Teach me.. S and p 500.

[bhumik]

i was talking to a friend of mine and he was telling me about s and p 500. He plays it everyday.. I dont know much but from what he was saying it sounded like, everyday you place a bet on if the market is gonna close high or close low, and you make money if you are correct. Does that sound right. If so is there a "simulator" to play this market where i can play for free to learn the ins and outs.

PS i know very little about business. finance. etc. etc.

[leegee38]

Quick and dirty answer: The S&P500 is an index that is theoretically made up of one share of each of the top 500 stocks on the NY stock exchange. There is a derivative contract called a future that trades on the S&P500 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Futures are highly leveraged investments where you can control hundreds of thousands of dollars with just a few thousand. The best place to begin to learn about futures is the exchange website, which is www.cmegroup.com . There is a mini contract on the S&P500 known as the E-Mini that is the most traded contract that mirrors the S&P.

I realize this doesn't tell you much, but hopefully it is a start. Good luck!

[bhumik]

thanks .

[Pekkerwood]

Bhumik:

One of my primary businesses is a small hedge fund that does this trade daily. It is by far, one of the riskiest ways to invest and no place for a part timer. It is not investing, it is trading, big difference. Investing makes you wealthy, trading makes you go bald. 80% of all traders who day trade futures contracts will lose 100% of the money they started with. Its like running DNP, Insulin, Growth, and 3grams of Fina versus TRT.

[bhumik]

Originally Posted by Pekkerwood

Bhumik:

One of my primary businesses is a small hedge fund that does this trade daily. It is by far, one of the riskiest ways to invest and no place for a part timer. It is not investing, it is trading, big difference. Investing makes you wealthy, trading makes you go bald. 80% of all traders who day trade futures contracts will lose 100% of the money they started with. Its like running DNP, Insulin, Growth, and 3grams of Fina versus TRT.

hahahahahaha. thanks 4 putting it in a language i will understand.. will stay away..

[Dad]

Been trading for over 20 years on and off. It's a full-time business, and one of the hardest yuo'll ever attempt. My advice is that unless you want to spend several years learning to trade while working another job to support yuorself in the meantime, forget it.

You'll need:
*Clearing firm
*Multi-screen computer
*Data feed
*An account with at least 5K (the more, the better)
*A willingness to lose all the money in that account on the "tuition" the market will extract for learning
And on and on and on

Any other approach is gambling, and yuo'll have a lot more fun gambling in Vegas or Monaco.

[Dad]

Originally Posted by Pekkerwood

Bhumik:

One of my primary businesses is a small hedge fund that does this trade daily. It is by far, one of the riskiest ways to invest and no place for a part timer. It is not investing, it is trading, big difference. Investing makes you wealthy, trading makes you go bald. 80% of all traders who day trade futures contracts will lose 100% of the money they started with. Its like running DNP, Insulin, Growth, and 3grams of Fina versus TRT.

Well said, Pek, except I'd say the statistic is more like 95%+ lose all their money.

I was a futures floor trader, and can say that not one in ten made it past the first year.

[xxxChrisxxx]

Originally Posted by Dad

It's a full-time business, and one of the hardest yuo'll ever attempt.

I couldn't agree more. You must treat it like a business and if stocks/bonds and their derivatives look like easy money to you, proceed with caution—it's all just a well planned illusion.