[SixCyl]

For me my rule is stick to 10%, so $100 in, $110 out. EVEN if the stock looks like it's going to keep rising, don't get tempted. Keep your ten bucks. So eventually when you put a grand in, you get a 100 back and so forth. Stick to what you know and use common sense. i like video games quite a bit, so I know what games are highly anticipated and which ones do well. I invested in take two games and Activision, makers of Borderlands and CoD. For common sense things, airline stocks go up after holidays and decline during flat seasons, that kind of stuff. And make sure to watch the highs and lows, if you see a company that fluctuates between it's highs and lows (like NVIDIA) buy low, don't fret if it goes a little lower afterwards because it will eventually go back up. That said, do pay attention to the news related to your company to make sure it's downward movement is normal.