When a beginner registers as a trader on the stock market and has an account with money in it, the trading can begin immediately. The trick is you have to start with money since you can't trade that which you do not own. Click on several of the sources down the right hand side of your page for some good tips.

As soon as you open and fund the account with your own hard-earned money, you can start trading. BUT that isn;t the purpose of trading. The purpose of trading is to trade as smart as you can. Through your smart trading, you want your money to increase. You do your homework about trading stocks or any other invetment you're interested in. You find out about it and HOW its done. In the beginning, you should investigate the different investments you have available to you. Make THE BEST investment you can: Invest THE TIME to educate yourself. Do on-line searches; read books; enroll in investming and finance classes; seek out and use mentors and coaches; ask Qs about those investments which truly interest you: stocks, options, currencies, commodities, bonds, real estate, etc. Once you have that knowledge, no one can ever take it away from you. In the beginning "newbie" traders & investors DO NOT INVEST any money. It probably won't be too long when you'll feel you're ready to invest your hard-earned money. Before taking that step, you really should do research about what you are investing in. You should LEARN HOW: A] the stock market works. B] to invest in many, many various ways. C] to properly trade D] Properly manage the money in your trading account. "Newbie" investors & traders ALWAYS make mistakes. In fact, throughout a person's trading hobby, avocation or career, he/she makes mistakes. In the beginning, you READ & LEARN about the market & how it works: Read the very basic books about what the different investments are, how each investment works and learning how to trade that investment. As you read & do research about the investments you are interested in, sometimes you'll come across a financial or investment term you never heard before. Use an on-line investing site or an investment dictionary. There are also free sites where you can set up a virtual account & almost trade as though you were trading with real money. Since Google is providing the ads for this site, you can do a Google search for those. There are quite a few of them. You might want to try a few different virtual trading sites, THEN make your selection. A SIMPLER WAY TO TRADE: This is what I learned about the stock market and trading: 1] I read a little about the overall market and how it works. I read about different aspects: mutual funds, currency, commodities, stocks and options. 2] I asked Qs of my coaches and mentors; suggestions were made to me. 3] THEN I read and studied about those areas which interested me. 4] I concentrated on those areas which interested me and which fit the amount we had to work with. 5A] For those strategies I felt comfortable with, I developed trading rules. For those strategies I didn't know anything about, I developed some trading rules. 5B] I discovered I only needed trading rules for 4 to 6 trading strategies. 6] Using those rules, I paper traded. 7] When trades went against me - when I lost money - I adjusted or "tweaked" those rules for that strategy. 8] I paper traded - again and some more. 9] I made further adjustments. 10] I’ll admit I didn’t do enough research for the right broker for our trading needs, wants or desires. However, the one we decided to go with is OK – but not the greatest AND definitely not the least expensive. Yet, the actual trading account was opened: As a speculator, with margin, with the approval to trade options. 11] Yes, it was VERY scary AND I was VERY apprehensive: BUT, I MADE THE BIG JUMP: Going "live" - in-the-market - with real money. I lost some money. NO ONE ever succeeds in each and every trade 100% of the time. A] BUT I didn't use the entire amount of the account's money on one trade. I learned HOW TO properly manage the money in the account. B] I lived to trade another day. AND I continue learning and living to trade other days. C] AND YES, I STILL have a few losing trades. BUT my winning trades are A WHOLE LOT more than the losing trades. Thanks for asking your Q! I enjoyed answering it! VTY, Ron Berue Yes, that is my real last name! Sources: My wonderful family! My wonderful coaches and mentors! TWO [2] of THE ABSOLUTE BEST, MOST wonderful trading groups in the world, which I am most proud to be a member of! Trading stocks and options more than 2 years. "THE University of Hard Knocks"