Investments

When the term investments gets brought up, there can be some confusion . A stock is a share of ownership of a company. As a stockholder, you have a claim of the company's assets and earnings. Stocks are bought and sold daily on the major exchanges. A share is the amount of ownership in a company. A mutual fund is an investment program funded by shareholders that trades in diversified holdings and is professionally managed. Finally a mutual fund is an investment that is made up of a pool of funds collected from many investors for the purpose of investing in stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar assets. Mutual funds are operated by money managers, who invest the fund's capital and attempt to produce capital gains and income for the fund's investors. When you invest in a company, it spreads the risk of ownership and timing has everything to do with investing. You want to buy stocks at the right time and sell at the right time to make a good profit. Before you go investing, there are 3 tips you should follow: 

1. Have a diverse portfolio to lower your risk of possibly losing all your money. In other words, don't put all your eggs into one basket.
2. Be aware of the risks of investing. While stocks can be risky, CD's, bonds and mutual funds all have relatively low risks.
3. Do some research on the companies you invest in first. It basically comes down to whether or not the company is good or bad. 

Resources: http://www.usa.gov/topics/money/investing/tips.shtml

                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversification_(finance)

                  http://www.investopedia.com/video/play/introduction-mutual-funds/#axzz2FBNFleaO

                  Portfolios
News Story: http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121216/GJBUSINESS_01/121219431/-1/FOSBUSINESS

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrbhGVcbCrQ