I'd pick two stocks (from two totally different sectors) that you love, study them and
then buy them ($2500 each) on a really bad day. Lay in wait until your opening appears.
Others have different opinions, and they're good ones too, but I like to buy low and keep.

read cramers books they are very insightful and help you to better understand his advice
in its many venues.

When dealing with a small portfolio your main obstacle is commissions. So I would stay
away from short term trades and focus on the long term because otherwise commissions will
eat all your money away. So I would not pick more than 5 stocks to keep commissions down
(also don't buy in increments). Really research these picks because commissions are a
pain. Or I would recommend going into a couple of no load low fee mutual funds. If going
the mutual fund route buying one american and one international fund is a great starting
place. Make sure you find one with "no load" (no commission to buy it) and an expense fee
under 2%. Good luck. If i were in your shoes I would put most of my money into some mutual
funds then find one stock I really, really liked so I can still have fun.

You could use margin someday to be able to buy more shares, but be warned it can be risky.
Boston

i say not too much cash because that is for trading, and it is tough to trade stocks if
you have only 5k and in addition you do have the extra 5k to add to your positions as you
get more comfortable with the market.

Well, given the portfolio size, less than 10k and I tend to favor a broad based ETF as a
substantial (40% ) part of the portfolio; SPY, QQQQ, EEM, EFA, IEV, ISI

After picking up one of these to get yourself some diversity, id pick up a tried and true
name like KO, PEP, PG, MO, MCD DEO, VGR, UN or something in that mold. After that
something that is more of a growth name and this could be something along the lines of
AAPL, CELG, RIO etc.

Basically constructing some broad diversity with the ETF, a more traditional name with low
volatility and dividends, along with a growth name that has more volatility but
potentially bigger gains. Essentially trying to get you used to different styles so you
can learn to develop your own style and see what you're comfortable with. Also, though I
usually am a proponent of a cash position, given the fact you do have extra cash but just
want to start out slow I wouldn't advocate a huge cash position given you're working with
5k.

start out betting small, pick 1 or 2 for this week, watch how your money moves, learn how
to do your own homework, learn about yourself as you make/lose money, once you think you
got a good grasp (or a general idea) of how the market works, start betting bigger, the
more stocks you own: the more diversified your portfolio is & and the more risk you take
(you might have picked 5 losers even though your diversified), always, always...can't
stress this enough....keep cash as a position.

Thanks guys. I have 10 grand total in savings, but I only want to invest 5,000$ I have
just recently been getting into the market over the past 6 mos. or so...watching cramer,
and doing my own research.

I have 10,000$ I am 25 years old

need more information about you.
Is $5000 all the money you have?
Is $5000 1% of your net worth?

How old are you?
Time Horizon?

Buy the Olstein Financial Alert Mutual Fund (Its a "C" share) high expense ratio but it
still outperforms every other investment net of fees.
Also it is a minimal fee in and out.