Here is one perspective on what appears to be a highly sophisticated investment venture.

Stocks investment is a gamble. While investing one's money in a business and managing it yourself also is, stocks investment involves a higher risk. Let me start with the basics then build up to what I mean.

When one purchases stock from a company, he is putting his money in the hands of the company. This discussion of course goes with the assumption that the company is not of the fraudulent type.

If the company performs well, more people will invest in it, and the price of the stock will go up. If not, then investors will slowly divest their stock, and the price will go down. This is very analogous to the purchase of any item that has a limited supply. If the demand of the item goes up, then the price of that item will also go up. If the demand of the item goes down, then the price of the item, to make it attractive to buyers, will have to also go down.

If it the scenario were as simple as this, then it would be very easy to predict when it would be safe to divest from a certain investment. Unfortunately, it is not. There are a myriad of reasons why a stock price would go up or down. For example, the company doesn't have to perform poorly for its price to go down. If a current investor thinks that some other investment is better than his current one, he might think of selling his stock at a lower price, in order to transfer his money to the other company as early as possible.

As early as possible, this is one of the many things to consider in investing in stocks. Take the case of Microsoft. Imagine how much you would have already earned had you been one of the early investors of Microsoft, when it still wasn't as powerful as it is today.

But then again, how would you have known that Microsoft would become what it is today? This is another thing to consider in stocks investment. One must either have pretty good foresight, or be able to conduct a thorough research on the company. If you don't have either one, then you're merely relying on pure luck.

Rather than rely on pure luck in stocks investment, one has the option to put those two tasks in the hands of more experienced individuals, also known as a stock broker. Theoretically, these people have conducted a lot of research on certain stocks on the market. They can provide you with advice as to when and where to invest your money, and when to divest from a particular stock.

Before one can get started, he must have had a thorough assessment of his finances. How much is he willing to lose? Similarly, how much is considered a win before divesting? Stocks that do good today can't go on like that forever. Thus, stocks investment requires a combination of patience, foresight, and luck.