If investing in stocks were a surefire way of becoming wealthy, everybody in America would be wealthy. 80 million Americans invest in the stock market. I lost 30% of my original cash after the company in which I invested went bust after a few days I put my cash in it. Had I not pulled out, I would have lost all of it because the company filed for bankrupty. Lots of insider's transactions were going on. Should have been a signal to put my money somewhere else. Waited too long coz I thought it was gonna jump back up, but it just kept going downhill. The income statements and balance sheets looked fine and dandy. Sure, it was on the negative side, but the company was a large-cap company and I thought it wouldn't be a problem to break even. They were scamming us all along. Us shareholders pay the price when this sort of sh1t happens and CEOs just get a slap on the wrist and they walk out scot-free with no consequences for their actions. The American market place is full of Enrons that don't abide by the rules. Bottomline: Stock market is just a big gamble. There's no way you can predict which stock will fare well and which won't. It's better just to invest in a company that pays dividends. I haven't made money by dabbling with stocks as of yet.