It used to be that one lot of stocks is 1000 shares. From 19 January 2015 onward, it will be 100 shares.
It means for $10,000, you can possibly afford a decent portfolio of 3-6 quality stocks which trade at around $2 to $35.
To put things in perspective, $10,000 is the monthly ceiling for a HDB flat for families currently (as of January 2015). It is also roughly a year's worth of school fees in Singapore Management University, the best proving ground for those who are passionate in business - your degree in SMU lasts for 4 years. It is probably as much as a month-long trip to the Americas.
If you have the money to settle down, or invest in yourself in quality education, or even pursue your passions and explore the world, you can invest $10,000!
Regardless of your motivations, you invest to stretch your opportunities in your funds.
And you have opportunities. Not only you have your money, but you also have your social connections, your understanding of different companies' potentials, and you experience a different life from the person next to you.
I do not recommend specific stocks, in general, because everyone's understanding and sensitivity to different stocks are different. The entrance and exit timings and magnitude may be dependent on your daily life and your circumstances, all beyond your control.
However, as a principle, I recommend investing in stocks that you are most familiar with. If you work in the manufacturing and engineering firms, for example, maybe you will be more aware of stocks in the electronics or construction industries, and less acutely aware of those firms in the retail and maybe land industries. I also do not think it is suitable for those in the finance industry to invest in the 'flavor of the month stocks' based on P/E ratios and technical analysis alone, because there are not just foreign currency, commodities trading and even quantitative financial data at play in stock prices, there are also stories behind every stock that one needs to uncover.
After all, when you buy the shares from the market, you not just earn money from the appreciation of the value of your shares, you actually own the company, and finance the capital the company needs for its operations and future growth. It is imperative, at least for me, to understand what we are in for, if we have ownership over something, particularly those things that could bring us benefits, preferably for the long haul.
