[DesertCat]

No-one knows how the market works. Some people have success at figuring out what individual stocks are worth.

Online start with the Motley Fool web site, it's a good overiew. Books by Ben Graham, about Warren Buffett.

[soapbox]
Ignore "technical analysis" and "charting", worse than useless. Stay away from day trading, big time -EV. Ignore macro analysis in most cases. Tune out CNBC, they are a pump and dump network for stock salesmen.

Learn fundamental analysis (i.e. value investing). Learn how to estimate the true ("intrinsic") value of a stock. Buy stock when cheap. Sell stock when expensive. Rinse, lather, repeat, beat the market over long periods the same way all of the long term winners do. No other knowledge necessary.

[/soapbox]