If you are new to day trading, or even new to dabbling in the stock market, you have probably found your name on a lot of email lists and have even started getting snail mail from people trying to sell you their trading newsletters.
If you don't know what they are, they are newsletters put out by an individual with a particular type of experience or background, giving you very precise instructions on how to trade.
But, there are a few problems with these types of newsletters.
First of all, by the time the trading newsletters get to you, the information you are getting is old - too old for you to use.
In fact, if you get a newsletter on the 1st of the month, work backwards to see how old that news is.
The newsletter took two or three days in the mail, and probably spent a few days at the printer.
Before that, it was designed and the copy was written.
So, in reality, you are looking at no less than a two week time lag between the time the important information was written and the time you get it.
In many cases, the lag is more than a month.
So, any information on buying or selling at that point is completely moot.
Another problem with trading newsletters is that they usually do little more than brag about trades that they said they made in the past.
They will tell you they bought X number of shares at a certain price, selling them two weeks later for twice that price.
Well, anyone can pull those figures off of some charts and tell you that is when they bought in and sold.
There is no validity to these claims.
Some trading newsletters, however, can give you some ideas on how the professionals trade and what sectors or companies may be ready to move.
A friend of mine follows certain stocks very closely and gets a couple of trading newsletters, not for trading advice on particular stocks, but rather to see the overview of the sector.
If he is interested in the cancer drug a company is testing, he does research on that company's competitors, the movement of the sector, and its interaction with others.
But, as a new trader or someone with little technical knowledge, you should be very wary of trading newsletters and the people who are selling them.
Instead, you are better off spending your money on getting good training yourself and then you can do the actual research.
Look for a website that provides professional day trading training, for the beginner and the "expert" alike.
Whether you have just decided that a real job is not for you and you want to try your hand as a day trader, or you have been recreationally trading for years, one of the best ways to start to succeed is to invest in your own future, rather than the hype of someone else.
By getting the training you need early in your trading career, you will have far more lucrative days.