Best advice from a guy who graduated from a business school (me), go to T. Rowe Price, Dreyfus, Fidelity Spartan, Vanguard, Rydex, etc, etc, etc, etc, investment management firms, buy one of their popular hedge funds, mutual funds, etc...

If you're younger, pick the slightly more risky options (you're young and can absorb loses better). If you're older, be more conservative. These places have just about color-coordinated their mutual funds. AND THEN NEVER TOUCH IT A good US government bond fund can get about 30-40% in these long-term strategies.

It's like free money and you don't have to constantly watch the ticker to see if you've lost.

Don't play financial markets unless you already have a lot of money and you want a nice hobby. It's not worth it. There are a lot of formulas and rules, but it's all speculation. It's all based on how well you think you can predict the future.

And if you're really, really, really timid, just put it all in long-term government bonds. You're guaranteed free money.