Day trading has become the income producing gold mine of the century. Its popularity surpasses all other forms of investing ten fold and many people have become millionaires by taking a few hours a day to buy and sell stocks. The big issue seems to be how a person with no knowledge of the stock market can make any money. Surprisingly, the market is designed just for that person. It is designed to take money from people who don't know what they are doing. It is designed to get everybody on the "bandwagon" while it's a hot market and abandon them to ruin when the market is flat. The real money makers know this all to well and they will profit from your misfortunes too. A good example of this is the collapse of the tech industry stocks. Everyone trumpeted loudly how wonderful those "tech stocks" were for years, boasting huge easy profits to everyone who signed up. Once they had squeezed the last huge profits out of all the beginning and if I might say, nave traders, as if by magic, the market fell flat on it's face leaving thousands of people penniless overnight.
The people who weathered the storm were the ones who didn't buy into the hype. They are the ones who had enough common sense to realize that there portfolio should contain just a fraction of risky stocks and be supplemented with things such as gold and silver futures, treasury bonds, mutual funds and real estate.
So how does the small person make money in the stock market? Don't invest more than you are prepared to loose. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Also, don't always jump when the media, your friends and maybe even you family says "Buy that stock!" If you do be cautious and be ready to watch the market carefully so you can sell before the corporate disaster happens. Invest small amounts in those risky stocks and put the big money in more stable investments such as the ones I've listed above. Real estate is a great alternative to stocks, especially vacant land. It's tangible and it's not going anywhere. It is usually a physically and financially stable place to invest. Day trading can be a great money maker, but most beginners don't make money until they have lost a lot of money. Don't put yourself into that position. Loose a small amount of money so you learn what to avoid and save the big investments for more stable ventures.
As I have mentioned in other articles, I am interested in automated stock picking. I don't expect to loose much as my investment is small so I feel comfortable playing around with stock picking services. When I find a winning stock it's usually an unheard of company. Stock picking robots can many times identify these unknown gems because they analyze data and aren't emotionally affected by the hype. The newsletter which can be found