forex fire

The trend in globalization will lead to greater integration of large number of producers and consumers in the global economy according to M. K. Pralahad in his book ”Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid’. IT continues to played an important role enabling democratized commerce.

Because of technological advances; information is getting more and more democratized. Today, on a global scale everyone has access to the same information and the potential to translate that information into intelligence. In the past, the profit was made mainly from ‘Information Arbitrage’. If you had access to privileged information, you could take advantage of that information to make a profit. Also, since information traveled slowly, the first movers had a huge advantage when it came to competition. But, with the coming democratization, the velocity of information has dramatically increased and thus decreasing the period when the organization can market product based on differentiation strategy.

The competition will be able to catch up quickly and offer the same product or service, thus pressurizing the company to reduce cost. This intense pressure from competition leads to ‘commoditization of product/service’ which in turn leads to what Economist call ‘Perfect Competition’. Economists have always loved ‘Prefect Competition’ model because from their perspective that it increases economic efficiency which is good for the society at large.

Thus, trend towards commoditization has accelerated and will continue to accelerate due to technological innovation. This accelerated commoditization which is at the heart of Nicholas Carr’s argument in his infamous HBR article ‘IT Doesn’t Matter’ where he makes an argument that in a ‘perfect competition’ model of future, your investment in IT cannot be leveraged for differentiation strategy.

So, can IT be used for differentiation strategy? The answer is unequivocally YES. First of all, there is always a lag in the availability of information. Even though, the technology continues to enable sharp increase in the velocity of information, the information cannot be made available instantaneously. A ‘business idea’ in an organization will not be known instantaneously to the competition. There is that lag time. But with the increased velocity of information, slow decision will be punished. Organizations need to set up agile business processes and streamline decision making ability if they want to take advantage of first mover strategy. IT can play a major role in this effort only if the core competencies of the organizations are identified and automated.

While the technology can be blamed for commoditizing of products faster, same technology can be leveraged to expedite creation of Network Externalities. Let’s take eBay as an example. While it is simple to copy eBay’s business model, it will be extremely difficult to create a value for the sellers because all the buyers have become eBay’s captive audience. So, in this example IT that enabled Network Externalities has created differentiation strategy for eBay.

IT can also enable seller identify the Long Tail aspect of the supply demand curve. Lets say the Company X is involved in selling music video downloads an specializes in ‘Fusion French Rap with Middle Eastern instruments with Hawaiian Hula dance’. Before large scale global IT adoption, it would have been difficult to identify the demand for that kind of specialized music video. Now, with the advances in IT infrastructure, the company X can reach the global customer base and find enough demand to be profitable. With the advent of social media, technology can be used to build community around that specialized product thus adding more ‘value’.

Thus, IT acts as a double edged sword. On one hand it has the power to force rapid commoditization of products. On the other hand IT can be leveraged as mentioned above to differentiate products and services for an organization. Even with democratized information availability, IT can help create first mover’s advantage. It all depends on how organizations use IT.

Raj Sheelvant is currently working as a Project Manager at a Large Multinational Computer Manufacturing Company. He holds MBA from W.P. Carey Business School of Arizona State University at Tempe, Arizona and MS in Engineering Science from University of Toledo, Toledo Ohio. He has a passion of leveraging IT to create and sustain competitive advantage for the Corporations. He strongly believes that IT can be used to ‘expand economic moat’ for the corporations but one need to make sure that the IT projects are always used to enable corporate and business strategy. He writes his blog on IT Strategy at http://itstrategyblog.com

He is also the author of several papers
“A Parallel Architecture for MUSIC Algorithm.”
International Conference on Signal Processing Application and Technology, Boston-92.
“Hypercube Architecture for Householder Algorithm.” 1992- Modeling and Simulation Conference, Pittsburgh.

You can check his LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/rsheelv

Every day hundreds of savvy network marketers and even the old-school MLMers purchase Ann Sieg’s Renegade System–a funded sponsoring proposal lead generation system–but a lot of them do it unknowingly.

What they initially picked up was a copy of her e-book, The Renegade Network Marketer, but after they read the book they realized they get a lot more than just words and ideas.

Just as Mike Dillard has done with his Magnetic Sponsoring, Sieg’s book comes with her Renegade System. Although different in many ways, both books and systems have empowered network marketers to move into a new era for the networking industry-the era of marketing.

First & Second Impressions about The Renegade and Magnetic Sponsoring…

Many progressive networkers, and even some of the old-school MLM types, fumble through the first pages of The Renegade feeling a bit anxious because there’s a sense you just found the mother-load… like stumbling into a goldmine but realizing you can’t carry anything home until you do some heavy lifting.

And it’s true. The Renegade introduces you to an entirely new fascinating world, where people come to you instead of the other way around… where you can monetize like a real business for much needed cash-flow… and where you can get in front of a huge trend whereby millions of people are moving online.

But making the switch from old-school to new-school will require some work and there’s a sense you can’t move fast enough. Most networkers have quite a bit to learn about marketing before they ace the new model… with that said, it’s light-years easier than building the business the old way.

But the feeling of ‘overwhelm’ is there… and it’s similar to how many people felt when they found Magnetic Sponsoring… overwhelm and excitement.

Between the two books, the Renegade had the greatest impact because I saw a missing component that I did not see in Magnetic Sponsoring–I was looking for the best way to teach my clients and team.

I had read Mike Dillard’s Magnetic Sponsoring and had employed some affiliate marketing strategies and the funded-sponsoring proposal out of what I learned in his MLM Traffic Formula course, but it wasn’t until I found The Renegade Network Marketer and its ’sister’ System, that I felt I could teach any of this stuff to my team.

This is what’s most important to me because in network marketing it’s about duplication.

I had been teaching network marketing (the old-school way) for years, and coaching is a passion. So when I saw how well Ann had put her Renegade package together specifically for beginners, I was excited to expand upon it. I started planning how I’d gather my team and clients and come back to mine the gold together. And that’s what we did.

Within weeks, people who had been wasting thousands of dollars on leads to build their network marketing business and getting no where, who were afraid of Internet marketing up to that point, were employing The Renegade System strategies by following simple tutorials we had set up.

Click here for a video overview of The Renegade Network Marketer

Over a hundred people on our team made the switch within weeks. We threw out the cold-calling and warm market stuff forever, and started generating leads and new income with the Renegade. The prospects started calling people on my team and they were thrilled. Over a hundred of my clients (many from other network marketing companies) started generating their own leads list, and then monetizing it. The whole ‘training experiment’ was a smash.

What’s Next for The Renegade’ers and Magnetic Gurus?

The next big movement in this new model for network marketers is teaching others how to set it all up in step-by-step tutorials like we’ve done. I’ve seen proof of its power. People flock to you by the thousands to learn.

If you want to create your own system to do this make sure it is set up for the beginner in very small bite sizes, and that it’s visual so they can literally follow along.

Also, remember how much Ann Sieg emphasized monetization in The Renegade Network Marketer. Make sure your training system increases monetization not just for you, but also for your team and prospects who should be able to use your training system with the same benefit you do.

I think you’ll see this kind of training take the MLM industry by storm, and to the next level of maturity because it’s exactly what the majority of network marketers who have read The Renegade (or Dillard’s stuff) need.

So find a system that does this, like one we’ve created called Renegade University, or create one that meets the criteria above and you’ll be ahead of the curve, positioned to attract a huge number of prospects to you, while earning a lot more cash flow if you monetize it properly. Then, you can lead those prospects to wherever it is you want them to end up (like your MLM business, for example).

“It’s a whole lot easier when the prospects are coming to you, Mike says.”

Mike teaches network marketers Internet attraction marketing, emphasizing “no and low cost” strategies with Social Web 2.0 Media.

Get Click-by-Click Help Setting Up Your Marketing & Attract More Prospects to You

Learn with Mike to generate your own prospects list, and how to monetize with cash-flow strategies that allow you to afford to keep building the network marketing business you’re in right now.

The trade of FOREX is all about trading the foreign currency, stocks, and the similar type of products. The currency of a country is weighed against the currency of another country to determine the value. The value of this foreign currency is taken into account while trading of stocks on the markets of FOREX. The majority of the countries have the control of the value of that value of country, implying the currency, or the money. Those which are often implied on the markets of FOREX include banks, large companies, governments, and financial institutions.

What returns the market of FOREX different from the stock market?

A trade of the market of forex is one which implies at least two countries, and it can take place in the whole world. The two countries are one, with the investor, and two, the country the money is invested inside. The majority of all the transactions taking place on the market of FOREX will take place by a broker, such as a bank.

What composes really the markets of FOREX?

The market of foreign currencies is composed of a series of transactions and counties. Those implied on the market of FOREX trade in great volumes, great numbers of money. Those which are implied on the market of FOREX are generally implied in operations the cash, or the trade of the credit very available which you can be sold and buy quickly. The market is large, very large. You could regard as being the market of FOREX much larger than the stockmarket in any country in general. Those implied on the market of FOREX trade the newspaper during twenty-four hours per day and sometimes the trade is accomplished the weekend, but not all weekends.

You could be astonished people who are implied in the trade of FOREX. In years 2004, almost two trillion of dollars were a volume of daily exchange of average. It is a big number for the number of daily transactions to take place. Think how much trillion dollars really costs and then times which by two and it is the money which changes hands day labourers!

The market of FOREX is not something new, but was employed during more than thirty years. With the introduction of the computers, and then the Internet, the trade on the market of continuous FOREX to develop like more and more people and the companies realize of the same of the availability of this commercial market. The FOREX explains only approximately ten percent of the total trading from one country to another, but while popularity on this market continues to develop thus this number could.

Justin Boyce is a widely known online marketer one of his passions is Forex trading. Financial investments is an easy way to make money grow and the returns are quick if you use a proven forex trading system. Visit Justin Boyce’s site to learn more and start growing your money now.

With a background in investments, having been involved in all types but my passion is stocks. I have been very involved in day trading, swing trading, options and penny stocks. The latter is what a true love, so let’s talk about it. Specifically, global pennystocks. Let me say from the onset, “There is great gain in getting involved in global pennystocks.” In fact, global pennystocks are where the money is really at. Of course the other side of the coin is true as well: There is the potential for great loss also. This is not for everyone. If you really want to play it safe throw your money into the local bank and get 4.75% interest after six to twelve months. Perhaps a little more risk is your fancy and placing a few dollars into the blue chip area works fine for you BUT if you are willing to get your education and play it smart (IE: paper trade until you are confident and have a method that works for you) then pennystocks (especially global pennystocks) are the way to go. Where else can you start off with so little and in a very short period of time walk away with ten to twenty times what you started off with?

Sorry for sounding like an apologist for global pennystocks; it is just the sheer potential and the small initial investment that has always been so exciting. Perhaps you are scared off by the scammers that slyly take advantage of newcomers that do not know better. Well, the truth is that you have to use your noggin a little. Ask yourself, “Why are they giving this great information away for free via e-mail? A little common sense will go a long way.

Having been the President of two stock companies, to this day I have never given a recommendation toward another company UNTIL now! Here it is. The company of recommendation has truly been above and beyond the best you will find at helping traders move into the winning column day after day. There is a link to the company at the bottom of the page. This trading program works so well because they create a win-win situation and that is what really works in the long run. Let’s get specific, here are a few things that are so impressive about the company:

Since its introduction, they have helped countless traders make large, consistent profits.

In the entire time that this company has been in existence they have never had a negative complaint. In fact, they are one of the only companies listed with the Better Business Bureau.

They have an actual physical address for their company on the financial district of Chicago. Most of these companies that advertise on the web are quickly slapped together home based business’ that come and go.

I can go on and on but figure this is a good place to stop. Just click on the link below to find out more information. Good trading ahead.

Want to really improve your trading results? Get someone who has proven themselves to win consistently help you out. If you would like to receive one FREE day trading coaching session with a proven mentor.

Click here ===> http://www.stocksoars.com

How cool would it be if you could make a few hundred bucks online within a matter of days? What would you do with all of that extra money? Well, guess what? It really isn’t as hard as it seems. Seriously, making fast money online is actually quite simple as long as you are following that right plan of action. And to make things even easier for you I am going to bread down the process of making fast money online into 3 easy steps. Are you ready? Alright let’s get started!

1. What Are You Interested In?

The first step in making fast cash online is very simple. All you need to is find something that you are interested in. Really, that is it. As long as you can find something that you are passionate about, making money online will be a breeze. But you need to make sure that you are genuinely interested in whatever you pick. It can make or break your success online.

2. Find The Market

You are probably wondering how you are supposed to make fast cash online with just an interest. Well, I’ll tell you. You see, as long as there is an interest for something among people then there is also going to be a market for it. In order to make some serious cash online you will need to figure out which markets are related to your interest. This means that you are going to have to do a little research.

3. Capitalize

The last step in making fast money online is to capitalize on the market that is related to your interest. This is incredibly simple because all you will need to do is promote products that are related to your interest and market. I’m dead serious, as long as you have a reliable internet marketing guide you will be able to make some serious money online in just a few days.

Guess what? I’ve done all of the hard and tedious work for you. All you need to do is click the link below? You do want to make fast money online, right?

Click Here And Start Making Fast Money Online!

Mommy I want that new video game! Dad I want the new I-Phone! Grandma I want the new Mac Book! Most parents have heard some variation of the above statements. Parents usually are the primary financial educators for their children. Time after time, I have seen young people receive sizable allowances or inheritances, without a base of knowledge in financial planning. Consider the following five points to assist the children in your life to have a responsible attitude about money.

1) Be a Role Model - The way parents spend money and the way children view money has a significant correlation. Consider discussing the family’s financial goals and plans with the children. How much you share is to your discretion, but include the younger generation in at least a portion of the monthly management. How parents deal with money issues, from the monthly bills to planning family vacations can be important in teaching the children money management and the value of money.

2) Encourage Savings and Investments - To encourage children to save money is one of the simplest ways to encourage a responsible attitude about money. This could include designating a portion of a child’s allowance to a saving account, or making gifts of cash directly to an account in their name. Parents can discuss the account statements with the children and introduce the concept ” paying yourself first”.

3) Develop a Sense of Financial Empowerment - It is important that parents develop responsible spending habits by well thought-out choices. In order to guide and direct rather than dictate the savings and spending. Take children on window-shopping trips to compare prices and products and adopt the mind set that every trip to a store is an exercise leading to a potential purchase. For example, consider limiting impulse buying by implementing a rule that prices and products are compared at a minimum of three locations.

4) Give Unto Others - Involve children in the financial decisions regarding philanthropy. By helping children contribute time or money to a charitable cause, it can teach them that money is important in ways others than personal consumption.

Reference: Matthew P. Bartolomei, Financial Advisor http://www.fa.smithbarney.com/mattbartolomei/index.htm

NOTE: you can freely redistribute this resource, electronically or in print, provided you leave the authors contact information below intact.

About the Author: Janie Lacy is a Mental Health Counselor who has a passion to reach out and help people grow and mature through difficult life situations. Janie has invested in the lives of others through public speaking, leadership training, educational instruction and small group ministry. Janie received her Masters of Science degree in Counseling Psychology through Palm Beach Atlantic University and her Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida, specializing in management. Her professional affiliations are with the American Counseling Association, the American Association of Christian Counselors, and the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association. For More Information please call (407) 248-0030 or go to our website at http://www.totallifecounseling.com/

Yanik Silver

Yanik Silver is a well respected copywriter and consultant who specializes in selling tools to marketers. Before Yanik Silver got involved with direct marketing, he sold medical equipment. Yanik Silver has a great reputation in the world of marketing. Yanik Silver also provides excellent customer service unlike many others. Unlike a lot of the big players, Yanik answers his emails in a timely manner and he’s very polite. He actually answers questions himself which is unheard of in this industry. It’s nice to see a marketing instructor who is actually humble these days like Yanik. Yanik didn’t just pop up on the internet overnight and get instant success. Actually, he was already an excellent copywriter before he even arrived to the internet scene. Yanik Silver ran quite a few successful marketing campaigns back when he was selling medical products offline.

Since he already had plenty of copywriting expertise, Yanik just got a brilliant idea to create his famous products. Yes, Yanik Silver is the one who produced the very successful Instant Sales Letters website. At that site Yanik uses fill-in-the-blank style templates to help even beginners create effective sales letters, or for people that just can’t stand writing. There, he uses his most successful sales letters that received the greatest response so that you can be almost guaranteed the same great results he got from them. Yanik Silver has written several internet marketers strategies books each of them selling thousands of copies.

Corey Rudl

Corey Rudl (1970-2005) was a Canadian, and founder and President of The Internet Marketing Center. He was also an author, speaker, and software producer. Rudl started his first online business in 1994, turning it into a multi-million-dollar business based on Internet marketing strategies. In response to the demand for his advice, Corey founded the Internet Marketing Center, where he taught techniques and strategies that stemmed from his own experience. His Internet marketing guide is sometimes described as the “Internet Marketing Bible”. Rudl’s articles appeared in publications such as Entrepreneur.com, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s, the Direct Marketing Association, Marketing Profs, Opportunity World, Money ‘n’ Profits, Dig-IT Now, and Home Business Journal.

Rudl had an untimely death as a motocross driver, winning a 2002 Vancouver Molson Indy sports car event. On June 2nd, 2005, Rudl rode in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT driven by Benjamin Miles Keaton, on a San Bernardino county track that was also being used by a local Ferrari sports club. When Keaton tried to avoid a queued car, the Porsche went out of control, left the inside track and careered onto the grass, hit a barrier at an estimated speed of 100mph and caught fire at 10:40 a.m. Rudl was the passenger and died at the scene. The driver, Benjamin Miles Keaton, 39, was airlifted to Loma Linda University Hospital, where he died about an hour later. Both men were not burned but died of crash injuries, even though both were wearing helmets and safety belts.

John Fagan is a top internet marketer who works with industry leaders from around the world. He has a passion for helping others achieve their goals, dreams and aspirations. To learn more about John Fagan and his team, and a Click Here.

Money.

Indy, or Indiana Jones was one of my favorite heroes. Remember the movie about the Holy Grail and the scene where he has to choose between the holly grail and his life? And although it seemed that he lost from his touch the Holy Grail he gained his life! What is more important than survival first? Investments are no different than the eternal search for the holly grail! If someone finds the system that is 100% foolproof then here we found within seconds the next billionaire at the cover of all major economic magazines!

Stop for a moment! Look around you! Is there a chance for someone to discover the one system that beats everything else all the time and make someone extremely rich? And if someone becomes so much rich why would he or she want to share the secret with others? Why? After all if more people learn about this idea it will eventually be useless as some will try very early to get a spot and the effectiveness will go from 100% towards zero as fast as a super car accelerates from 0-100 Miles per hour what is the point? Come on give us a synopsis!

Some systems and trading ideas are better than others indeed. But no one is the best! Investing is a very fascinating thing! For start there are a lot of options from the traditional stocks to more risky ones such as options and also other alternative forms such as real estate or hedge funds. Have you ever thought that since the idea of the holly grail is that it is unique that could it be possible that such a system if it existed it would be impossible to fit for all occasions? Investing in stocks is much more different than investing in real estate or precious metals. But the marketing which is something very powerful these days wants us to believe that there are gurus everywhere fallen from the sky as angels!

Ok so Dear God, if not the holly grail please pass me the best guru to make me rich! Silence again. Why? Investing builds on some major steps.Education,training,experience,solid risk management, control of emotions, balanced life and motivation. Yes motivation and action. Being an Economist I discovered very soon the idea and passion must say of learning how to invest properly and hopefully make it a career.

But what someone needs is also passion. It is no fun watching the ticks of stocks movements or forex quotes. But if someone tries to make money out of it there is a cost. And the best way to pay this cost is to be a pioneer. Experiment with what you know or do not know about how the markets work. Put the odds in your favour making your analysis. You do not need to buy each book claiming that it has the one system that will make you rich or subscribe to a service or newsletter paying thousands of dollars per year. Be open-minded. Why pay a lot of money when the real cost could be much less? Is it impressive to cost you a few hundreds or thousands of dollars for their access to the Holy Grail that does not exist? Why to share it with you and split the profits?

On the other hand paying for research and guidance at a reasonable price is definitely not a bad idea if you trust the author and offers extreme good customer service. But once you learn how to invest even with the most basic way why would you need a mentor anymore? Have you ever wondered that if you win and make profit the key to success is consistency? Think of it. If you only could make lets say 5% each month and compound this amount each month then if you can do this for 10 years each month an initial amount of 10,000 will reach the amount of 348 times higher that is 3,5 million dollars. And if that investment is in stocks and add some quality meaning dividends earned then it could be much more. Ok 5% each month each month for 10 years may seem irrational to you but my point is to use it as an example. Change the numbers and inputs. Do your own homework and research.Diversify!Apply very good risk-management criteria. Have a passion for it. And a dream and a goal. My goal is to learn as much as possible about the financial markets and be a good trader. I may not become a top one but at least this is my holy grail : Consistency and Compounding. Keep it simple. All the best to your efforts and trading results.

http://www.themoneycosmos.com

Economist,MSc In Economics
Level II candidate in the CFA Program
http://www.themoneycosmos.com

Trading for a living, what could be a more alluring profession? The Forbes list of the 500 wealthiest people in the world is littered with names of people who have amassed huge fortunes in the world of Wall Street. Warren Buffett, George Soros, Paul Tudor Jones, James Simons, Louis Bacon, and Eddie Lampert, just to name a few. In 2007, to make the list of 100 top earners on Wall Street, you needed an income of at least $75 million! The top earners made over $1 billion!

With that in mind, it is no wonder that new traders set out to make their fortunes in the financial markets. After all, they are bombarded with advertisements and infomercials describing the next great thing in the world of trading. Starting with accounts as small as just a few thousand dollars, these traders hope to hit it big, and they seek to find that holy grail of trading systems that will lead them to the promised land of Wall Street riches.

I was one of those traders almost 15 years ago. At that time, after subscribing to a couple stock newsletters, I was bombarded with other newsletter writers, telling me they new the way to financial fortune. One service got me interested in commodity trading by sending me some spread trading strategies. These proved to be outdated and ineffective, since markets change over time. I then learned a popular trend following system, had some initial success, and then was hooked on trading. Little did I know that trading is a lot more difficult than I realized.

What I didn’t realize is that the competition in the financial markets is fierce. Wall Street is littered with MBA’s and PHD’s from the Ivy League schools. These people are groomed for Wall Street careers through summer internships at the big investment houses such as Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, or even some big hedge funds. Some of these hedge funds not only hire traders, but top scientific minds from disciplines such as physics, chemistry and engineering.

In 1998 I had the opportunity to work for a hedge fund and commodity trading firm as an execution trader dealing with Asian and European markets. This firm was run by a trader who hired computer programmers that could test and research all of his ideas and then program them into automated trading models. The only orders I needed to execute were the more sizable orders so we could avoid the slippage caused by large stop orders. There were other traders and research staff that all had a hand in developing new models for the system. In spite of this, that firm eventually nearly failed and is now just a shell of itself.

Around that same time, I learned that a friend of mine from college worked for one of the biggest offshore commodity funds, and one of the most successful. He indicated that firm also had a significant number of research personnel conducting research on new trading models. Their system was also heavily automated, they had their own research platform for developing these new models.

Also in the late 1990’s I was introduced to Jaffray Woodriff of Quantitative Investment Management in Charlottesville, Virginia. We had a mutual friend that was a fraternity brother of mine at William and Mary. The first time I spoke with Jaffray, I realized that he was far more intelligent than I. He was also a computer programmer and learned how to test and develop his own trading models on his own software. He clearly had a passion for the markets and I could just tell this guy was going to make it big. At that time, he had a small trading business, but ran into some initial problems. So, he took off for Wall Street to work at an investment bank. He had some good success on the trading desk there and a few years ago, decided to start up his current business with a partner. That hedge fund now manages over $3 billion!

Now that you know how stiff the competition is, you may think twice about trying your hand at trading for a living. Can it be done? Of course it can. However, the statistics suggest that traders who start out with less than $10,000 trading futures or in the Forex currency markets will fail 90% of the time. The main reason for this is the lack of capital, but it can also be attributed to not having a coherent plan for trading.

With this in mind, new traders should follow the following process before attempting to stake their claim in the financial markets:

1. Determine the absolute highest amount of money you are willing to lose in the markets, money that if lost, will not affect your standard of living.

2. Determine what you seek to achieve in this business. What are your short term goals and long term goals?

3. Determine your monthly bills and make sure those are covered by ANOTHER source of income besides trading.

4. Figure out what type of trading suits your personality best. Are you able to withstand significant losses while waiting for significant trends to develop? Do you need to be right more often than you are wrong? Do you want to take quick small profits or wait for big trades that occur over longer periods of time? Can you pay attention to the markets with no distraction throughout the day, or do you have a real day job that requires most of your attention? Are you more interested in technical analysis or fundamental analysis? Do you like mechanical trading systems or do you like to go with your gut? When you answer these questions you can figure out whether you should focus on longer term stock trading, daytrading, short term swing trading, options trading, etc.

5. Once you figure out the trading style that suits you best, then you must conduct a good bit of research on the markets to develop your trading strategies. I recommend backtesting strategies on historical data with a program such as TradeStation. If you are able to program your own software for developing trading models, that is even better. Do not fall into the trap of just looking at the bottom line results of the models that you test. You must see how they perform on a day-to-day and month-to-month basis so that you will have an idea of the losses you can expect when trading for real.

6. Do not start trading until you are absolutely confident in the strategies you have developed. One big mistake a lot of traders make is not sticking to their plan. As soon they experience a drawdown, they give up on their strategy and try and trade a new one. As soon as they start the new one, the old one starts working. This is one reason I recommend against the purchase of black box trading systems without any knowledge of how these systems select their trades.

7. After you start trading, maintain records on how your trading. Be sure to write down the reason for initiating your trade, and the reason you exit. If you deviate from your strategy, state why, and how that deviant trade performed. In this way you will be able to keep track of what works for you and what does not.

Ultimately, you must approach trading like you would any other business or profession. It requires research, education and knowledge to succeed in this business. Many people fail, so do not assume that because you have some smarts that you can be successful. Successful trading requires careful planning, common sense, intestinal fortitude, and a little luck!

Scott Cole
http://www.kungfutrader.com