What is the purpose of the settlement date in online stock trading?

If I bought 1000 of stock XYZ for the 00 total in my account on Monday and sold the same amount on Monday (now with a total of 00 in my account), why do I have to wait until Thursday to be able to buy again with the 00 in my account? Shouldn’t I be able to buy and sell and buy again all on Monday? Is there a way around this system without just adding more money to the account?

Is there always a seller in the CFD market?

I mean when firms quote CFD prices – does it mean that they will be obliged to sell me the contract and later accept my closing position? I know when it comes to stock – this issue – called liquidity risk- is more of a subject to a country and/or jurisdiction. That said in US – nasdaq and nyse are required by law for every buyer to be a seller and for every seller to be a buyer. But in exchanges such as ASX – this isn’t the case. However, so far thinking logically in my opinion you should be able to close your CFD position at any time – why? Because in the stock market a sale looks more like that: A car costs 000: you buy the car…but what if there are no sellers and you can’t sell it to make a profit or at least get some cash back? This the problem…now in CFDs: you borrow a car that costs 000 – you decide you don’t need the car and return it to the lender…the lender SHOULD give you back the collateral you have deposited to borrow the car in terms of CFD trading.
Of course they get financing, commisions, bid ask spread…there are other nerdy dumb terms such as LIBOR, volatility, alpha,beta…bla,bla,bla – but I am asking for a real world situation to make money and not some university meditation.

Thanks!

Does anyone know a good stock trading site for kids?

I want to invest in the stock market but i really don’t have a lot of money to spend. Does anyone know some good, reputable websites where you can just like click on a stock and buy it?

bond prices and affect on the markets?

In the last week there has been volatility in the stock markets with people saying that bond yields are to blame.

If I’m not mistaken, yields go up when prices go down because the coupon is bigger in comparison to the price.

Also if I’m not mistaken, prices go down when people are selling things.

So if the price is going down because bonds are being sold, why isn’t this good for the market because then this money would flow into the stock market boosting prices?
Thanks…i guess my question is:

What is pushing the prices of bonds down?

Money itself isn’t lost or gained its simple transferred ?

That was a quote from the movie "Wall Street" from the 80′s.
But it’s got me wondering lately.
Say a person looses a big chunk of their IRA, 401K, etc. due to the recently volatility stock market.
Where does that money really go?
The buyer of your assets is buying them in hopes of getting a bargain and it rising in the long term.
So even they only get a small portion.
Do I have this right? Does the money just "disappear"?

Where to put cash in these turbulent markets?

So they say to stay out of the stock markets with volatility at all time highs. Subprime has infected everything from mortgage brokers to investment banks, down to the local county bank. Where can one protect their cash in times where you don’t even know which financial institution is the next to go under? The FDIC insures up to 0K per bank, but it’s not feasible to move money into many different banks. Should I buy something to ensure the safety of my cash (ie T-bills, gold, etc.)? My money is with Citibank, who probably won’t go under, but I would still like to reduce my risk during these times if possible. There must be others who sold homes at the peak and are sitting with a few hundred K in cash somewhere. What are you doing to ensure you don’t lose it to your bank going under?

What is the best online stock trading site?

I want to trade penny stocks and a few regular stocks. I don’t have a lot of money to spend paying the site, but I would like to at least have a feature where if a stock lowers to a certain point it will automatically sell if that’s available. Other than that I just want inexpensive service.

Which online stock trading site is the best for someone looking to trade?

I have not had much time lately to do my homework on this but I would like to get some feedback from some people and thier experiences with sites like Etrade and TDwaterhouse. I have a little bit of money that I want to start trading with and would like to know what the best website for this is. Thanks for the help!

Does anyone know the minimum deposit on the major online stock trading sites?

I really would like to invest and i wouldnt mind looking for diamonds in the rough and that sort of thing, i dont have a ton of money (being that i am a student and really would like to start small and eventually go big with some stock investing), i am aware of the commission fees of most of the companies, but i know there are minimum deposits on some (such as td ameritrade is about 2 grand, and scott trade is 5,000 or something like that, but ive heard everything) but if someone could clarify all of this for me and tell me the minimum deposits for the online trading sites like etrade, scotttrade, td ameritrade, and other sites that other may not know about. Thanks.

Im about to start my online stock trading and need some help?

I want to start online stock trading but i im confused if i have to pay a minimum or if i can just pay the required amount to open an account, say like .99, and then put forward what money i want? can someone explain or clear up my confusion??