How can I get started in the stock market? (Canada)?

[Beowulf]

I don't have very much money to start with, but I'd like to be able to gain some extra income through stock market trading and hopefully add to my savings (I'm saving for a few particular items.)

I know what the stock market is and how it works, but I haven't a clue how to begin participating in it.

All help is much appreciated. Thanks

[Neil Osborne]

Here are a few pointers to get you started:

1. There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding trading and investing. Be very careful where (and from whom) you get your 'advice'.

2. Do not pay for any tutorials or lessons - there is a good chance that you will get 'fleeced' if you go down that route. There is nothing about trading or investing that you cannot learn by yourself if you are committed. You don't need to fork out several hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars to learn this from anyone.

Last but not the least, I have started a series of posts (last week) aimed at self directed traders and investors, to help them learn how to successfully create their own trading and investment strategies - without having to depend on anyone else. This is part of an initiative to create the worlds first meritocratic, peer reviewed, online repository for material relating to trading, investments and personal finance.

The initial posts will be very basic, and could be just what you are looking for. the objective is to create a series of posts/articles that will start at the complete beginner level, and progress to a level where people learn to THINK for themselves as traders/investors (instead of relying on someone else).

Feel free to follow me on twitter @neilosb to get notifications of the latest posts, or simply go directly to my blog to read the posts as and when they become available.