How To Start

Q I know very little about stocks, but I want to invest in them. How should I proceed? — J.L., Dothan, Alabama

A Before you deploy any dollars, take some time to read up on investing. You want to be comfortable with how you invest and confident in your approach. Ideally, the more you learn, the fewer expensive mistakes you’ll make.

You could start with books such as “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” by John Bogle (Wiley, $27) or others in the “Little Book” series. Motley Fool books such as “The Motley Fool Investment Guide” by David and Tom Gardner (Simon & Schuster, $22) can also help. And you can learn a lot exploring websites such as Fool.com and Morningstar.com.

Studying stocks and choosing which ones to buy and when to buy or sell them will require time and skill. But note that you can do very well over long periods simply earning roughly the market’s overall return if you invest in one or more low-fee, broad-market index funds (such as one that tracks the S&P 500). When you’re ready, you can read about reputable brokerages you might use at sites such as Bankrate.com and (our sister site) TheAscent.com.

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Q What’s the “triple-witching hour”? — L.M., Kalamazoo, Michigan

A It comes four times a year — on the third Friday in March, June, September and December — when stock options, stock index options and stock index futures all expire on the same day. The last trading hour of that day is known as the triple-witching hour, when the market might be extra volatile.

We average investors can safely ignore options and futures, which are generally focused on short-term movements instead of long-term growth.

Want more information about stocks? Send us an email to foolnews@fool.com.