As for theStreet.com, there is enough of that out there for free, and all the news can really be overwhelming. I wouldn't, but that's just because I have subscribed to other newsletter type services in the past that didn't enhance my return. If anything, I would recommend an education service, like spreadtradesystems. More expensive in the short-term, but huge dividends in the bigger picture.
And don't let any one tell you differently, if you do you'll only get hurt.
Before you invest in any security, whether as a trader or an investor the first investment you should make is in yourself, and the best investment you can make is by educating yourself.
Start your education by learning why you should invest, and the importance of being able to make your own decisions.
Get into the habit of making daily visits to some websites like MSN Money and Yahoo Finance.
Other website that can provide instructions and help with procedures and terminology are Investopedia.com, Stock Charts.com, investorshup.com; and 1source4stocks.com
Visit some of the more professional websites like Zacks.com, Smart Money, Schaeffers.com, Trading Trend, Trading Markets, these website will have advertisers who are worth looking into also. And remember, if they offer free information, get it.
Attend all the free seminars you can, just be careful and don’t get pressured into anything you really don’t want or need. Most schools offer courses in finance and economics, but very few will have courses on the mechanics of the investment markets, if they do try taking the course. You may want to consider on-line courses, the New York Institute of Finance use to have such courses. Try to get some fee information from the stocks exchanges they all have (had) free booklets, SIAC and some of the regulators (FINRA SEC MSRB CBOE) may provide some free literature.
Good luck
DEAR ALL, thanks for your responses, overall you seem to think currency trading is high risk and not really a viable way of making money from home. I should have mentioned in my question that if i were to do it, i would want to rely more on technical analysis and all the ratios and different theorems etc. I would also be making trades that are from about 30 minutes to at most one day. Does this change anyones opinion on the subject?
These trial trade programs do not always properly simulate the market. I would not trust them.
Learn before you burn yourself out. Most (and i really mean most) people lose money day trading. You need a discipline that is hard to master. You need to know how and when to take a loss as this is what saves you to trade again in search of the winners. Stop loss orders are very important. And you need to realize that you are trading against professionals who get better executions of orders, have better information and faster access to it. You are also trading against computer programs.
Options are for the most part a highly speculative venture unless you are writing covered calls to try and boost your return on your long positions.
read the educational stuff at bobbrinker.com
This site should give you a good start.
http://finance.yahoo.com/education
If your current/future employer offers an employee 401k plan. Invest up to the matching % of your employers contribution. If plan offers an election to invest in a money market fund you may want to invest in it until you learn more. Next invest in a Roth IRA up to the max allowed(yearly). If you then have more money to invest, go back to your 401k plan and invest the max allowed(yearly). So after you do all the above and want to invest more you should be able to decide how. Only invest money that you can afford to lose. Making some quick money is nice but if you lose it, it gets right ugly.
You may also think about ETF's instead of mutual funds, stocks. and options.
http://finance.yahoo.com/etf
Try what you learn on demo sites. They can be a very fun but educational way to learn from mistakes. If you pick 75% right with play money then you might be ready to start slowly investing.
http://simulator.investopedia.com/
http://simulator.zacks.com/
http://www.fxcm.com/open-free-100k.jsp
http://www.alpari-idc.com/en/metatrader4…
Or just google for more.
I use Lightning Strikes Trading System for trading in any time frame and it works on forex, stocks, bonds, etf's, mutual funds, etc… They have 3 free training sessions a week and you don't have to buy the software to join in the live chat and text. You can even watch some recorded past live sessions. Here are some past charts that I used.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R0zjjaZ…
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16RxjOUQt…
There are 7 indicators (2 short, 2 medium, and 3 long term) and if volume is reported another one is added (on balance volume). Plus whatever time-frame is used the 2 green horizontal lines are the support and resistance for that time frame. So when indicators are all touching the bottom price is at or very, very near support. At top is at or very, very near resistance. Which helps my entry/exits and risk/reward ratio.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9Wv-wt…
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9wSKdV…
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R2fYIj6…
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R3R0VQe…
If you can not view charts above I can email them.
Here are my favorite sites.
http://stockcharts.com/
Has basically all you need from fundamental to technical terms. Plus stock screens, charts, public chart lists, and much more useful info.
https://www.fidelity.com/
Has good learning resources.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp
In addition to yahoo finance.
http://www.reuters.com/
For news and more.
http://www.marketwatch.com/default.aspx
For news and more.
http://www.valueprime.com/index.php
For rating stock risk/reward ratio and reports.
http://www.barchart.com/
For investing in more than stocks.
http://www.investopedia.com/
For more great learning tools.
http://www.lightninglive.com/
For best software timing your entry/exits any time frame for day traders and long term investors.
Others worth exploring.
http://www.equis.com/
http://www.stockta.com/
http://www.secform4.com/
Best Wishes,
Burt Whitley