There is a certain progression of steps that every new self-directed equities trader (or any trader) must follow to become a consistently profitable professional self-directed trader. There are absolutely no short cuts. Should any brand new self-directed trader decide to try to side step any part of the proper education and training and try to go into the live markets before you have become consistent on a demo account for however long it takes, you stand the chance of your money train going wildly off the tracks and possibly losing all of your capital. You can use this book and the references, suggestions and tips in it to go further into your educational studies of the markets and there dynamics. Knowing market dynamics is going to be critical for you to have the winning edge you will need to be a successful market participant. By studying what this book suggests you will not become one of the 97% of the sheeple of the herd. Here is the first tip I can give you before you even get going. Don't waste any valuable education time on learning things that will not help you make money in the live market. You don't need to know the history of the stock market and what all the old time guys who made a lot of money did to make their loot. It's not even the same market or economics as it was when they were in the live market so don't waste any valuable education and learning time on learning that information right away. Learning to be a great self-directed investor and trader does not have to be a long, hard road-trust me on this; I had to unlearn a lot of things that are of no use to anyone in the live markets. I don't want you make those same errors. Let's try to cut down your learning curve so that you can start making real money right from the start of your new investing and trading business.