There's basically two kinds of stocks, bear and bull stocks. Bear stocks are for the long term, and bull stocks are for quick gain. It's usually best to split your money up into both types having most in bear stocks, that are known to be reliable and hold good gains over time. Then with a little extra money that you accumulate over time, you can invest more in bull-stocks, if you want, to try to get a big payout. Bull stocks are very risky not always the best choice to go with, but sometimes you can really cash out. Any money you make, I'd reinvest back into the bear-stocks or savings bonds.