References for a 17 year old looking to get into Day Trading?

I would recommend a pamphlet called "So You've Lost All Your Money"

It's sucker's game. People sometimes make money at this when the market heads up. They always lose when the market heads down.

If you have the temperament for it (and by that I mean that you are analytical, patient and in control of your emotions) I am 100% sincere in advising that you would be better off learning how to play poker.

But my best advice is this: Learn to paint houses. It's not that hard to do, takes a few hundred dollars of equipment, and you can make great money doing it. People will give you work, partly because they are impressed that a young man is actually willing to work.

This is good advice. And the skills of entrepreneurship and self-actualization learned are some of the most valuable to ever have in any career. Unfortunately, if the OP is interested in daytrading, he's probably not actually interested in working. Sorry, OP, if I have misjudged you. ~ H

Don't do it. In fact, it's not even worth investing to try to make money without at least $100k.

Oh how I love SF

Come on guys, help him out. It is possible to succeed after all.
To the OP: Go in eyes wide open and try your hand at paper trading. I respect your ambition, as hopeless as it may be.

I don't think anyone is helping him out by encouraging him to think that he's going to make a bunch of money day trading by next year by reading a couple of books.

If your ambition is to be a day trader, you should plan on going to school or at least spending a few years learning about finance and how the market works. Find a brokerage you can intern with and learn a few things about the business. If trading for a living was as easy as having a little money and reading a few books you can bet a lot more people would be doing it.

If you don't agree, explain to me why it makes sense to invest with $10k for example.

It's not just the knowledge base, or the money you ALREADY have, but your technical set up as well. A lot of skills go into trading. You need a stable occupation first. I would never do this as the principal method for generating income.

his best bet is to go margin FX. read on some technicals, open an account (with parent's permission lol)

http://www.howthemarketworks.com/pop...ay-trading.php

Have a play there before you lose all your real money...

just dont, I've been in this game for some time a while ago and can honestly say that during college/university the suggestion to set up as a painter/carpenter/whatever is a better plan. The consequences for daytrading will be an ever present anxiety to know what the market will do, spending hours behind a computer screen without a certain reward and you will spend them alone.

Take up something worthwhile, become an entrepeneur with some friends and learn valuable skills, and have a more certain effort/reward equation.

Leave daytrading to the professionals and pensioners who dont have friends to spend time with. Besides, daytrading firms look at affinity with the markets, not at actual experience as their systems are nothing like the ones you and I have acces to. If you do want to persue a path in this, try one of the numerous daytrading math tests online.. And use that to get an interview at one of the firms..