The first and most important thing to look for in any stock trading course is the person (s) presenting the course. Are they REAL traders who are actively trading or are they just out to make money from teaching others to trade?

Obviously there are many different levels of training and you also need to look at that aspect. Is it a stock trading course for a beginner or is it advanced and only useful for experienced traders? I’ve been through a lot of trading courses and to be honest most of them were NOT worth the money. However, I did learn something from every one of them.

Stock trading courses vary greatly in price and quality. I thought it would probably most useful to you if I tell you about 3 different “levels” of courses. Pick whatever suits your budget but don’t restrict yourself to these either.

1. Books
The cheapest stock trading courses are probably books. The problem is that there are thousands of them and most often we can get lost in a book. There are some amazing books available and for $20 you can learn from some of the best traders in the world. With books however, you need to be very focused since most people never even read past the first chapter of a book. I would recommend Bonnie Turner’s books. They tend to move a bit fast, but are very thorough and is great for beginner and intermediate traders.

2. Online Courses
The next level of stock trading courses are online courses. There are many of them and the obvious problem these days is that every second “trader” is trying to sell a course. The fantastic benefit of online courses is that you can get a very thorough education and with interactive technology you can shorten the learning curve significantly. Without a doubt, the best course is Anthony Green’s online trading course. With manuals, videos and even email access to answer your most pressing questions its well worth the investment – especially being able to see a professional trader in action and to learn first hand from someone who is actively trading for a living. He lays out a very easy to follow step-by-step program, but you will need at least $1,000 to trade with.

3. Seminars
The top level stock trading courses are seminars. They are usually 2 or 3 day long courses that are held in groups of 50 to 300 and can cost as much as $10,000 per person. The real power of these seminars is that you immerse yourself in it for a couple of days and being there WITH other traders and being able to ask questions and learn first hand is priceless. The best trading seminar I ever attended was Wealth Mastery – which is Tony Robbins’ brainchild and presented by Chuck Mellon who is widely regarded as one of the top traders in the world.

Hopefully this quick overview of stock trading courses will get you started on the right path. This is one thing you don’t want to “figure out” yourself – you will lose a lot of money before you come to your senses. If you’re just dabbling with the idea, buy yourself a good book. If you want to actively start trading, enroll in an online course. If you already have some experience, go to a live seminar.
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Picking stocks can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Some traders spend a week analyzing a stock before they will buy. Others pick stocks on the fly and don’t spend too much time over analyzing everything. The way you pick stocks will eventually become your own as you learn what works for you and what suits your particular “style” of trading.

There are a few basic and fundamental things we can talk about that will help you learn how to pick stocks effectively. Let’s quickly look at some important ideas.

1. Mindset:
This may seem like a trivial thing but it really is the most important part of picking stocks. You need to remove your emotions from this process and forget about what you think you already know. Our bias towards certain things can blind us. For this very reason its often much better to look at stocks of companies that you know nothing about. Its also important that you look at each stock with a clean slate and forget about past trades.

2. Stock Ideas:
Out of all the thousands of stocks we can trade, the challenge is where you should start looking. One thing that I like to do is to use a stock screener and look at all the stocks that are in a 52-week high. These will typically be stocks that are in an uptrend which can spell opportunity for us. Depending on the stock screener you use, you can filter stocks in a similar way to find other potential trends.

Another great way to find stock ideas is to simply keep an eye on financial publications. There are a number of great websites and blogs that discuss trending stocks in detail. This does not mean that you follow their advice blindly, but it can be a great starting point. Also, do not discard everyday news events. It can have a huge impact on stock prices and by keeping your eyes and ears out for trading opportunities you can make some great stock picks.

3. The First Signal:
Unless you are short selling or using some other more sophisticated trading strategy, the very first thing you want to look for is for stocks that are in an uptrend. Remember, we want to “ride the wave” and by jumping on to stocks that are on their way up we can greatly reduce the risk of losing on the trade. For a swing trader you want to look at the charts in a time-frame similar to what you are trading in. This will give you an idea of what that stock has been up to in the last 3 to 6 months. This makes it relatively easy to see the uptrend. I try and avoid stocks that show a lot of volatility and with no clear trend line.

4. Identify Trends:
One of the most over used and most clichéd sayings in trading is that “the tends is your friend”. Although its a cliché, its very true. Trends help us to make informed and scientific decisions. It does not guarantee success but it eliminates a lot of risk. A simple channeling pattern or a head and shoulders pattern are easy to identify and we can trade on these patterns with a lot of confidence since we know how these patterns tend to behave.

No matter how much analysis you do, in the end you can never trade with 100% certainty that you stock picks will be successful. In fact, most of the time you will be wrong. The secret is to cut your losers quickly. When you make a trade you will pick a stock based on certain assumptions – based on your research and analysis. When your assumptions are wrong after day 1, cut your (small) losses and move on.

Don’t hold on and hope that your assumptions will become true. There are no real magic formula for how to pick stocks. In the end we all develop our own system but the fundamentals are the same. Always remember that you will lose 100% of the trades you do not make!
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Its amazing how many people are looking for hot tips on which stock to buy. The old story of learning to fish instead of someone handing you a fish is really relevant here. You need to learn how to find those stocks that will  make you money instead of someone telling.  This will allow you to become a good trader who can make money at will on the stock market. So, here are

My 3 hot sauce tips for finding the best stock ideas.

1. Become a sniper.
You don’t need to trade 100′s of different stocks at once. You are looking for one, two or maybe three stocks that you will focus on. To find these you will have to look at hundreds of potential stocks though but the analogy is that you will go looking with a sniper rifle and not a shotgun. You need to pick out individual stocks one by one instead of just blindly looking at thousands of potential stocks – which in theory could work but rarely does.

The best way to do this is to use a stock screener. A good screener will allow you to filter out stocks based on specific criteria. Stockcharts.com has a pretty good (and free) screener with a lot of options. Use those that suit your particular trading strategy best.

2. Stay with the times.
The stock market is very intricately interwoven to the state of affairs both locally and globally. World markets get affected by world events and local markets get affected by local events. How can this help you? Start paying attention to the news and look at it through your trading glasses. It will help you spot opportunity and give you ideas on which stocks might be affected. A good example is with Apple. Every time Steve Jobs launches one of their new products Apple’s stock starts rallying.

The opportunities are virtually endless. When governments sign deals, when CEO’s retire or even when there is a major accident it can affect entire market sectors. Stay in touch with what’s going on in the world.

3. Hero’s and Idols.
As you grew up you probably had a hero or an idol that you wanted to be like. This could have been a sport star, a rock star or even a politician (yeah right!). If you are serious about being a great trader then you have to find yourself some hero’s and idols. Its very powerful because these people give you an ideal or something you can aspire to. With the internet we are very fortunate because we can now interact with and connect with people from all over the world.

I read a lot of blog from traders and even though some of them are rubbish, some of them are great. Its a great place to find the best stock ideas. Its great to see someone else analyze a stock because it helps to open your mind. We tend to get caught up in our own way of thinking and without knowing it we tend to choose the same kind of stocks over and over again. When you see an expert do it you can start to emulate their success.
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For most of us money is a very emotional subject. When we invest out hard earned money we don’t like to see it evaporate. The flip side is also true and having the financial freedom that you desire can bring you all those things you want most in life. With that in mind, here are my 5 best day trading tips.

1. Ride The Wave.
Day trading is not about making “big money”. This is probably where most novice traders go wrong. They are looking for that one trade that will make them rich. Day trading is all about riding the wave. If long term investing is about making a 50% ROI per year (as an example) then day trading is bout making 20% ROI per day. Its all about making smaller gains but making them consistently. The fact that you are working within much narrower time frames means that your money can work so much harder for you.

2. Strategy, strategy, strategy.
All traders use strategies. Without a good strategy you are walking into a war zone without a weapon. Strategy gives you a “recipe” and a methods to work with. Trading strategies is important because it helps you to make decisions. It also helps you to make decisions without your emotions getting in the way.

3. Get a mentor.
All highly successful people have mentors. Mentors are people that have more skill, knowledge and experience than you and learning from them is priceless. Try and find a mentor that you can talk to one-on-one if possible but you can also find a mentor in books. It needs to be someone who you really look up to and who you want to be like as a trader.

4. Learn.
As a day trader you need to fall in love with learning. There are so many aspects to being a good day trader and you need to learn, learn and learn all the time. I suggest you read at least one book a month that will improve your skills and attend at least 1 seminar or class every 6 months. Not only will it help you get better but it will help to motivate you.

5. Break free.
This is probably the most important step. You need to break free from your emotions. When you are trading you need to be 100% “mechanical” and not allow your emotions to make decisions for you. Its a tough step but a very necessary one.
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The stock market is an incredibly complex web where everything affects everything else. Often times one small action or piece of news can spark a massive ripple effect through the entire market. With the global economy so intertwined its getting even more complex and unless you understand stock trading basics y simply won’t succeed.

The Concept Of Value
When it comes to stock trading basics it does not get more basic than understanding the concept of value. This is the fundamental law of the markets and every day this drives every trade on every exchange. Any stock represents a value – something that we trade and in exchange for money we buy a commodity which is nothing more than a “virtual” share in a company or underlaying asset.

The weird thing about value is that its not the actual value we buy on the stock market. Instead it’s the PERCEIVED value of the particular stock. Perceived value is a very hard concept to grasp but once you do it can help you immensely. When something is perceived as valuable we are willing to pay more for it than when its perceived to be less valuable. If I wanted to sell a gold coin to you for $10 you’d probably be more inclined to buy it than if I were to sell you a coin made of nickel.

The entire stock market moves around this one fundamental principle. Stocks lose and gain value based solely on perceived value. One of the stock trading basics you have to get is to understand value and only trade based on value. When you start seeing the relationship between value and what affects it you can start making much more intelligent choices when you trade. Can you see how certain events can affect the perceived value of a company?

The reason why so many novice traders fail to make profitable trades is simply because they don’t have the stock trading basics. Its as simple (and as hard) as understanding what makes the markets move and to buy value. Making money on the stock market boils down to buying something with a low perceived value, and then selling it when the perceived value goes up and vice versa. Understand that and you will be ahead of 80% of the newbie traders who are locked into learning software and looking for the next hot tip that’s going to make them rich.
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Unless you are a professional level 1 trader there is no need to get into $10,000 software. Its simply not necessary. You can make a lot of money trading with NO tools – but then again stock trading tools can make your life a lot easier. Lets quickly look at 3 awesome tools that you need to start using immediately.

1. StockCharts.com
This is by far one of my favorite stock trading tools and its free. Here you can get great looking graphs of any stock on virtually every major exchange at the push of a button. It gives you a lot of control over the graphs and whether you like simple line diagrams or candlesticks you can do it. It also allows you to overlay moving averages and numerous other trend lines. There’s a wealth of information on this site and should be one of your top stock trading tools for technical trading.

2. Yahoo Finance
For me Yahoo Finance is to fundamental analysis as StockCharts is to technical analysis. Yahoo Finance has become the foremost source of news for anything financial and they now provide news feeds to most major websites all over the internet. Knowing what’s happening to which company is vital when trading online and if its happening you will find it here. You can also do extensive research on virtually any company you can think of with in-depth reports and countless experts writing for them.

3. Stock Screeners
If you are just staring out, then having a good stock screener can be the best investment you make. Although there are quite a few “free” ones you will find that somewhere down the line you end up paying for it anyway. I found that StockAssault 2.0 is the easiest and probably the cheapest. What it does is to show you pre-screened stocks that meet certain criteria. This save you from the minefield of sifting through thousands of stocks. Not only does these stock trading tools improve your chances of making winning trades but it will help you learn much faster.

Although stock trading tools are great, its important to always keep in mind that they are ONLY tools to HELP you. In the end you and only you can make the decisions. Get all the help you can and use all the tools you find useful, but never let anyone or any software out there make your decisions for you. After all, its YOUR money!
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Traditional stock brokers performed exactly the same service that online brokers now perform. The main difference is just that the online process is fully automated and there are no “real person” who actually fulfills the buy and sell orders – it’s all done via computers that are directly linked up the trading houses and stock exchanges.

Back in the day with traditional stock brokers it was a very different story. If you wanted to buy a stock you would have to phone up your stock broker and tell what you want to buy or sell. He or she would then phone the trading house (on the floor) who would actually buy or sell the stocks. This process was not only slow but very expensive – hence trading was reserved to those who had the money to trade stocks.

As computers and the internet advanced, brokers started implementing trading platforms that allowed them to execute your trades instantaneously and as this became more sophisticated eventually public online brokers started springing up. Not only can you now trade without a physical broker, but you can do it at a fraction of the cost.

An online stock broker is nothing but a piece of computer software that buys and sells your stocks for you in exchange for a fee. The fees varies from broker to broker and is anything between $5 and $15 per trade.
Some of the big name online stock brokers are eTrade.com (the best in my opinion), Ameritrade and Scottrade. Each one has something unique to offer and you need to do a bit of research to see which one will suit you best. Generally speaking, those with bigger accou8nts get more privileges although even the most basic accounts still give you all the benefits to be a successful online trader.

Some things you need to look into a bit more before you make your decision are the following:

- The minimum amount you need to open your trading account and what do you need to maintain your account.

- Price. How much do they charge per trade and what account level do you need to qualify for that rate.

- Trading software. Do they offer you any trading software and if they do what account level do you need to maintain to get the software for free.

- Margin accounts. Do they offer margin and how much. Also check the fine print on the requirements and conditions of trading on margin.

- Options trading. Do they allow you to trade options and what are their requirements.

- Insurance and security. This is not really a big concern with large companies but smaller online brokers can fold and along with it your trading account will disappear.

- Speed of execution. How fast do they execute trades and what guarantees do they offer in terms of quoted prices.

- If you are in a foreign country, do they allow you to open an account and what exchanges will you have access to. Also, carefully check the required paperwork as this can be a cumbersome process.
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Trading Volume
One of the most important indicators to look at is the volume of a stock. Volume is an indication of how active a stock is. It is also an indication of how much money is flowing in and out of that particular stock. We ALWAYS want to FOLLOW the money. Volume is a great indication of the flow of money. Low volume stocks are “dead” and although they may be safe they won’t make us money.

Buy On Weakness, Sell On Strength
One of the very first things I learned when I started online trading, but I must admit that it took me years to fully understand that this is the crux of it all. When you buy on weakness you buy a bargain. When you sell on strength you make a profit. Simple as that. Buying on weakness means that you are buying something that is undervalued. It’s like buying a $100 bill for $50. As soon as you start chasing stocks and holding on too long you start breaking this fundamental rule.

Moving Averages
My favorite tool for analyzing any stock. In fact, I love it so much it’s almost the first thing I look at. Moving averages is in my opinion one o the most accurate ways to see which direction a stock is moving. This is one of my best stock trading tips I can give you. Look at the moving averages and look at the crossovers – this is when buy and sell signals usually appear.

Check The News
As a predominantly technical trader, I was slow at catching on to this since I hate fundamental analysis. However, this is a simple and quick way to spot changes in a particular stock price. Just take a couple of minutes to do a search in Yahoo Finance or in your eTrade console for the latest financial news about that stock. Doing a quick search in that sector is also a good idea and be on the lookout for anything that can significantly affect the market perception.

Let The Winners Run, Cut Your Losers Short
It almost sounds ridiculous but how often do we hold on to stocks that we “fall in love with” HOPING that it will make a comeback and run the way we hoped it would? It’s simple, if a stock is not doing what you planned for it, cut it off. On the other hand, if a stock starts running you should let it go and throw your full weight behind it.

Plan Your Trades, Trade Your Plan
It’s vital to have a very clear plan on every single trade you make. You must have a definite entry price, a definite exit point and you must have stop losses in place. Trading with a plan is not just about giving yourself some rules, but it’s about discipline and being a good money manger. Thinking that you can go with the flow and play it as it comes is just plain stupid and a recipe for disaster.

I hope these few stock trading tips will help you out. They are really that important and something that I believe will help you a lot.
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More than anything, the financial meltdown that started in 2008 underlined the importance of being a smart investor. Investing in good, solid and reputable companies was the determining factor for those investors that survived the onslaught of the market meltdown.

Off course an investment is never a “sure thing” and there is always risk involved, but by being smart and investing in companies with good financial health you can greatly reduce your risk. This is a mistake that most technical traders and especially day traders make almost every day. Yes, sure day trading plays by a different set of rules, but by being a little bit more diligent can help you be much smarter with your money.

Legendary investor, Warren Buffet is a genius at picking stocks. His entire philosophy is based on finding great companies that are undervalued. Instead of just looking at the stock, he looks at the entire company to see if it’s worth his money.

Looking at stocks from a value perspective puts an entire different spin on it. Companies that are valuable are good investments. Simple as that. Most often their charts will reflect this, but doing some more research into the fundamentals of a company can help you make better decisions when buying and selling stocks.

Online brokers are great for this type of research. eTrade for instance gives you a great “snapshot” of a stock by giving you all the technical data as well at the fundamentals, news and even opinions of a particular stock. You don’t even have to go and do lengthy research. All it takes is to read a bit more and off course, learn more about what makes a particular stock a good investment.

When the world markets crumble, the companies that remain standing aren’t necessarily the ones that look good on paper or that have a nice looking chart. It’s the ones that add value in a market place.

There are many theories and methods to access a company’s fundamentals. Learning them is vital in ensuring your long term success as a stock market investor. Not only will it make you a more sophisticated trader, but it will help you to make good long term investments that even the best day traders must diversify into.
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If you are a new investor, then you have to know the rules of the game. You have to be able to understand the charts, recognize the trends and read information available online. There is a lot of profit in selling stocks online that is why you have to have an effective investment strategy that would help you pick the right investments.

Considering the risks involved in investing on stocks trading, you need these great tips to start making those good stock picks that will boost your financial portfolio. Here are some of them:

1.Know who to trust. There are lots of online advices you can get out there, but picking the right person who know exactly what to do can be a tricky business. You would want to look for a stock broker who has the reputation for being an industry expert as well as a reliable partner in keeping tabs with your investments.

This person should know the market climate like the back of his hand to advice you when to invest and when to wait. He must also know where you should invest your money in. This person must be available for direct communication through several means. It would also help if there are other people who could testify to this person’s performance just to be on the safe side.

2.Trading is an ongoing process. It helps to keep yourself reminded of this statement because you need to constantly be on the look out for what happens in the market. You need to stay online and watch out for the rise and fall of the prices and the interest rates.

Aside from relying on an industry expert, you also need to watch the market yourself for really good stock picks to invest on. Remember that two heads are better than one, and if you can help your broker in the decision making process, then the more effective you will be as a trader.

3.Know what to look for. You will only know what real good stock picks are available if you are knowledgeable in online stock trading. You must read a lot of financial journals in order to know what exactly you are looking for. There are lots of great tips online that could help you weed out the good investments from the bad ones. So always be on the look-out for these great tips.

Just remember to get all the information you can get before making a decision. A sound decision is usually a guided one. If you really want to be successful in this activity, you will need to get all the resources and the information you can get to choose the best investment.
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