sbala97@hotmail.com

An introductory book like _Stock Markets for Dummies_ is a good place to start. This will give you a basic explanation of most things there are to know about the mechanics of stock investing including useful websites to surf.

Investors Business Daily (IBD) is a solid daily resource (and its complement, www.investors.com ). It’s a better newspaper than the Wall Street Journal and it is built around a particular approach to trading. You could read _How to Make Money in Stocks_ by William O’Neil too–he’s the founder of IBD.

Search your local library for other books on stock investing. Try to absorb as much knowledge and understanding as you can.

After you have extensively researched and gained a solid foundation/education then look to open a brokerage account and paper trade–this is trading with play money before you put real capital at risk. You should do extensively before you eventually place your first trade live. Your early live trades should be with a very small position size. Only increase position size when you have done well to limit losses when the market has turned against you.

I prefer answers from successful day traders. (How you choose securities to trade, what software or service you use, and just basic advice)

Yes, I realize the risk. I have my own portfolio of stocks, but I wouldn’t mind giving a try at day trading after I fully understand the in’s and out’s.

Thanks for the help, easy 10 PTS

Understand daily trading first and then you can apply the knowledge to day trading. The latter is the same as the former except it moves 10x faster.

An introductory book like _Stock Markets for Dummies_ is a good place to start. This will give you a basic explanation of most things there are to know about the mechanics of stock investing including useful websites to surf.

Investors Business Daily (IBD) is a solid daily resource (and its complement, www.investors.com ). It’s a better newspaper than the Wall Street Journal and it is built around a particular approach to trading. You could read _How to Make Money in Stocks_ by William O’Neil too–he’s the founder of IBD.

Search your local library for other books on stock investing. Try to absorb as much knowledge and understanding as you can.

After you have extensively researched and gained a solid foundation/education then look to open a brokerage account and paper trade–this is trading with play money before you put real capital at risk. You should do extensively before you eventually place your first trade live. Your early live trades should be with a very small position size. Only increase position size when you have done well to limit losses when the market has turned against you.

I am guessing Forex is not your thing due to the uncertainty of unregulated trading. In this case, stick with Euro Futures trading. The best thing you can do for the time being is to take a break. Let your psychology self-repair and come back when you’re feeling better.

Upon your return, perform research into which trading room meets your criteria. I’ve found Pips2Win to be dedicated solely to Euro Trading. The trading room conductor supposedly tells you all the setups; when to get in, when to get out, where profits and stops should be placed, etc. Since there’s no guessing and everything is provided, it should alleviate some of the stress. Also, the Pips2Win account statements show steady growth over the last two months, so if you’re trading along with them, your account should be back up to speed in no time. They offer a free trial although I am not sure if they’re fully done with the website. It all seems a bit new so definitely take heed when evaluating the service. Best of luck!

Don’t pay thousands of dollars to anyone else–take the initiative and learn on your own.

After you have the $25,000, you need to choose a broker that charges low commissions to keep your trading fees down. I use the broker Real Fast Trader. They only charge $0.39 per 100 shares traded, which is the lowest commission I am aware of.

I am efiling my taxes and I have some problem to understand the wash sale rule;

I basically day traded in 2009 for 3 months and I ended with a major loss of $7,000;
Now it appears that I even have to pay taxes on aproximately $9,000 of CAPITAL GAIN,

I find it absurd to have lost $7,000 and pay taxes on a 9,000 gain;

I read the IRS article re wash sale and it says a was sale is "the sale of a stock at loss" and the repurchase of the same stock within 30 days to offset the capital loss;

I did not want to offset any loss, I was just day trading and I do not agree to have loss so much money and being not able to deduct these losses;

Can anyone advice on how I can detail this trading loss on my taxes?
Can I write a letter to IRS, ttached to my taxes explaining this problem?

pls advice

thanks

The wash sale applies to buying essentially buying the same equity you sold at a loss within 30 days of the sale. Your loss gets added to the cost basis of the stock you bought again. In order to realize the loss, you have to sell it and not buy that same stock again for at least 30 days.

So you need excellent records to tell which stocks you have not owned for at least 30 days, so you could realize the loss on those. If you traded the same stocks or ETF’s repeatedly, you may have a bunch of built up losses that you cannot realize yet, until you go without that equity for at least 30 days.

If you have to get advice here on how to do it, you are going to loose your money.

The reporting requirements, like Schedule D, and tracking wash sales, short/long term gains or losses, and average cost basis, can be very complex.

Hope you do your homework well before jumping in…..