Day Trading

But the only good way to do it is understanding and using special software and lots of practice…there are fake investment rackets out there too. I'd have him open up a "trial account' first. That is, he trades an imaginary $500 for you and shows you the outcome at the end of a week or month. That's the way all currency traders start out learning the trade BEFORE they invest actual money. Some of them 'trial trade' for many months before they take the plunge with real money.

If he can give you 3 references AND makes you $5000 that month – ON PAPER (without using your money), You could take a week chance with $100, then a bigger chance, until you are comfortable. It IS a GREAT way to make money. Way better than the stock market. And it's unregulated. Just be cautious going in.

Good luck, pilgrim!

The first poster that said to trade currency futures is insane. Futures contracts possess the potential for unlimited losses. Like the one poster said, you can lose 100% in fx, but you can loss 200% in futures. I've seen several instances of futures traders losing their entire account and then having to cough up more money to cover the losses above what was in their account. If you have a $10,000 futures account, you could realistically lose $50,000 on a trade that goes horribly wrong and you'd have to come up with an additional $40,000 to cover the loss above the $10,000 in your account. In fx, you can only lose your entire account.

I am an fx trader and I love it, but I don't think it's for everyone. It bothers me when a person knocks a specific investment vehicle because they don't like it or it doesn't fit their investment style. I don't like medicine. The hours are long, the field is tough, but I wouldn't go knocking being a doctor. Because it's not what interests me or what I want to do doesn't mean it's a bad occupation. There are people out there that love medicine and are geniuses in the field. It's good for them, but it's not good for everyone.

The same thing with investments, I love the high risk markets, but only a small percentage of the population are suited for them. Doesn't make them bad.

I really wish people would stop being so judgmental about things they don't like or don't understand. If forex trading is not for them, then they should just say, "Hey, I don't like it, but that's me", instead of making it out to be an evil that EVERYONE should stay away from.

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