[e90fanatic]

1. what's index 500? i've been investing a while...never heard of index 500 lol...only heard of S&P 500...etc..but that's not a stock either...it's a fund. Stocks are different..the "index 500" means 500 companies...1 stock is for 1 company
2. I trade with Charles Schwab (previously used: Etrade and TDAmeritrade)
3. You do your research with a lot of different tools....some listen to others but I do my own homework. PM me about this..
4. School, friends, and common sense.

Lemme know if you have questions...

oh...try to read about the stock market and see different terms that you don't understand then do a search and learn about it..i learned a lot this way....

as a beginner, i'd recommend my friends to Zecco.com...they are new and they are awesome. $0 trade commissions and have a forums similar to this that have different members to have discussion about the market and stocks. I personally don't use this because I trade more than 200 times annually and it makes more sense to be an active trader at Schwab where I get more benefits and features.