BetterTrades Forum

On-line forums are a good venue for BetterTrades students to find like-minded individuals interested in the stock market. The forums offer people a chance to learn to invest their time and energy with others who are trying to accomplish the same goal.

Most forums will have some of these features:

• Market commentary: You have a chance to voice your opinion on which way the stock market is headed and why. You'll be surprised how widely the opinions vary from one person to the next.
• Individual stocks: Want to hear what people think about Apple Computers? Just post a question and see what sort of response you get. Many forum readers will be happy to provide their opinion on the matter.
• Trading systems: This is especially popular for those who prefer the excitement of day trading, where timing is so critically important. If there's a way to find a more profitable entry or exit, someone will be talking about it here.
• Polls: You get a chance to vote on the topic of the day. Sometimes the questions are serious and other times the mood is more lighthearted.
• Learning to trade: There's so much material for new traders to absorb that it's difficult to take it all in. Many forums offer help to new traders and you're likely to be greeted by someone who was in the same situation at a previous time in their life and is more than willing to help you take those steps toward profitability. Learning to make better trades is an important part of the process.
• Tools: Is someone using a new piece of software that is helping them make more money? Chances are they'll be bragging about it on a forum. It can be a good source to find the equipment to help you locate better trades.
• Books, articles and papers: Many forums will reprint an article on its site, while others will put a link to books or academic papers that may be appropriate to the issue involved.
• International markets: There's no doubt that we live in a global economy, so the things that occur in the other markets around the world should be of interest. Some forums specialize in Europe, others in Asia, and others in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) that are developing into economic powers.

Just remember that you don't know who's on the other side of the forum wall. We assume it's someone well-heeled and interested in the subject, but it could be a person with agenda (pushing their own company or product) or someone with no credentials who just wants to have their voice heard. BetterTrades students should take everything they read on forums with a grain of salt.