What is your age right now, and will you make more than $1000 but less than $95,000 this year?
If you are over 18 and in between that salary range, I'd suggest setting up a Roth IRA account at a discount broker (Etrade, Fidelity, Ameritrade, Firstrade, ect), or Vanguard if you are looking to stick to mutual funds.
An IRA account is nothing more than a savings account that you invest into for retirement. A Roth IRA lets you deposit after-tax dollars that you have left over from your paycheck into your account. The appreciation and/or interest that you earn in that account is completely tax free once you start to withdrawal at retirement.
In an IRA you can deposit stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CD's, or simply just let cash sit in it as a money market account.
Vanguard has a nice, easy to read Roth IRA section:
http://flagship4.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw...tirement/ATSRothIRAOverviewContent.jsp
As far as *what* to invest in, tough call. The US Stock Market is at a 6 year high, and very very close to an ALL TIME high. Buying in to a US stock market Index Fund right now could set you up for huge downfall a little bit further down the road.
With the $1000, *I'd personally* invest in a dividend paying large cap company that was at or near a 52 week low that I felt comfortable in.
As was mentioned, Intel. You could buy *almost* 50 shares of INTC right now with those funds. I'd put it into a Roth and just let it sit. They'll grow, pay dividends, and hopefully split a few times over the next 20 years for you. You can then cash them out tax free once you retire.