Hi Lefty. Unfortunately I am not in Southern CA. I wish I was but I am in New England. I do not invest accept for longer term in retirement accounts, but that is not it in individual stocks, just ETF's. In general when it comes to investing in individual stocks the rule by most conservative money managers is that you should not invest money into individual stocks until you have at least $250,000. The reason for this is that studies have shown you must hold at least 15-25 stocks to be diversified (since it is unlikely 25 companies in different sectors will go bankrupt), along with cash, bonds, commodities, real estate, and other alternative investments. If you only have for instance $25,000, or even less, its impossible to buy 15-25 stocks of real higher priced companies because you wouldn't be able to own enough shares of each for it to be worthwhile. People like Jim Cramer that tell you you can buy 5 stocks and be diversified are full of crap and just out to get individual investors into the market so they can take advantage of them as a whole.
I am a short term trader because that is what suits my personality. The decision to trade vs. invest comes down to whether you are looking to make money now or hopefully have money later 10 years down the road and don't mind a major roller coast ride along the way. I do both, but I prefer to make money consistently to have a steady cash flow to compliment other sources of income. I also don't trust the market longer term.
The other issue is whether you are willing to put in the time to learn. 95% of people that try to time the market do not put in the time and that is why they lose all their money in the market to the other 5% of the people, although about 4% of these people actually break even, so really only 1% are making money in the market. The losers think you can pay for stock alerts, or listen to your golf buddies about stock tips. They don't realize how competitive the market really is (In reality its a battle field where the most informed people win every time).
When it comes to the penny stock market you absolutely cannot invest unless you like losing money or just are a gambler. You have to utilize a method of timing the market and be in and out in at most a few days. You also have to sit and stock your prey like a sniper. If you want to learn about trading I highly suggest getting the course from
beatstockpromoters.com. It won't just teach you about penny stocks, but it will also teach you advanced technical analysis which no other book will teach you (at least from my experience.) They have a 60 day guarantee so don't take my word for it. If you think they are not providing what I am telling you, or what they mention on their website, return it. But like I said reading the e-book they offer honestly changes my life.