Online Training Courses for Active Traders

I'm 10 minutes into WindowOnWallStreet.com's online multimedia course on Nasdaq Level II trading. As stock quotes change on my screen and colors blink, a narrator's tinny voice explains how to make sense of it all. It's a smooth, slick presentation, streamed right to my desktop, and it definitely beats reading a book on the subject. If anything, the course shows that daytrading using Level II quotes is a lot harder than most people imagine.

Fact is, whether you're a seasoned daytrader or just starting out as an active trader, there are now plenty of quality educational sites on the Web. Some of these training sites focus on strategies and tactics, while others walk you through the complicated software needed to trade effectively. Online training rarely matches what you'd get from an intensive $2,500, three-day seminar. But the cost of Web-based training is a lot lower. And the investment is well worth it. (By the way, I want to hear your active-trader wish list for 2001. Please see my notes at the end of this column.)

Online Campuses

Several Web sites function as veritable portals for active trader education. At Daytrading University, you can go through four sample lessons without having to register. Topics include things like how to spot bullish intraday chart patterns and deciphering the true intentions of Nasdaq market makers. For $129, you get six months of access to the entire curriculum, including live trading sessions. ...