start reading the financial news. the best way to learn about the stock market is to start paying attention to the financial news. there's a lot of data to be absorbed when you first start, but with time it'll become easy to read and understand the news articles and how they relate. also start paying attention to the major indexes, prices of commodities and currency. pay close attention to monetary policy set by the legislative body and find out how that may affect the general market or a specific market. pay close attention to the habits of the consumer - how she uses credit, her spending capacity, wages, etc.

just like most things in life, practice makes perfect. start practicing your trade/investment hunches. start with small wagers and increase them as you learn more and start to understand what works and what doesn't.