Day Trading

When you start making "virtual" money, then you can risk your own.

http://simulator.investopedia.com/home.aspx

http://investopedia.com

http://investing.sitesled.com/

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/learning/

Blogs

http://winners-and-losers.com/

Training & classes

http://bettertrades.com

http://investedcentral.com

ETF news and analysis

http://ETF-World.Org/

Article: Trading is Timing

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/06/TradingisTiming.asp

Stock Charts

Bigcharts.com

http://www.stockTA.com

http://www.stockcharts.com

http://www.incrediblecharts.com…

www.prophet.net
americanbulls.com

Books on Investing

"Which Is Better, Buy-and-Hold or Market Timing?"

"Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Market Timer

The Beginner's Bible in Technical Analysis is:
Edwards & McGee"Tech. Anal. Of Stock Trends"

Droke, ClifTechnical Analysis Simplified

Kahn, Michael N.Tech. Anal. Plain & Simple

Kamich, Bruce M.How Technical Analysis Works

Lefevre, EdwinReminiscences of a Stock Operator

Lofton, ToddGetting Started in Futures

Lowenstein, RogerBuffet (Warren)-The Making of a Capitalist

O'Neil, William J.How to Make Money in Stocks

Oz, TonyHow to Make Money From Wall Street

Rotella, Robert P.Elements of Successful Trading, The

Schwager, JackStock Market Wizards

First there are two books you should read. Way better than textbooks. The first is called "the math behind wall street".

http://www.amazon.com/Math-Behind-Wall-Street-Market/dp/1568581602/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-9307096-4545628?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177570772&sr=8-1

Then read this one;

http://www.amazon.com/Investing-Dummies-Business-Personal-Finance/dp/0764599038/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9307096-4545628?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177570661&sr=8-1

If you want to jump into it right away, the University of Arizona has a lot of good materials online. The books are better, but here is the link;

http://www.studyfinance.com/

Read the books. Read the Wall Street Journal every day, highlight the terms you don't understand & look them up online. Google the term "_____ definition".

Finally play the fantasy stock market. It is a cheap way to learn.

Here is that link.

http://www.investopedia.com/

And the guide.

http://simulator.investopedia.com/stock/game/

Buy a Hewlett Packard financial calculator ($40 bucks), & READ THE MANUAL.

If you do this and like it, I'd recommend finance as a major. Although it is pretty intense.

Very cool that you want to learn.

Good luck

Check outthis link at TerraNova Online. The Investor platform is an escellent trading tool for a beginner, and is limited to one screen. I use RealTick and five screens, but it costs $250/mo. Ask about a free trial.

http://terranovaonline.com/

A lot of online brokerages claim to give you direct access, but if they take more than a second to execute your trade, it aint direct.

Find the articles online that have evaluated and compared online brokerages. I found a good one online in Barron's, but you'll find others in the trading magazines.

This is worth putting a little time and effort into, because it's a pain to switch, so once you choose, you're kinda stuck with it.

Townsend Electronics, the Parent company of TerraNova, is the one that digitized and electronified the Nasdaq. They are technological industry leaders and have a powerful and well built trading system.

What you should try is a free trial of their Investor platform, which I think is free anyway. Their rates are good also, but of course, it depends on how often you trade. It will take you months to learn all the bells and whistles of what this program can do.

The other top-of-the line program is TradeStation, but it costs big bucks to join and operate. Some people consider it the Cadillac of trading and technical analysis.

TerraNova is the home of the Day Trader, so they think nothing of you making several hundred trades a day. You don't have to do that, but it's okay here if you do.

Read vociferously:
"Which Is Better, Buy-and-Hold or Market Timing?"

"Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Market Timer

The Beginner's Bible in Technical Analysis is:
Edwards & McGee"Tech. Anal. Of Stock Trends"

Droke, ClifTechnical Analysis Simplified

Kahn, Michael N.Tech. Anal. Plain & Simple

Kamich, Bruce M.How Technical Analysis Works

Lefevre, EdwinReminiscences of a Stock Operator

Lofton, ToddGetting Started in Futures

Lowenstein, RogerBuffet (Warren)-The Making of a Capitalist

O'Neil, William J.How to Make Money in Stocks

Oz, TonyHow to Make Money From Wall Street

Rotella, Robert P.Elements of Successful Trading, The

Schwager, JackStock Market Wizards

Schwager, Jack D.New Market Wizards

Sperandeo, VictorTrader Vic-Methods of a Wall Street Master

Wasendorf, RussellAll About Futures

Slutsky, Scot and Darrell JobmanComplete Guide to Electronic Futures Trading

You can get every one of these books from your local library. If they don't have it, ask about Interloan Library System.

Read books like popular science/popular mechanics, etc and look for trends that are plausible. Then look for some companies that specialize in these areas, and invest in the best ones.

Another good thing to do is read two of Peter Lynch's books "One Up On Wall Street" and "Beating The Street". He details in his book how he used common sense to turn Fidelity's Magellan fund into one of America's biggest and best. He bought little known companies which went on to become well known companies.

I've worked in the investment industry for many years, and I've had many people come up to me and say that they could make more money than I can. I took many people up on their offer, and less than 5% of these people have actually beaten me (and I'm no world beater – it just shows that people aren't as smart as they think they are)

You answered your question yourself, isn't it. Buying a stock is not a lottery ticket, it is part ownership in the business. If the business does well over the long term, so will the stocks performance. I am sure you have lots of examples in front of you -companies like ITC, HDFC, Ranbaxy, Infosys, and many more that have been doing well for decades, so have their stocks, if you held on to them.

Dada, its time you read a real Investing book, Try One up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch, to start with. You will forget about wasting time in evolving trading strategies, and invest the time and effort in picking real good stocks, as Peter Lynch practically shows you how to. (There are better books to start with, but I am guessing you will enjoy the anecdotal style adopted by Peter Lynch more than the slightly more academic but nevertheless excellent reads like The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham)

If you want to build long term wealth, change tack NOW. Or else, if you have enough money to fritter away, keep trying at the 1: 99 odds!