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One other thing to remember with the stock market (even with mutual funds) is that the market will fluctuate. There will be times when the value of your portfolio will go up a lot in a matter of days. Don;t use that as an incentive to sell and make a quick buck. You have to remind yourself that you're in this for the long term.
On the other hand, there will be times when your portfolio will go down (sometimes significantly) Don't let this scare you too much. Don't jump ship just because your portfolio went down a couple hundred bucks. Mine has gone down as much as $1,500 in a couple of days. But it came back up. Just remember, that even if your stock is down, it's not really a loss until you sell it.
However, if your portfolio is going down, while the rest of the market is going up, take a closer look at your investments. Read the latest news from the companies, find out if there's a reason why yours are going down. If you find bad news you might have to move things around. But don't act too quickly. The market can be funny at times.
Sometimes a company will release an awesome earnings report, where sales are up, overhead costs are down, and a line of promising new products is ready to hit the market, and for some reason the stock will go down. I can't really explain why this happens, but don;t let it scare you. But if you read news about the CEO laundering money into an off shore account, then you might want to think about selling it.
I made the mistake when I was younger to try and jump in the market and make some quick cash. Well, that didn't work. In fact I lost about $500. The main reson I failed is because I didn't do enough research up front, and I only had dollar signs in my eye. Had I done my research I would not have picked those stocks, and even if I did, I would not have sold them when I did. I needed some extra cash for something, and I was forced to sell them before I wanted to at a loss.
Anyway, I talk too much. I would suggest reading a good book on the subject.
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