Day Trading

My wife and I use them along with a few other members of our family and we have all done very well. I had traded prior to starting with them and had some good results but not as consistently as i would have liked.
There were months where I would make 10k but other months where I would lose money. With their more steady approach I have been able to generate a reliable income. It still varies but on average it's around a thousand a week. I think their system is great for returns but I feel they should offer more assistance when it comes to ways to minimise tax, i would be happy to pay for more specific personalised advice on these issues, and I think it would be a good way for them to make more money as a company.

There are many trading systems/methods and software programs based on them. An online course would likely be based on one trading system or a particular software program. You want to first look at different trading systems and choose the one you are most comfortable with. Just do a search on Amazon for books on stock trading and review the ones with the best reviews.

You may also want to talk to other traders to find out what they think/use. Try:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TradingZoom/

It's a free online stock picking group. We have a few Indian members trading US stocks.

I trade the markets often and have done for the last 15 years. From what I have heard it is far better to make trades on reasoned judgement than to leave it to a computer program.

In order to understand how markets work it is always better to have a good knowledge of the markets themselves. Few traders actually know this and this explains why a lot lose money on the derivative markets. One of the key ingredients to success is to understand the fundamental basics of supply and demand. Chartism also plays its role if you take the time to undestand it.

What I don't like about the programs that give people technical analysis information and "buy" and "sell" signals is that despite their claims of instant riches why is it that most people who make money on the market NEVER use them? There is the old saying "if something seems too good to be true isn't it the case it usually is?"

Many years ago I received a maling shot through the post about a program that could predict the exact peaks and troughs of the FTSE and other major indices. It said it had 90% accuracy and went back as far as 1901 predicting the 1930's slump! You just push in numbers and like magic instant wealth is produced. Now that's amazing software!

A few months later the entire company were exposed as a fraud on BBC television – which hardly surprised me!

The truth is that there are so many variables to the movements in stock prices and commodities that having a clear set mathematical formula for success is almost impossible. If you understand the correct method of trading and how to use derivatives correctly you can be on the way to a small fortune but this requires intelligence, vigilance and patience – qualities that most traders don't have.

I have found Tradindex to a a superb company which have given me one of the easiest trading platforms imaginable. However, a lot boils down to personal taste.

Another company I highly recommend is this one:

http://www.finspreads.com

Also try this brilliant authoress:

Toni Turner (http://www.toniturner.com/)

Good luck with your trading!

Instead of 6000 dollars you can learn how to do everything by yourself in 3 days with a home study program that you can find here for 400 dollars: www.alivematrix.com/agent/nolimits click on products and then wall street.

There is no magic tool, you will have to find the answers yourself or you will never be a professional trader. Experience matters. You need to figure out the basics for yourself– don't fight strong trends, protect your capital, ride your winners, learn to spot trends, set stops, set specific goals for each trade, learn how to use leverage, learn to make money in every market, take breaks. You will fail. You will lose money. Some learn from this, some keep doing the same stupid things, some give up. If you want to be rich, you get up, ignore the pain, figure out where you made mistakes, and don't make them again. Moreover, after many years you may create the perfect trading strategy that on paper will make you rich every time, but executing it in real life is a different story. Psychology, emotions, it is your worst enemy. I was up 1200% in four months earlier this year, then my Dad got really sick and my dog died. I thought I could keep trading, but I was not nearly up to it, and wound up losing all of my profits from those four months in three weeks. It was actually a cheap lesson that I should have learned before. I won't make that mistake again. Don't look for tips or advise from others, because you can't be fixed, you have to be flexible and adapt to the market. No matter what happens you should be confident that you can start with a stake and turn it into real money in a couple of weeks; you need that kind of confidence and determination… that is more important than any software.

Based on these answers to your question, you can see how helpful investing forums can be. Others are not much better, but there are a handful of people here that are really helpful.

There's not really a big problem in beginning to daytrade, but you need to be cautious. I'd advise you read this http://www.nyse.com/pdfs/im01-9Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Document%20in%2001-9.pdf

Then, you may want to continue paper trading, but you can trade for real if you set up strict losses. When I kick up my live account, I will close all my positions immediately if I lose 20%. Then, I will go back through my journals, the charts, and more paper trading until I get it right.

You can get all expenses lists from the individual sites under their fees + comissions and/or pricing tabs. If you are unclear of what they all are, just email the brokerage (I did this with several of tradeking's fees). You will need to get used to emailing and contacting people and services you will use or look into. Half of the battle of trading is finding everything you need — brokerage, information resources, software, data feeds, etc.

I've probably spent about half my time doing those kinds of things.

Http://tradingforexonline.info/ provides information about forex trading, online forex trading forex trading software, forex trading system,forex currency trading.

Anything with level II is what you are probably looking for. It appears the poster above me may need to read a few books himself. I know what you are talking about.

Genesis provides the Laser platform, which offers direct access through all major US exchanges and ECNs. That is what I have had luck with. I felt it was very user friendly. At my last job I also worked with clients that use the Cybertrader platform, which is also a good Level II platform. The only other platform that I have worked with in addition to those two was HammerTrade, through Assent Clearing. At the time I used it (2004-2005) I found it to be relatively primitive, although I think they have advanced it since then. Other discount brokers like Etrade, etc. offer relatively good Level II platforms and even the major bulge bracket firms have tools available, if you meet capital requirements.

Oftentimes, you will find that it is trial and error-whatever works for you is the best. Different programs have different perks. If you are just looking at charting, I think ESignal is relatively good. You may want to check out Metastock too. Often charting systems will give you a free trial period to check out the software first. Good luck trading.

Start learning the basics of fundamentals and technical so you will be more informed in your investments. You can find all the basic info you need on websites for free.
This site should give you a good start.

http://finance.yahoo.com/education

Try what you learn on demo sites. 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

Hi,

Hey! You have done well. You have a good split between domestic equities and foreign stocks, but I think you should look into some small cap growth and small cap equity mutual funds.

Have you looked at the American Association of Individual Investors?

If I were young or even middle age, I would be investing in small cap growth mutual funds or stocks. Go here for excellent low cost advice (http://www.aaii.com/aaiiportfolios/commentaries/stockportfolio/200701comment.cfm).

Don't be alarmed at the low cost – it has some of the best financial advice on the Web.

If you have lots of time before retirement the magic of compound interest will just keep building and building. It really works and if you keep investing and re-investing your proftis every year, in 10 or 15 years you will be surprised at how it mounts up. In 30 years you could be a millionaire which probably won't amount to much in 30 year owing to the the ravages of inflation. But stocks are a good hedge against inflation.

By that time you may need a money manager to manage your money – probably before when you reach the $500,000 mark. Heck! If you have achieved that much, you probably don't need a money manager – you are the best judge of where to invest your money by that time.

And that's the primary reason to keep investing in small cap growth stocks – they will flog inflation to death.

When investing in mutual funds, select the no-load funds only. Do not invest in mutual funds with a "load", an up front commission that you have to pay before when they sell you the mutual fund. Some charge as much as 10% which is a rrip-off. Many studies have shown that the no-load funds do as well as the load funds and sometimes a lot better.

Look at the AAI Shadow Stock Portfolio. I would try and emulate that portfolio if you want to invest in stocks. It was up 25% as of November 2006. The Vanguard Index fund is only up 14%.

AAII has some of the best financial advisers and the cost is very low. They have excellent guides and advice.

You may need a broker so go to e-Trade or Scottsdale who have low commission rates.

Do your own due diligence. Your own ideas are the best. Do not depend on someone else to select investments for you. Learn about investing so you don't have to ask what stocks to invest in.

Be self reliant.

Remember what Emerson said: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.

Find stocks that have steadily rising net profits (earnings), low debt, and good P/Es, lots of cash, companies buying back their stock..

What interests you? Find stocks that pique your interest and passion.

You need fast growing good stocks with good earnings and in good sectors. You need to learn more about the stock market before you even think about investing in it.

The stocks world is divided into 12 sectors such as energy which chevron belongs to. It is next to last in the sectors list today.

Technology is numero uno, but things can change in a new york minute, but within the sector, the fastest growing are computer services, not Microsoft. Then, Electronic Instruments and controls. Next is computer storage devices.

The next hot sector is Healthcare, but heed the warning below. Go here for sectors: (http://clearstation.etrade.com/cgi-bin/Itechnicals?Event=srp&Section=redge&Refer=/redge.html)

The best software is Vector Vest if you can afford it. It has sector investing.

Here is a free Web site for charting stocks: (http://www.incrediblecharts.com/).

First of all, stay away from "professional brokers" and tips coming to you via e-mail or friends and acquaintances. And tips at Yahoo! Answers. And e-mail tips. Do your own due diligence – don't rely on someone else. Read Emerson's essay "Self Reliance.

Hey! They will say anything to get you to buy their junk. If it's too good to be true, it is.

Remember this, they are just sales people trying to sell you what their firm is pushing. They are not security analysts or financial planners, not even financial advisers. Trust me, I know from experience that they cannot be trusted especially with a million dollars. You risk losing it all. A million dollar account is known as a "whale" and they would love to get their greedy little paws on it and suck it dry. They just want to make commissions on what they buy and sell for the suckers, err…clients..

Get this book: The Market Gurus: Stock Investing Strategies You Can Use from Wall Street's Best (Paperback)
by John P. Reese (Author), Todd O. Glassman

Risk avoidance is the name of the game.

Remember, the harder I work, the luckier I get.

Penny stocks are highly speculative. I would avoid the ones under a dollar a share. For example, Best Buy started at less than $5. So there are some good companies, but it takes a lot of digging to find the good ones. You are looking for companies with good earnings, little debt, low capitalization, and good P/Es. For stocks under $5, very few will meet these requirements.

Stay away from the pharms unless they have patented drugs – do not invest in generic pharms, no growth there.

Check out which business sectors are the most popular and invest in the companies in those sectors. The number one, two and three are: technology, health care, and cyclicals (retail). These change periodically so keep current.

Go here for a list of growth stocks: http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/newsanalysis/ratings/10345212.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

There are these lists all over the Web – you pays your money and takes your chances.

Watch CNBC, but don't pay too much attention to the talking heads, except for Jim Cramer, the wild man – but he tries to teach you how to invest and has some great advice.

Get Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World by James J. Cramer

Listen to Jim Cramer on CNBC.com

Go to Clearstation for quotes and tutorials on investing at (http://clearstation.etrade.com/). Sign up is free. Look up a few stocks. Do their tutorials. Check out the sectors.

Get this book: Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett and Beyond (Wiley Finance) by Bruce C. N. Greenwald, Judd Kahn, Paul D. Sonkin, and Michael van Biema.

Another good book: The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens: 8 Steps to Having More Money Than Your Parents Ever Dreamed Of (Motley Fool) by David Gardner, Tom Gardner, and Selena Maranjian

Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich by James J. Cramer and Cliff Mason

I Want to Make Money in the Stock Market: Learn to Begin Investing Without Losing Your Life Savings! by Chris M. Hart\

Sensible Stock Investing: How to Pick, Value, and Manage Stocks by David P. Van Knapp

Stock Investing For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance)) by Paul Mladjenovic

All About Stock Market Strategies : The Easy Way To Get Started by David Brown and Kassandra Bentley

The Motley Fool Investment Guide and their Web site (http://www.fool.com/).

The Little Black Book of Microcap Investing: Beat the Market with NASDAQ/AMEX Microcap Stocks, OTCBB Penny Stocks, and Pink Sheet Stocks by Dan Holtzclaw

How To Make Money In Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times or Bad, 3rd Edition by William J. O'Neil

Trading for a Living: Psychology, Trading Tactics, Money Management by Alexander Elder

Big Trends in Trading: Strategies to Master Major Market Moves (A Marketplace Book) by Price Headley

Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds (Paperback)
by Charles Mackay (Author), Andrew Tobias (Foreword) This book talks about the Tulip craze in Holland where people would mortgage their homes to buy Tulip bulbs. Same thing happened in 2001 – 2002 with the Internet bubble that brought the stock market to its knees. The dot com companies were the Tulip bulbs.

Buy Investors Business Daily. It has lots of tutorials and I like it better than the stodgy Wall St Journal.

Money Game by Adam Smith

Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings (Wiley Investment Classics) (Hardcover)
by Philip A. Fisher. Recommended by Warren Buffet who took $100,000 and grew it to $34 billion!

Value Investing with the Masters by Kirk Kazanjian

Valuegrowth Investing by Glen Arnold

The 5 Keys to Value Investing by J. Dennis Jean-Jacques

The Intelligent Investor Rev Ed. (Collins Business Essentials) by Benjamin Graham. Warren Buffet was his student at Columbia.

The Money Masters by John Train

The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore

Common Sense on Mutual Funds: New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor by John C. Bogle

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes And How To Correct Them: Lessons From The New Science Of Behavioral Economics by Gary Belsky

Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week! by Phil Town . See his Web site at (http://www.ruleoneinvestor.com/). Free sign-up. I got the book at the library.

Listen. You don't have to spend a lot of money on these books – most can be found at your library and those that your library doesn't have they can usually get from other libraries in your state.

Most of these books talk about stock and mutual fund investing, but for a good introduction to other forms of investing Gerald Appel has a great book called Opportunity Investing – How to Profit When Stock Advance, Stocks decline, Inflation Run Rampant, Prices fall, Oil Prices Hit the Roof and Every Time In Between.

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman Not a book on investing, but it's a nice segue into the next book.

Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton

Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance by Marcus Buckingham

Finding your strengths is important when investing. These books teach you to build on your strengths, what you a good at. Everyone is good or passionate about something. Why not get better at what you are good at?

Another good book is: Opportunity Investing: How To Profit When Stocks Advance, Stocks Decline, Inflation Runs Rampant, Prices Fall, Oil Prices Hit the Roof, … and Every Time in Between (Hardcover)
by Gerald Appel

Most mutual funds do not even keep up the the return on the S&P. That's like 99% of them.

Vanguard Index funds are a no brainer.

A CD is better than a savings account. They range from six months to several years. You cannot touch your money tho until the time limit is up.

Check out this Web site on Direct Investment Plans where you can buy shares directly from companies: (http://www.fool.com/School/DRIPs.htm). Usually no fees and you can buy one share at a time.

Bonds are probably the safest. But they are not for the young. You might try a bond fund. They might return 5 or 6 percent. At 5% a million would return $50,000 a year – not a bad income. Remember, you have to pay taxes on the $50,000.

There are also municipal bonds and the income from them is taxfree especially if you buy them in a state that offers them, but they only pay about 3%, but it's mostly taxfree.

Look into Fidelity sector funds. Buy the top three, then in six months look how they are doing and if not so hot, select the next three that are best. Do this for a few years and you will make lots of money.

Kindest Personal Regards,

Walt Brown
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P.S. This is a life-long learning process. Reading these books and applying the rules to analyzing stocks that may be good It takes time. Be patient and keep reading and listening. Don't be a sucker and follow someone elses advice. Be your own man or woman. Depend on no one except yourself. You can only get smarter and stronger that way.

P.P.S. Internet has lots of good stuff, for example (http://stockcharts.com/school/doku.php?id=chart_school:technical_indicators:moving_average_conve
Stockcharts.com is very good and their discussion of MACD is one of the best, barring its originator, Gerald Apple, but now we are getting into Technical Analysis and that is not for beginners. But it is an important factor in finding good stocks that are going up and growing. Remember, tiny acorns grow into mighty oaks.