We are of like mind, but because I only have $10,000 to invest, I'm forced to Day Trade index futures. I'm not a Day Trader, but have been a position trader off and on for 15 years, mostly with options and futures. Tough game for the little guy with weak hands.

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.

Be aware that 90% of day-traders lose money. The odds are way against you. I recommend trying swing-trading (a few days to a few months time frame) first. The pressure is less and the timing not so quick. The exact same principles that apply to swing trading will prepare you for trading on shorter time frames. Or … you might decide you were making enough money in swing trading to stick with it.

As for sources, check with your brokerage. Many of them make learning tools available to their clients.

Best of success.

They are highly volatile. If you are an experienced trader, you can make a lot of money. If you don't have experience, this is no place to learn about futures trading. Start with grains or something relatively straight-forward and then move to eminis when you feel comfortable.

WOW. That is pretty impressive.

I'll tell you what ….tell me what the market will do next Tuesday and I will strongly consider your offer.

Well first of all I don't know of any successful Forex traders that post their journals. They are quite happy to make a nice return on their investment without having to toot their horn

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

Technically, D is correct, because the Uptick Rule was abolished almost a year ago. It no longer applies, and when it did, it applied to more than just futures contracts. It covered short-selling in general.

Most online brokers have some minimums. they vary. in order to day trade, as i recall you need $25,000 minimum. there is a formula that they used to determine if you are a "pattern day trader". you must follow the rules and have the cash in the account to pay for the trades you make. you get a few strikes and then they will prohibit you from trading your account if you don't have funds available. do a search on the site of the broker you choose for day trading rules.

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