LogFAQs > #979816685

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOCvylOLQVs

For a long term investment, just pick a mutual fund that invests in a broad range of companies and industries, like the companies of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, the NASDAQ Composite, the Russell 2000, or the Wilshire 5000 Total Market. The broader the scope of the fund, the more insulated you are from individual companies problems. You just need to be aware of what kinds of companies each of those indexes represent; the Russell 2000 is all small companies, while the 30 companies in the DJIA are among the biggest (Microsoft, Amazon, Disney, Walmart, etc), the S&P 500 is all large companies, and the Wilshire 5000 covers companies of all sizes. The NASDAQ is heavily technology-biased. Small-cap stocks tend to be more volatile, large-cap tends to be more stable.

If you're investing in the short term, there are ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) that behave like mutual funds but are traded like stocks. Instead of having to buy 30 different stocks to mimic the DJIA, or 5000 to follow the Wilshire 5000, with the trading fees for each and every one of those transactions, you only have to buy one ETF and pay one transaction fee.