How do people know what to invest in? I am a complete amateur

I am a noob too so take this with a grain of salt

>if a companies' stocks go up, you invest . If they're going down you avoid that company ?
I think it should be the opposite. You invest when it is going down. You are supposed to predict when it will be at its lowest (and if it will recover and go to da moon right after). If you join when it's already gone up a lot you are already too late, usually.

>How do you know a stock doing poorly will suddenly rise and do well?
You are supposed to predict it by reading up on the company, knowing it inside out, and predicting how external and contemporary events will affect it in the future. Easier said than done of course, but it if weren't hard anyone would be successful at it.

>>1329264
Don't bother

>>1329264
Look at it from 2 different ways.

1. Beating the market
This is what you're talking about considering you're inferring about putting in and pulling out money depending on what the stock is doing in the short run. this is considered gambling... You just have to be good at gambling. No one can tell you exactly what to do or how to beat the market otherwise everyone would be rich.. One piece of advice I'll give is constantly try to reduce risk exposure. For instance, if a stock is going down, take the money you're going to invest and split it into 4 investments with a period of time in between. So, rather than investing that whole 10k today on a stock that's going down, invest 2.5k every 1-2 months, which will reduce your risk exposure. Diversification is another example.

2. Buy and hold
This is a long-term strategy.. Look at the S&P index over its life. It has only gone up (some ripples). Invest money, reinvest dividends and 30 years from now you'll be set for retirement.

Jesus fucking christ the amount of idiots here

>>1329274
>>1329293
Thanks very much for your help. That makes more sense.

Two more questions, if you invest that 2.5k in a company what would you say is a good return by the end of the month? Now let's say you get that return, would it be best to sell it or reinvest more money in it (usually, I know you'd have to research more about the company and situation).

Lastly, i've read lots about how it's good to diversify - does this just mean investing in, for example, oil stocks , retail stocks, etc. ?

The /biz/ book list is floating around make sure to read two books befofe you even download robinhood

The Intelligent Investor
Why Stocks Go Up (and Down)
These books will give you the basic understanding you need so you dont buy a meme stock being shilled and losing everything.

File: 1466303763010.jpg (2MB, 1345x1450px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1345x1450px

>>1329312
>>1329314

Who should use robinhood? Is it the best entry level platform?

At what point should you move to something else?