When you’re a new stock market investor, it can seem like everyone is more experienced and knowledgeable than you about every aspect of the industry. Not only are you faced with complicated and loaded decisions about which companies to invest in, but you also have to decide how you’re going to monitor those investments and how you’ll know when to buy or sell to diversify your portfolio.

When you’re a new investor, experts will tell you over and over again that you need to do your research before you should give one penny of your hard earned money to the stock market. The only problem is that many new investors are generally clueless when it comes to gathering stock market data.

If you are thinking about joining the millions of people who have taken control of their financial future by investing in the stock market, you should feel very proud of yourself. These days, many have lost confidence in the stock market, as one scandal after another seems to have swept through the industry.