I saw Julie on BEEB1 lunchtime news and decided to check it out for myself - although I've got an MBA, I haven't worked the past 2 years (gave up teaching) and this might just be the thing for me. Two general questions though - is there a facility that allows me to learn and simulate trades (safely) ... and ... how much capital would I need to start off with? (I need to ascertain how much I can aford to loose - if it's too much - hey, I can always clean dustbins for a living!

Alan Volker

prometheus:

You can open a Finspreads account for as little as 100 and trade as little as 1p/point for the first 8 weeks, 50p/point thereafter. Darn good (and Cheap) way to learn.

MM
PS: Finspreads -- my invoice is in the mail.

Yes, I saw Julie on tv and would also like to learn. I opened a CFD account and have doubled my initial money over the past few months, but having said that I've had a couple of hefty knocks on the way. Julie made it sound easy, just run with the winners and raise the stop loss along the way and close the losses as quickly as possible. What I have found is that it is difficult for me to immediately close a position when the price moves the wrong way soon after entering a trade (recognising an irretrievable loss is difficult in itself but acting on that intuition is another thing especially when maybe there is chance of a reversal). As for running the winners, again this isn't as easy it sounds because reversals and temporary set backs occur quite frequently and therefore grabbing a profit becomes very tempting. Yes deciding the difference between a temporary set back and the onset of a big loss I find very difficult. Perhaps uncertainty is to be expected at this stage of learning and only when I have built a decent account size will I be able to run winners a little longer and perhaps cut my losses a little earlier.
After posting this I'll be asking for inclusion on the MoneyAM seminar at Clitheroe on the 11th Sept.

Prometheus
You can download the New dummy trader MM5 From CMC With Virtual 10K Well worth a go.
Dont trade and learn at same time!Believe me its a bad idea.I remember:-(

Type or paste this into your address bar:
http://www.uk.cmcplc.com/spreadbet/index.asp

Click on Download Software Trial.
All the best of luck.
Iain

Looks like a lot of people have latched onto this - and want to have a go!

ThanQ All 4 Xcellent advice - U R a friendly bunch - not wot I'm used 2! Is this the new "all 4 one & one 4 all" generation X all grown up? (rhetorical question)

Ill answer that then..............lol

promethus
welcome aboard. One of the first things to do if you are wanting to start trading online is to be sure that you have a good computer system!! You need to be able to run a few windows at the same time in order to execute trades and scan news flow etc.
select 2 or 3 stocks first so that you can get to 'know' the stock , and make sure that with big cap ftse stocks that you keep a close eye on the trend of the ftse (and dow futures). The adage is 'the trend is your friend till it bends at the end'
The most helpful information I got was to subscribe to Moneyam and speak to all the traders (both new and experienced) and read the threads that give you valuable guidance and tips. The facilities available on the site are also a terrific learning and information tool.
Hope to see you trading soon and on the traders thread.
we are very hnelpful and friendlyh bunch even if we come across as crazy:-)

ThanQ Jules
wot I've learnt so far, in one day:

- get the right hardware (check)
- do simulations (comdirect) (check)
- don't spend more than I can loose (that's easy - I've got nothing to loose)
- going long / going short (and I thought this had sumpting 2 do with time!)
- subscribe 2 MoneyAM (10BP/mnth - 2 do)
- open a trading account (mmm - not sure how and where - 2 do)
- download trading software (2 do - not sure what yet)
- DYOR - do your own research (check)
- my flexible friend bending at the end (got it)
- make new friends (check)
- early bird get's the worm (and it's wings kentucky fried) (check)
- read, read, read (aaargh)
- don't tell anyone ('case they think I'm looney!) (check)
- no pain - no gain (2 b experienced - do more simulations) (check)
- remember to hoover carpets b-4 wife gets home (2 do!!)

promethus
sounds like youve got all the qualifications for trading:-)
BTW just watch out for the mad nun:-))

Oddly enough I tend to do my best trades in the hour before the market closes! (That is except for the limit orders - and they go through at any time!)

I find the spreads too big first thing, although if I'm set on purchaseing a particular share in the morning, as soon as the spread tightens up, I will sometime buy, rarely now as I tend to use limit orders instead so purchase at a set price.

... and u're using MoneyAM to do all this? Or R U using some other third party software? It's all a bit confusing 4 a newbie - I sort of understand spreads and timing, EPS's, etc. I can draw you a spade, but have NO idea as to how I actually go about digging a hole (4 myself). Patience boy, patience. I'll do some more reading/research tonight!!

I use money-am to watch the price movements using the stock watch facility. If I'm around to trade I also use the trade info(& I pay for level 2) to decide when to buy and also check if the price I'm being offered is good or not. (I also like to see the deal go through!) - Broadband is a must, as I normally have to move between 4 screens on the my 1 screen in less than 15 seconds during which time I have decide if I'm going ahead or not!

I actually make more money using Limit orders - set up through my dealing account on the internet. This involves a lot a work & research to set buy & sell prices. (I was away on a two week residential course in May for 2 weeks and "popped" home every evening mid week for 2 hours to set up new buy & sell limit orders to cover the ones that went through that day! - It was very profitable but not so much fun, and hard work!)

I use the moneyam fundamentals on specific companies to help me work out what price I want to pay for a share and what price I think I can get for a share. So if the buy price of a share drops to the price on the limit order, the share is purchased even if I'm not around.

I also subscribe to itpaysdividends.co.uk (about 20pa) to get info at the weekend about the top 350 shares. A lot of the shares pay dividends, although if I can show a profit of double the dividend I often sell earlier. It also helps in knowing when to buy as shares that go ex divi tend to drop! Itpaysdividend also e-mail a file at the beginning of the month which also contains additional dividend info. I use this spreadsheet to work out predicted dividends and I have my own spreadsheet which I use to quickly work out the lowest price I am prepared to sell a share for against what I pay. With all the other info I establish a sell price and set up a limit order to sell should the share price reach the sell price when I'm not arround.

My dealing account also provide additional info which I sometimes use for my research.

prometheus : most important of all is to stand your round at a moneyam user do!!!

lol .. THanQ 4 the comprehensive reply - I really appreciate it - though my head's spinning a bit & I haven't even HAD a round yet! "little woman" sounds more like a giant and has slapped my bi-plane into a tailspin! So much 2 do!! Tomorrow (today) I'll take my second step!! ThanX once more!

Jess...4 screens lol, 3 would be enough for me! Is one for general entertainment?