Untitled

Simply, open a brokerage account with a "Discount Broker", e.g. Scottrade, Ameritrade, or E-trade. I have always recommended Scottrade due to their low commission costs of $7 per trade.

Type of Accounts to open (dependent on funding):

Investing:

Cash Account: Minimum $500: You may only place 2 "buys and sells" a week.

Margin Account: Minimum $2000: You may place 1 "buy and sell" a day, and "buy again to hold overnight."

Trading/Day or Active:

Day Trading Margin Account: Minimum $25,000: You may "buy and sell" or "short and cover" as much as your heart desires. So if a stock jumps up 10 cents and you make $100 bucks in the next minute or so...you can cash in and ride multiple waves. Some traders can profit $25k to $80k a month (dependent on your approximate liquidation value); but on the other hand, you can lose that much as well. FYI, your approximate liquidation value must maintain a $25k limit.

Once you open your account, you are free to "buy, sell, or hold" whatever company's stock you choose. Remember, the purpose of investing or trading is not to lose your initial investment, but to make it grow by cutting cost-basis and buying more shares (reinvesting).

I currently use Scottrade Elite and DAT (Direct Access Trading) and find them more user friendly than other trading platforms, i.e. E-Signal or Tradestation. You are directly linked to the trading floors and can view the markets millisecond by millisecond. As for investing, I build my portfolios with Goldman Sachs. However, you are able to build a portfolio of securities with Scottrade. The reason why I build my "hold" positions with Goldman is due to maturity and inability to sell until that maturity date. I have a tendency to sell my securities when they profit, sometimes causing me to miss a larger profit subsequent to my sell.

It's never too late to begin!

Questions? Please inquire!

More to follow...