With the recent, often frightening, turmoil in financial markets, many people are giving up on trading altogether. But you can still make money in an unstable market as long as you have the right tools and proceed with caution. Whether you're an individual or institutional investor, you should keep certain things in mind about the safety and stability of your broker/dealer.
* Make sure your trading firm does not do any proprietary trading and is a 100 percent retail agency broker. These firms do not commit any capital to the market, gamble on its direction or invest in any financial instruments like CMOs or leveraged derivatives.
* Get assurances that your firm has a strong balance sheet and does not rely on lines of credit that can be pulled by institutions in financial trouble.
* Check that your accounts are insured and protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) which provides customers with insurance protection for amounts up to $500,000 each, with a $100,000 limit on claims for cash balances.
All of the above statements apply to Lightspeed Financial, one of the largest trading firms in the United States dedicated to retail active traders.
Lightspeed offers a lightning-fast, fully-integrated and stable trading platform that enables rapid equity, future and options order entry from a single trading screen. The platform is fully customizable and user-friendly to meet the needs of traders at all levels of experience.
Stephen Erlich, CEO of Lightspeed Financial, explains how the system works. "If you look at certain stocks, you can probably identify a number of opportunities to buy and sell throughout the day to make a profit," he says. "In order to capitalize, one needs to be armed with the fastest, most stable trading technology that provides the streaming, real-time data and rapid order execution necessary to implement active trading strategies with success."
Lightspeed also offers real-time trading and risk management tools, charts and news, as well as a host of online educational seminars, tutorials and a personal relationship manager to assist with any questions along the way. Lightspeed offers competitive per share pricing and there is no monthly cost to use the platform.
Don't sit on the sidelines while the unpredictable market takes your investments for a ride. Take control of your investments using a safe, stable platform from a focused trading firm.
Visit LightspeedTrading.com today to sign up for an account or for a software demonstration. Copyright © 2008, ARAnet, Inc.
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