There as many different reasons for investing money in the stock market as there are ways to invest. Most people that buy stock, bonds and commodities as a way for them to invest in their future, whether it is a short term or long term investment, the idea is to make money on their investment. During the last half of the 20th century the markets continued to boom and investors were able to realize tremendous returns.

More importantly the companies that were being used for investing money in stocks made unbelievable amounts of money. These huge profits led to greed that continued to compound well into the first ten years of this century. What we saw were investment bankers and brokers that were trading as quickly as they could, driving prices to unheard of heights. This set the entire market up for one of the biggest crashes it has seen since the Great Depression.

With little to no real oversight, brokerage firms were trading in risky subprime mortgages and stocks began to reach unsustainable prices. Salaries had reached epic proportions and the bonuses were out of the ball park. For the small investor, this spelt disaster as the markets could suddenly no longer bear this situation. The collapse of the banking system that was at the center of the global financial crisis started as a small flow that turned into a torrent as the dam finally burst.

Those who had been investing money in the stock market started pulling their money out as fast as they could; the markets plunged into the raging river along with the banks. Fortunes disappeared overnight and the DOW stocks bottomed out well below 10,000. You might think that this would scare away even the most dedicated investor; you'd be right. It pretty much has.

Investing money in the stock market has always been a gamble, but with new regulations going into place and far more oversight in place, the hope is that the risk has been minimized. That hope is unfounded. You should always consult a professional if you are new to investing as he will help you to develop an investment strategy that will not only work with the current state of the markets, but will work for you.

Even though the market is still going to fluctuate up and down based on many factors, you are likely to find that the lows of 2009 will eventually not hold and the market will plunge even lower. Oliver is forecasting a coming financial crisis in the U.S. and with it will come another stock market disaster. Of course, every problem presents an opportunity, and substantial drops in the market offer the potential for incredible rapid profits to stock market traders who take advantage of bearish trades. For more info on this topic, subscribe to Oliver's daily email report. There is no charge.