Brian the previous to post are excellent paper trading will allow you to hone your skills to the type investing you would like to do for the long term.

By this are you going to trade on fundamentals and be a long term invester seeking steady returns. Or are you going to conservative and play stock that a side from giving you a net gain in pps but give you added dividends also.

Or do you have the constitution to be a short term swing trader where you are trying to make a profit over 3 days to less then couple of months.

The thing you have to consider is that both of these styles has good potential for making money but each looks at the market from a different vantage point. Paper trading will let you see which type trader you have the knack for in the market.

Disq