Yes, how much one become expert depends on how much they read & understand about stocks, business and economy (esp USA).
Even though I was in touch with market long back, I am a recent entry into stocks, very late in the game, but spent most of my leisure time on reading, learning (systematic learning very important). There is no short cut.
When I came here few years before, one member @bugmenot told me that I need spend weekend 4 hours and daily 1 hour to know about stocks/security etc.
I started seriously at that time, went into buy/hold (hanera and WQJ - missing him here) mode, finally my own way of trading…
It is not tricky, any one can learn with dedication and focus to win…Try…try…and…try.