You probably have 2 approaches:
More passive investing:
1) Put your money in in SPY ETF, which tracks the S&P 500, and forget about it.
2) Put your money in a combination of Different ETFs that reflect different industries (e.g., VGT or XLK for Tech / Information Services, XLF for Financials, XLP for Consumer Staples, XLV for Healthcare)
The benefit to the ETFs is that effectively represents a basket of stocks so there is implicit diversification that you don't need to do yourself
More active investing:
1) You can selectively pick your stocks. If you're new and want to do that, I'd recommend getting your feet wet with traditional blue chip stocks
2) As you develop more comfort and a bigger risk appetite, you can start thinking about more speculative plays
If you're going to be a more active investor, you want to 1) know how to read financial statements and 2) always pay attention to news specific to your company or sector that will impact trading.
Just to even orient yourself, spend some time watching and reading CNBC
All this and that is what I have been doing for years ETFs/Index Funds and blue chips. With my money diversified in bonds as well to protect myself.
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