From: Pollux 
Newsgroups: uk.finance uk.finance.stockmarket
Subject: Re: Inversting online, any sugestions to get me started?
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 21:47:11 +0100

In article ,=20
siminfrance@hotmail.com says...
> > There are quite a few sites that will give you share prices delayed by =
15
> > minutes. Real time prices usually cost a fee. It is possible to buy and
> sell
> > at the click of a mouse. Payments are often done by eftpos, but cheques
> can
> > be used to put money into a dealing account and receive money.
>=20
> Thanks for the info, 15 minutes is more than enough. I am more worried ab=
out
> the cash flow itself, i mean if i only have GBP500.00 and i buy and sell =
a
> few times a day will the cash, (profit or no profit), be available straig=
ht
> away or will i have to wait 3 weeks before i can use the cash that i just
> made?
> I have looked at ETrade.co.uk and it looks quite nice, maybe i should try
> for a few weeks.
>=20
> What i want to do is 'play' around a bit and give myself a target for the
> day, say 1, 5, 10, 15% a day would that be realistic?
>=20
> > If you are successful, then consider parting with real money. Personall=
y I
> > don't think it's worth while investing amounts as small as =A3500 each =
trade
> > because of the dealing costs. You should invest some money in safe
> > investments (like a building society) as well as some in risky
> investmants.
>=20
> That was the kind of dealing i was looking to do.
> But even GBP 500.00 is quite a risky amount for a small possible profit? =
I
> mean what could i realistically hope to make every day on that?
>=20
> > I've not read it for a while, but the Investors Chronicle used to be an
> > excellent read. Published by the FT and available weekly from your
> > newsagent. Your first investment should be in the latest issue of this.
>=20
> I will look into it.
>=20
> Talking about investment, would it be wise to buys share on medium term, =
( a
> couple of months), as well as day trading?
> And i was also told to sell my shares if they fall bellow 20% of my origi=
nal
> costs what do you think?
>=20
> Many thanks for all you help.
> Sims
>=20
>=20
>=20

Sims,

I'm not sure what you're really expecting from the stock market, but=20
it's not gonna happen. Like the other poster said, it's really not worth=20
it for =A3500 because of the transaction costs. That and the fact that=20
you're going to lose money in the beginning (we all do).

That doesn't mean that you can't make in the stock market, but in my=20
humble opinion, your best investment right now would be to spend those=20
=A3500 in trading books and stick to paper trades for the time being.

I hope I didn't sound to harsh or anything. It's just that you reminded=20
me when I got started, I lost a fortune before I started making any=20
money.