Not only can investing be financially rewarding, it can also be lots of fun. Unfortunately, a lot of people sacrifice what could be both very lucrative and enjoyable because they're afraid. Many people are reluctant to ask questions about investing, so they act as if they're not interested.

But deep down inside, almost every American wishes he or she were more knowledgeable about stock market investing, reaping the market's financial rewards and having a good time all along.

Knowledge of investing is something that most people would like to pass on to their children. In fact, investing is a great activity for fathers and sons, and mothers and daughters.

But in order to pass on this wealth of knowledge and share in the joys of stock market investing with your loved ones, you have to learn a few basic stocks. The good news is that you don't have to learn about thousands of companies in order to understand the market . For starters, you have to focus on just 30.

Understand These 30 Companies And You Will Understand Stock Market Investing

You've probably heard a TV newscaster say, "The market was down 75 points today," or, "It was a good day for investing; the market was up by 100.3."

When financial pundits refer to "the market" being either up or down, they're normally talking about the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), also known as "The Dow." This is the most important of all of the stock market investing indices.

Dow Jones is the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, Baron's, and SmartMoney magazine. Around 100 years ago, Charles Dow started the company with a little financial newsletter in which he created the DJIA in order to summarize market investing on a daily basis.

Now, even as there are tens of thousands of publicly traded companies, the DJIA is still the gold standard of stock market investing, even though it consists of only 30 stocks.

Those 30 stocks are from all sorts of different industries, with the goal being for them to represent the market as a whole. Everything changes, even these 30.

The 30 stocks in the DJIA are Alcoa (AA), AIG Insurance (AIG), American Express (AXP), Boeing (BA), Citigroup (C), Caterpillar (CAT), Du Pont (DD), Walt Disney (DIS), General Electric (GE), General Motors (GM), Home Depot (HD), Honeywell (HON), Hewlett Packard (HPQ), IBM (IBM), Intel (INTC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), J.P. Morgan (JPM), Coca Cola (KO), McDonalds (MCD), 3M (MMM), Altria (the company formerly known as Phillip Morris, MO), Merck (MRK), Microsoft (MSFT), Pfizer (PFE), Proctor & Gamble (PG), A T & T (T), United Technologies (UTX), Verizon (VZ), Wal-Mart (WMT), and Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Since the DJIA companies serve as a microcosm for the broader stock market, you can learn all about investing by following the news and price movements of these 30 stocks. A fun and unique way to do this is to start a fantasy stock market league.

Create A Fantasy Stock Market Investing League

So you want to learn more about investing, but you lack the funds (or perhaps the guts) to risk real money? Start a fantasy stock investing league.

A fantasy stock market investing league is just like a fantasy football or baseball league, except you need fewer people to get started. Just invite five other friends over and randomly determine the order of the "draft" by drawing names out of a hat.

The person whose name is drawn first gets first pick of the 30 DJIA stocks. The person whose name is drawn second gets second pick, and so on. No stock can be picked by two people, and the draft order should reverse each round so that the person who picks last in round one, picks first in round two, etc.

With six players in your fantasy league, each player will have a fantasy portfolio of five stocks. Record the starting prices of each stock, and then five weeks later, reconvene to see who has made the most money.

You'll get the most out of the game if you can create a simple web site for your fantasy stock market investing league where people can post daily updates on a message board or forum.

Some fantasy investing leagues have more complex rules where players can trade stocks or invest additional fantasy money each week. Make it as simple or as complex as you would like.

Stock Market Investing Can Be The Greatest Hobby In The World

Once you understand investing, it will be a lifelong source of pleasure. Unlike football or baseball, stock market investing season is all year long. Believe it or not, you might turn on CNBC one day and laugh at the commentary - investing has a language and style of humor all its own.

So stop standing on the sidelines and get involved! Make a commitment with your spouse or a friend to learn about the stock market together, and get started today!