Investing Basics

Many Americans have been spooked out of the stock market by Great Recession and its aftermath. But despite their apprehensions, the children of the baby boomers are actually eager to jump into stocks -- primarily because they weren't burned personally by the crash.

When it comes to investing, no question is stupid, and no question is simple. Indeed, it's the ones that may appear to be the most obvious that can be the most important -- and the ones that people are often too embarrassed to ask.

Victoria O'Hara parlayed a relative's gift of one share of stock into a sizable portfolio by investing in a few shares at a time, on a postal worker's salary. Here are her top lessons for any novice investors hoping to emulate her success.

Victoria O'Hara didn't learn anything about how to manage money growing up. But thanks to help from a relative, she got a financial education, began investing slowly, and parlayed small stock buys into a healthy portfolio. Here's her story:

JPMorgan Chase's rapid $2 billion trading loss reportedly involved credit default swaps -- the same investments that played such a large role in the financial crisis. Here's why credit default swaps still pose such a threat to the U.S. economy.

Google has faced heavy criticism since it announced its first-ever stock split, which creates a new class of nonvoting shares. Don't believe the hype. If you were happy owning Google stock before, you should be just as pleased now. Here's why:

Columbia Management is nickel-and-diming my 13-year-old son's mutual fund account into the ground. It may be too late to save this investment, but the mistakes I made can impact investors of any age. Here are a few tips so you can avoid them.