Hi I am a beginner as far as Investments in stocks/shares are concerned. Could anyone suggest a simple Finance portal which could provide me a comprehensive yet simple site which is quite easy for beginners like me to understand.

If you already know the basics of investing you could try one of the many portals like Yahoo finance or MSN money central. Though these site provide an ocean of information i am not sure what exactly you are lookin for, may be you should try and explain yourself better here.

I advice you could try morning star classes if you are absolute beginner which is a good start to morning star also ventures deep into invetsing basics.

cheers.

Also try Welcome to Investopedia.com - Your Source for Investing Education you can simulate buying and selling stocks to help learn the nuances of the market.

investopedia is indeed a nice site to start your learning , Fool.com has also good site to look for data especially on mutual funds .

You should try and monitor investment forums of traders. I've been doing this since 1995 and have learned a lot of technical analysis. I ended up developing a system to retire early because of this learning experience. Learn technical analysis. It will show you direction before the fundmentals show up. Try these two:
Traders-Talk.com -> Fearless Forecasters
Investors Hub - Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics**(ZEEV)
It might sound greek in the beginning but if you stick with it and ask questions people will be happy to help you. Then of course there are books to read. But this is the best way by the forums to see the action of the day. Good luck

I agree with some of the resources listed here. I'd prefer Investopedia over Fool.com, since Fool is always trying to sell you something.

Go to the library and get books from Ric Edelman, they are entertaining and filled with good advice. Personally, I'd steer clear of Suze Orman, but many find some of her advice helpful.

Learn as much as you can. The more you learn, the more educated discussions you can have with a professional advisor if you choose that route.

Trading, btw, is not for everyone. Trading can be costly from a tax perspective and it can be very difficult to analyze your overall performance. Low costs and tax efficiency are important.

If you feel overwhelmed, get some help from a financial advisor. But interview several before making a choice. If any of them A.) talk about product, or B.) ask you for a check, in the first meeting, leave! Find out how they are paid (fee-only advisors are NOT necessarily better than comissioned advisors, you just have to know what you are getting).

Go to Stock Broker Fraud Blog :: Published by Houston Securities Fraud Lawyers Shepherd Smith & Edwards to read about pending cases/lawsuits against specific firms. This can give you some insight into their companies. Edward Jones, for example, who once offered me a position, got in trouble a few years ago, for the very thing I anticipated. EJ accepts money (bribes? kickbacks?) from mutual fund companies to be on their list of preferred vendors, and EJ advisors typically only sell off that list. So you are not getting the best mutual funds the market has to offer, you are getting the best EJ has to offer, from only those companies willing to bribe them. Ick!
And it's still going on today (it's just fully disclosed on their website).

As always, a good advisor is worth their weight in gold. And the bad ones, unfortunately, can cost you dearly.

I will have to look at these links. I am lost when it comes to understanding the stock market. Thanks for the very useful links.