Noob question - hedge funds

[wildzer0]

I took a job at a small hedge fund a few weeks ago as a programmer (they manage about 100 million dollars, but there's not many employees, I'm not sure how that rates in terms of size). They've been very successful for a while and I feel like this could be a really good opportunity to learn about the stock market. The thing is, I have only the most rudimentary knowledge of how stocks work. I'm staring at crazy formulas and data all day but it means absolutely nothing to me. But, I work closely with a high up guy at the company who is willing to teach me whatever I want to learn. So for the experienced people here, if you had this opportunity what sort of questions would you ask and what would you concentrate on learning?