How did you learn about stock market/trading investing ?
brc: The first thing to do is decide whether you really want to invest the time and effort into learning.  Realise that the people you are playing against are professionals who do it all day every day.  That's not to say you can't develop an edge and beat them, but don't assume you can walk in with no experience and set the world alight.  Nobody here would expect a novice programmer to sit down and write the most awesome web app in a weekend - the same principle applies.In this thread I've seen 'day trade', 'don't day trade', 'index funds' , 'don't do index funds'.  Realise that all this advice is contrary, and only applicable to the specific people providing it.  What matters is finding something compatible with your belief system, not twisting your mind to try and accept somebody else's belief system.  Because when the pain and stress arrive, if you're not fully aligned with your strategy, then you're going to make the wrong choice.Once you've decided you're going to put some effort in, then you need to work out a strategy that aligns with your personality.  This needs to evaluate things like:- your risk tolerance- your expectations of returns- your starting capital- your analytical skillsEveryone is different, and the only people who succeed are ones who find an approach that works for their personality, and then take the time to get rid of their mistakes.As for books, here's what I recommend:- Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham - the take away in this book is the 'margin of safety' concept- Trade your way to Financial Freedom by Dr Van Tharp - the take away in this book is that active management by position sizing and risk setting dictates more of your return than your actual strategy.- Market Wizards, The New Market Wizards and the Stock Market Wizards, all by Jack Schwager.  These books are all a series of interviews with top traders in commodities, currencies, funds, stocks and probably something I've forgotten.  By understanding how an incredibly diverse set of traders have made astounding returns in the same markets should make you realise that there is no one approach that works, there are only approaches that work for specific people.Good luck, and pray your first trade is a failure, not a success.  Because you need to learn the pain of loss and how to minimise it before you taste the sweetness of profit.