They have professionals who track stocks on a daily basis, and do the trading for you.

There are a lot of good companies out there, but first recommend picking up a book to understand the different types of funds and the risk associated with each, fees charged, etc.

Once you have an overall idea of how they work, pick up a magazine and start reading about specific fund performances. We had a really good year, so recommend also looking at the fund's long term performance.

As for specific brokerage houses, recommend sticking with known quantities, such as Fidelity, Vanguard, etc. Highly recommend against any small house that promises huge gains. That can get you into the Bernie Madoff territory. Heck, that ex-UVA football player was just arrested for doing the same thing. Stick with the big, well known investment houses!

Wouldn't even think about "day trading" until you have a much better knowledge of the market, and can dedicate sufficient time to track individual stocks. You'll also want a subscription to IBD to do that. Mutual funds are definitely the way to go for busy people who can't dedicate sufficient time to make individual stock purchases.