OK.
Warren Buffett isn't a member here. I know.
But do we have someone with a few years experience ?
My questions will be baby level. LOL.

Recently I have turned my attention to stocks.
Will not rush to invest but I want to start learning.

I am not into daily speculation, but rather want to buy some stocks that give dividends annually. I thought it is as simple as finding the stocks with best (dividend/price) ratio. But some relatives discussed book value, market value ..etc. which I didn't understand. I mean , if I buy a stock that is close to book value for example, and it does not give any dividends (or negligible) dividends, how is that a good investment ??

I will appreciate baby-level explanation and/or any pdf documents explaining this stuff.

Look into stock funds such as these. By investing in many individual companies they spread out your risk -

Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Fund Admiral Shares (VHYAX) - "This index fund seeks to track a benchmark that provides broad exposure to U.S. companies that are dedicated to consistently paying larger-than-average dividends."

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund Admiral Shares (VDADX) - "This low-cost index fund seeks to track a benchmark that provides exposure to U.S. companies that have a history of increasing dividends."

Thanks
I will look into that

Actually I thought of buying some shares in Berkshire Hathaway and benefit from his brain power; especially in the turbulent world we live in. One thing kept nagging in my head, though. Warren and Charlie Munger are both old. God forbid if anything happens to them, what will happen to the company stock price.

Besides, I wanted to learn the simple rules of trading and to do it myself. So, I need to learn this. How do I spot a 'good' stock and avoid 'bad' stocks.

There maybe be some simple rules to follow for beginners.

If you want to learn, most brokerage companies have a great deal of information on the how's and the why's of investing. A company like Etrade.com (no affiliation) is quite literally information overload. It is a good place to start reading and understanding.

As far as learning to tell a good stock from a bad one, even the experts don't get this right all the time. Which is why I will agree with brandtb on buying an index fund or etf for spreading out the risk associated with just buying one or two stocks.

Thanks

I visited Etrade website but couldn't find the info
Do I have to register to have access to educational files or notes ?

You would think it would have a nice big button that says start here to learn. But it doesn't. This will get you started,

https://us.etrade.com/knowledge/knowledge-center

and,

https://us.etrade.com/knowledge/library/getting-started

You don't have to log in to read this. Lots of information to read.

I know everything I need to know about investing:
(it's the same rule for gambling)

'Don't stake any money you can't afford to lose'.


The government is the safest option, I"m told. If your goverment can't pay it's debts you are in real trouble whatever you do.

qjs

I discovered long ago that investing in a particular stock was a good way to turn $1.00 into $0.50. Worse, this kept me from investing in low volatility, highly diversified funds since I equated that with gambling money I could not afford to lose. Today I understand more about how the system and currencies work; but I've lost a lot of years of good earnings. It will work out fine, but I wish someone had been there to advise me all those years ago.

My plan is to find the most dividend-productive stocks for 3 or 4 consecutive years and buy some of them when they are at their lowest possible price. After that I will not bother with their up or down price swings, just get their annual dividends as a second or third income.

So, what would you advise a beginner??
What's good or bad in my plan ??

[i]"buy some of them when they are at their lowest possible price"
You HOPE you buy at the lowest price. Don't miss the point that prices drop AFTER you've bought the stock. Isn't that what's happening to the market now?
You seem to want to pick and purchase specific stocks yourself, which (trust me, been doing this 40 years) is fine if you just want to "play" and understand the risks. But reconsider the previous recommendations that you buy "funds" or "mutual funds"(Bonds, right now.. Stocks perhaps" may be the safest long term move. You can find funds comprised at all risk levels. Probably can find a fund that focuses on blue-chip stocks which pay dividends.[/b][/i][b]