Day Trading

<<<Is there any way to trade the Hang Seng index on the US market?>>>

You can trade futures on the Hang Seng index from a number of brokerages, including Interactive Brokers. (You cannot trade an index directly. You have to use some tool such as a futures contract or an ETF.)

<<<I've noticed that very often the Asian Market follows the US market's previous day's results, am watching to see how often this happens. What a trading advantage it would be to be able to predict with fair accuracy what will happen in Asia and be able to trade accordingly. Any ideas?>>>

I am not sure how you expect to use US market results to improve your trading results. Every other trader in the world has the same information readily available, so any impact will be factored into the price at least as quickly as you can submit a trade order.

Day trading is definitely a great way to make huge profits but many people don't know the SEC rules on day trading. The SEC requires that you have a minium of $25,000 in your market account in order to day trade. I would recommend getting a scottrade account set up and using that as your broker to place orders. You can setup a joint account with another account holder and use the combined account balance to create your $25,000 minium balance. I personally bought 2 $10,000 CD's at a 6 month term to have a safe place for $20,000 and the other $5,000 was used for day trading. I've made lots and lost lots doing this so do your research when taking such risk. I've also made large profits in real estate but location and timing play a large part in that. Real estate is more of a long range investment tool and can eat you up if you don't run the numbers right! You have to keep in mind that you're paying interest on your loan, taxes always go up, home owners insurance, and the rent money isn't always on time. A great place to invest internationally is cancun! Great rentals and its always a hot spot!

I will give you what info that I can. Although there are many others who are far more expeienced with daytrading than I am. I have tried many different kinds of stock trading, including daytrading. Of them all, daytrading is my least favorite. It may not be the most work (but it ain't easy), but it's definitely the most stressful. In my experience there are far easier ways to make money in the stock market.

By law the minimum amount needed to open a daytrading account is $25,000. This will open a margin account, with which you can daytrade up to four times the amount that you have in your account. So with a minimum account of $25,000 you can daytrade up to $100,000 per day. (There are some restrictions) You must pay interest on any amount that you hold overnight that is in excess of the cash in your account. Daytraders never hold anything overnight.

There are many different styles of daytrading. You can trade gaps up, or gaps down. You can trade technicals or breakouts. You can trade a particular stock or group of stocks. Each style requires a specific set of tools and the skills to use them. At a minimum you will need a good broadband internet connection, streaming level 2 quotes, and a good broker. Quotetracker is a good, free platform that you can download and try, just to get a feel for what is involved. Also I believe that Scottrade will let you download and try their platform for free.

The broker that you choose depends upon your style of trading and the volume that you trade. Flat fee commission brokers like Scottrade are fine if you trade volumes above 1000 shares at a time. On a thirty dollar stock, that's $30,000 per trade. Personally I may buy more than 1000 shares, but I'll often take a position 100 shares at a time. So in my case paying $7 for each of those 100 share trades would kill me on commissions. Instead I use a broker that charges per share, not per trade. If you're not dealing in high volume it's best to pay per share, not per trade. That way you can buy 100 shares and it will only cost you $1 in commission.

The other thing that you should consider, just in case you do make money daytrading, is taxes. Although the advent of online tax services has made keeping track of all those daytrades considerably easier, it can still be a headache. It's much easier just to buy a stock, hold it all year, and then pay the taxes on it. Very simple.

I do not believe that daytrading is the best way to go for a beginner. It would be better to start by just buying and holding, or swingtrading. Personally I now use a service that sends me alerts on what to buy and sell. It actually works much better than I could ever do on my own, and it's a whole lot easier. Still it's quite common for me to lose $1000 or more per day. But on average my up days far outweigh my down days.

Yes, I do this for a living, and it is much easier than having a real job.

Don't waste your money, the only way to learn about investing is to do it yourself. go to top10traders.com it is a free website that gives you 100k to invest and learn about the stock market, great way to learn without risking any of your own money. do this for at least 6 months and see if you are any good at it before trying it for real

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.

I am a day trader making money. Go to Investools.com

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

That last thing you need at the present time is a brokerage firm whether for on-line services or in-house services

For you to start to invest on-line would be a gigantic mistake on your part, since you have no idea what you are doing.

Why are you worrying about low fees, when you don't understand the very basics of investing. You only have a minimual amount of capital so you are not in a very good bargining position for special discounts.

Before you invest in any security, 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 or how the pro’s make theirs.

Here's some websites that will help you get started,

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp

http://finance.yahoo.com/

http://www.investors.com/?tn=top

http://investorshub.advfn.com/default.aspx

http://www.thestreet.com

http://www.brokerage101.com/

http://www.1source4stocks.com/

http://www.decisionpoint.com/TAcourse/TACourseMenu.html

http://stockcharts.com/

http://www.grahaminvestor.com/

http://www.thestreet.com/

http://www.morningstar.com/

Learn what to do, before you do anything that will cost you money.

You can get a full array of services, info and tools through Scottrade…even small investors…BUT you will not be able to " daytrade" without a bankroll. You never want to go on margin..( borrowing) … so for every trade you make, when it comes time to " sell" you should have at least that much cash in your account… and wait the three day settlement period to make your next trade… and if you lose track, or are a poor accountant… you can be suspended from trading very easily.

Soooo…just be satisfied to GET IN…make some small trades…but hold for a week, ten days…see how you do…. and wait between trades…
You will be more of an " investor", but " short- term" for sure !!