Ask TheStreet: Bid Bewilderment

Also, it's important to keep in mind that many low-priced stocks were once high-priced stocks and have sunk to the single digits for good reason. If you are betting on a big turnaround, remember that leverage works two ways. You can potentially lose more by betting big on a single low-priced stock than by spreading your bets on higher-priced issues.

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I am trying to get started on investing. I am currently reading Jim Cramer's new book. I'm not that far into the book yet though. Are there any other books that you would suggest that would help break down how it all works and define some terminology? As I said, I am just getting started and I am completely clueless about it all. -- S.D.

Have you ever tried to teach a beginner the rules of baseball or football? It's quite frustrating isn't it? You sit there for hours and hours trying to explain what to you is second nature. Finally, after much frustration, you realize that he would learn so much faster by just going outside and playing the darn game.

Well, it's the same way for investing. It's an arena where you learn by experience. And like sports, you may lose in the beginning, but you need to play to truly understand how the game works. That's why I recommend taking the money you would otherwise spend on a shelf-full of "Investing for Idiots" books and use that money to buy a stock.

Before anybody accuses me of encouraging readers to gamble away their hard-earned money without knowing the first thing about Wall Street, just hear me out.

There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of books out there specifically written for beginning investors like yourself. There are also Web sites like TheStreet.com that have glossaries available if you get stuck on a term or two. It's no longer hard to find simple answers to your finance questions; they are no further than your computer keyboard.

These resources are easily located. You don't need my help to find them.