I began seriously investing about four years ago. Over the past two I've gotten increasingly interested in the market, and spent some very passionate hours learning about technical investing. For anyone beginning investing, I would recommend doing some reading and research on the topic before making any trades. Learn what type of investing style will suit your personality.
Different styles take different amounts of effort and time.
If I had unlimited time to spend trading, I would stick to what I became passionate about - swing trading based on technical analysis and news. I made quite a bit of money trading like this, and then lost most of it when I went hiking and didn't set any stop limits before the market tanked, but that's another story and lesson learned. No matter who you are, you can benefit from learning some technical analysis. There are some websites out there that have good introductions, start with Clearstation , they've got an education section on their site, as well as being one of the best investment sites out there. For anyone doing serious trading, read the Phantom of the Pits , it's loaded with wisdom.