Make sense of every kind of investment with this easy, accessible guide! In the popular, easy-to-use format of the Utterly Confused series, this authoritative, easy-to understand guide to stocks, bonds, mutual funds, 401(k)s, and more is perfect for the novice investor. Paul Petillo provides you with practical, proven advice on finding the right places to invest, weighing risk versus return, anticipating pitfalls in the market, and maintaining a diversified portfolio.This book provides thorough and comprehensive coverage of all relevant investment strategies, tools, and tips for today's investor and definitions, descriptions, and step-by-step instruction which will teach even the most uninitiated how to build a solid, profitable portfolio. It explains the dynamics of the market, the discipline needed to invest, and the tools needed to be successful in the long term and includes explanations of important tricks of the trade, including asset allocation, dollar cost averaging, and efficient market hypothesis