The Dow is down 290 today, the Dow is up 275 today…Up and down, up and down.It's not surprising that people are afraid to invest right now in the stock market with the crazy swings its been having lately.  Millions of people lost billions and trillions of dollars of their hard earned money.  Even the safest investments were not so safe.  But, putting your money under your mattress is still not the best investment in these volatile times.  There are some ways to start investing that can give you profitable returns in the long term.  In this article I wanted to share some with you.