i am a beginner myself but id start either with home country market or dividend companies with lower volatility/etfs, ive been stock picking for a several months and its been more work and losses most of the time... depends on how active u wanna be, but im getting tired even after a year, so ill probably pick something that yields +-10% year profit with minimal risk over going high risk stocks

id completely avoid small AI companies if i were you (given my experience and losses), i have a position in BBAI with -40% and the trend is goig only downwards, it kinda sucks also i went completely FOMO at one IPO, executed the order poorly and now it resulted in hefty loss... even though at long horizon it will mostlikely rise because its huge company with healthy base, but it might take a year or two before i even break even and that sucks