Stock Investing For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Introduction

Stock Investing For Dummies, 3rd Edition, has been an honor for me to write. I'm grateful that I can share my thoughts, information, and experience with such a large and devoted group of readers.

I think that this edition is my most important edition so far because so much change, volatility, and uncertainty have become a part of the stock market. It's not your parents' stock market anymore. The opportunities for great gains (and even greater losses) have reached an extreme. In some ways, today's market reminds me of Dickens' famous novel opener: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . ." In terms of what faces us in today's world — economic uncertainty, terrorism, war, political tensions, higher taxes, rising inflation, unemployment, and so on — these seem like the worst of times. Yet when I think of the tools, strategies, and investing vehicles available for you to build (and protect) wealth, these can be the best of times.

Successful stock investing takes diligent work and knowledge, like any other meaningful pursuit. This book can definitely help you avoid the mistakes others have made and can point you in the right direction. It will give you a heads up about trends and conditions that are found in few other stock investing guides. Explore the pages of this book and find the topics that most interest you within the world of stock investing. Let me assure you that I've squeezed over a quarter century of experience, education, and expertise between ...