I agree with the demo account but i'd forget forex and futures the people that suggested you trade futures/ FX didn't mention to you that futures/ FX move A LOT faster than stocks. as a 1st time trader, you'll get your ass handed to you without a rock solid trading system which MOST traders (especailly new guys) fail to obtain. YM (mini dow) moves at 5.00 a tick, unlike stocks that move at .01 a tick, and ES (mini s&p) moves at 12.oo a tick, and forex, for a standard account is 10.00 a pip. Also if your going to trade the EURO, it opens at 3am central time...so unless you plan on staying up late in the morning, fx isnt for you. Do what you want, but in my opinion fx and futures isnt the best way to go. (I currently trade stocks and have fx experience as well) CM
To answer the other part of your question. I trade stocks. I never traded futures, but ive had friends that started trading ym with 5k..10k, and over time they cant make it...they say you should trade 1 YM contract for every 10k in your account so your not sweating bullets. The good thing about stocks are that, there are thousands to choose from. You can diversify your risk among different stocks based on their sector, market share etc... Stocks are more exciting too it seems among most traders. Because stocks dont move as fast as futures, you can LEARN to trade with stocks, after 3yrs then you can move to something faster, and apply what you learned to the futures market.
futures are not bad, if you stay away from the indexes (YM, ES, DJ, etc.). They behave differently from other futures. Grains, softs, etc. But individual stocks are where many seem to be. I agree, stay away from forex.