and use them for lots of financial things. they are not the cheapest but you dont need the cheapest. and you i hope are looking to invest and not trade. i doubt if you want to toss off all your work.
3. its never or always a good time to get in. when getting in means you are investing for your future get in. if you are looking for the rush of swings go for the crap table as you can do it on less money.

[adios]

You don't seem like you really have the time or interest in doing what's call due dillegence to arrive at investment decisions. That's quite ok really. I'd recommend buying SPY. SPY is what's called an exchange traded fund that tracks a broad based index called the S&P 500. The S&P 500 represents basically the overall value of the market. It's very liquid and if you use a discount broker like Scottrade or TD Waterhouse your commision will be very small. I've heard lots of good things about Fidelity as Ray states. I'd make periodic buys of SPY say every quarter or half year and plan to hold for a long time.