I've been trading the ES, DX, Euro, gold and other futures for about 2yrs.. Plan is to absorb as much info from the sources I listed and pratice with paper trading on my other computer. Thanks for the warning though, I had a similar wake up call when I started with gold futures a while ago.
This site has many interesting articles and educational materials. It focuses on learning options through risk graphs. http://www.optionstar.com/intro/intro1.html
I don't know about 16K but I met someone a few months ago who paid 5K for an intensive week long all day course on how to be a day trader. While I was impressed by how much he learned from it, it wasn't anything that he couldn't have picked up from 1/2 a dozen good books and a few months of dedicated work. We chatted several times and the one thing I kept hammering him with was money management, regardless of the vehicle. He did nicely on a sim trader and when he went live, he got hammered. Evidently they didn't offer a "Deer in the Headlights" class. :eek:
before you trade, make sure test your strategy to understand potential risk. I usually used the options lab. www.theoptionslab.com
16K teaches how to go long a call or a put. 28K teaches how to do a covered call and a covered short put.
Investools: This is from the SEC action The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed a settled civil injunctive action against Investools Inc., Michael J. Drew and Eben D. Miller. Investools agreed to a civil injunction and to pay a $3 million civil penalty. Drew and Miller agreed, respectively, to pay civil penalties of $380,000 and $130,000, and to be enjoined from violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Drew and Miller additionally agreed to be enjoined, for five years, from receiving compensation for their participation in, among other related activities, the sale of classes, workshops, or seminars given to actual or prospective securities investors concerning securities trading. In settling the matter, Investools, Drew and Miller neither admitted nor denied the allegations in the Commission's complaint. Here is the link: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2009/lr21331.htm The whole options education business in pretty much like the wild wild west. Be very careful who you pay. Personally I think someone that does not trade at all probably not the way to go!
Comprehensive start & it's Free http://www.21stcenturyinvestoreducation.com/page/tce/courses/ http://www.21stcenturyinvestoreducation.com/page/tce/courses/course-101/ http://www.21stcenturyinvestoreducation.com/page/tce/courses/course-201/ http://www.21stcenturyinvestoreducation.com/page/tce/courses/course-202/ http://www.21stcenturyinvestoreducation.com/page/tce/courses/course-203/ Carl __________________ Enjoy life, it's limited. You only get as much as you take.
for $5k i'll teach you about options. pretty much everybody i know in the options world has read this book. http://www.amazon.com/Option-Volati...486X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296014896&sr=8-1 i read it a long time ago. not sure what is in the updated version. i haven't read this, but it's by the same guy. http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Option-...344X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1296014896&sr=8-2 fyi, i'm pretty sure he teaches for one on the largest options market-making groups in the country.