playin' the stocks game
comatose_kid: Lots of good advice in this thread.In addition, understand risk management.  You don't have enough cash to diversify across stocks (and time, buying in stages) to really be effective.  An index fund is probably your best bet.That said, if you want to take a lot of risk, look into options trading.  Deep in the money calls are a relatively low risk way to succeed.  But the learning curve for options is steep.