Don't churn your own account looking for hot stocks. If you add a smaller, more speculative company to the mix, do it because you believe in it's prospects, not because you have a slot to fill in your portfolio. If you are losing sleep, begin allocating your monthly investment money into more conservative investments to help you keep a sense of balance. As a young investor, you've got plenty of time to recover from market volatility. You'd be nuts not to be interested in stocks, and crazier to move away from the world of big companies until you're ready.
Index funds are also workable, since they follow a broad index of large stocks.
You can add excitement as you add knowledge, but let quality be your guide. Click here . Again, choose a fund that either mirrors an index or is growth oriented. Keep an eye on fees. Build up a cash reserve of three to six months living expenses in a money market account as an emergency nest egg.