For an average investor, isn't the stock market pure speculation with some feel of where things will go?

I mean, just because a company is global, just because they make a great product, can't the market makers on the exchange floor suck your money dry by selling more than is bought for a day and absorb your money into never never land, whether you like it or not?

You're getting warm, although the reason you give is not the way it works.

There are several ways in which professionals may sucker you out of your money. Many of them are not legal.

One illegal way is for a floor specialist to divulge the contents of his order book to the traders. A "specialist" is someone who deals in a specific stock and knows where all the open orders stand. In other words, he or she has very privileged information that they're NOT supposed to divulge. If they do divulge it, it gives the floor traders a very good edge.

I'm not saying most specialists would do that. But you can't say none of them wouldn't at one time or another.

There's also many other methods, some legal, some illegal, that would perhaps fall into the "morally questionable" realm.

I think it's like gambling. Instead of reading the box scores and player stats - you're reading income statements and various ratios.

'The Market' takes no notice of you. An individual investor is like a krill in the ocean. The stock price moves primarily based on instutional investors.

You can certainly lose money, but there are methods that can define your risk. For instance, stop orders that sell your stock automatically if it drops to a certain price can reduce your losses.

Smart Money University is a free resource, I like it. http://datek.smartmoney.com/
You can also get Stock Investing for Dummies for $10 (Dummies series are usually pretty good).

yes, the stock market is irrational for the short term, but for the long term, it tends to be rational. The problem is people, mostly average investors, in our shorsightedness fail to realize the true meaning of investing, rather they opt to make easy bucks by buying and selling hoping that luck will be i their favor. What they so is more of gambling than investing.

They use complicated technical analyses, listen to different analysts, read a lot of books, rract on rumors and make decisions all for the sake of short term gain. I think that short-term trading and technical analysis was popularized by brokers because they earn more money from shor-term traders rather than long term fundmantal investors. That is why they want you to buy and sell from every good or bad news that comes out.

Yes there were FEW people who got rich by doing short-term trades, but why would you follow them? they are not even in the top 100 richest in the world? Why not follow the second richest man in the world who earned the title "World's Greatest Investor"- Warren Buffet. There are so many books written about him that can give an investor feasile examples to follow.

i read about Warren Buffet that for you to make money in the stock market, you must be able to buy the righ stock at the right price. So it doesnt mean that you should buy shares just because a company is global, or fundamentelly strong. You have to buy it at the right, undervalued price, which for me is if it is not trading by more than 9x cashflow. Only market turmoils or correctible probles in a company can give you such bargains.

good luck!