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

There is no trading over the weekends from Friday 1:15 pm until Sunday 3:00 pm (pacific time).

Be aware that volume dies down when the markets stop trading (after 1:00 pm). The bid/ask spread can also increase dramatically (specially on the Nasdaq). Prices can also be pushed up/down rather quickly due to lack of liquidity, so amateurs always get stopped during these times.

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.

There are some conservative strategies to invest in the forex market that many people consider too boring and evidently not complicated enough. It seems there is a breed of players entering the Forex market the same way they would belly up to a roulette wheel in Las Vegas.

I ran an analysis a couple of weeks ago that you may find interesting. First of all it is important to note that this is based on historical prices and is not necessarily representative of future results. But it is interesting.

Let's say that you opened a conservative hedge trade on the 1st of any month this year.with $10,000 and used a conservative margin of 10% You just let the account sit and didn't touch it what would it have looked like on 7/20/2007 (the day I ran the analysis).

If you opened your account on

Jan 1st = $13,161 on 7/20/2007
Feb 1st = $13,645
Mar 1st = $11,924
Apr 1st = $12,045
May 1st = $10,473
Jun 1st = $10,530

None of these accounts would have ever been close to a margin call and the Jan and Feb accounts would seem to have faired quite well through the China correction during late Feb / early Mar.

So I guess the morale of the story is that it is not the Forex market that is the problem. It is the human elements of greed, fear, lack of knowledge and lack of a conservative investment strategy.

It's not what you do it's how you do it!

Good luck with your decision process.

Paul

Becareful, if you read the rule, you must ,MAINTAIN a minimum of $25,000 – big difference.

E-mini's trade just like the full size contracts, except the dollar value is smaller and so are the margins. Everything you do with a futures contract you can do with a mini contract, you'll just make/lose less money had have lower margin requirements.

The brokerage business is highly competitive and rates are usually subject to negotiation. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts. Use the internet and search for “Futures Broker” or “Forex broker” and compare the prices of 10 brokers. This will give you a feeling for the lower prices possible.

When comparing prices, make sure that they are “all inclusive”, i.e. inclusing exchange and NFA/SEC fees and any other fees that might apply. Sometimes brokers lure you in with “Trade the e-minis for $0.50″ and then you will see that they add all kinds of fees and you end up paying $5 – $6 per round turn.

When trading futures, you can expect to pay $4 – $5 per round turn with a discount broker and $5 – $8 if you need some service. Full service brokers usually charge $10 – $15 per round turn.

Right now you might consider trading the e-mini S&P Midcap. The CME Group and Infinity Futures Brokerage run a promotion until the end of the year: You can trade this contract for $1.50 per round turn ALL INCLUSIVE. I think that’s a heck of a deal.

The e-mini Midcap (Symbol EMD) is comparable to the e-mini Russell (ER).

Regarding Forex: I don’t trade Forex at all. I prefer trading the currencies as futures contracts at the CME. This has there advantages:

1.) Lower spread. The spread is usually 1 tick and not 2-5 pips.
2.) Better leverage: 1 tick in the futures is worth $12.50 and not $10 like in the forex. That’s 25% more!
3.) It’s regulated, and you are trading against other traders and NOT against the house.

Hope that helps.

Markus

PS: Below is the link for the EMD promo I talked about.

The only trading method that I can suggest would have the most potential for success would be the "50% retracement rule." Of all the methods, this is the most reliable.

There's a book that discusses it. "The Trading Rule That Can Make You Rich" by Edward Dobson.

I can also recommend the following books, they don't discuss methods, per se, but reading them should afford you a better understanding of the markets, which may help you with your trading:

Wall Street: The Other Las Vegas, by Nicolas Darvas.
The Traders, by Sonny Kleinfeld.
The Professional Commodity Trader, by Stanley Kroll.
Fooled by Randomness, by Nassim Taleb.
The Trading Rule That Can Make You Rich, by Edward Dobson.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edward Lefevre.
Paul Wilmott Introduces Quantitative Finance, by Paul Wilmott.

The following website offers practical, realistic trading advice: http://commonsensetrading.googlepages.com