Beginning Investment Question-Visa IPO

I recently had a question regarding what brokerage to use to get in on
perhaps the Visa IPO and to begin learning short-term trading.

I would recommend zecco.com for a first-time-trader, you get up to 10
commision free trades/month and decent tools. I would recommend playing
on paper first. Pick a few companies you know, things you buy, etc and
put them on a spreadsheet with a notional pool of money and track a
small portfolio. This usually leads to questions of why did X do well
and Y do poorly, when I thought Y was a safe bet and X was risky? For
me this is the best way to learn as it prompts more research which is
key to successful investing.

If you are going to try and buy Visa, a strategy is to open up a limit
order pre-market open, depending on pricing from the 19th and start with
a set amount then buy up if the outcome is positive and strong.
Example, purchase 25K the day it opens then add to that at intervals
until I hit my 50K mark. Then set another limit order to sell at
pre-determine prices. Lot's of jargin there I know but essentialy I am
putting in what I feel comfortable taking a hit on then if it does well
will continue to buy over time limiting my risk exposure.

Limits are essentially a way to place an order to buy or sell when the
stock hits a certain price, and only at that price. Example I buy 100
shares of XYZ by placing a limit order of 100 shares @ $10 when the
stock hit's $10 dollars my order is automatically executed. I set
another limit order to sell 100 shares of XYZ at $8. that way if the
stock does poorly I only take a 20% hit, this is how you control your
risk of loss. Also, I can also set another order (on more advanced
trading systems) to trigger a sell, say, 100 shares of XYZ at $20 and
take all my initial capitol out plus a 100% profit. The latter example
is called a trade trigger on Ameritrade. Then you have the stop-limit
as well, which is simmilar but the order becomes a market order at your
limit price which means you could pay more or less than you anticipated.

Good definition here: http://www.sec.gov/answers/limit.htm

So my bottom line recommendation for those wanting to invest in stocks
is to start with some Electronically Traded Funds (ETFs), similar to
mutual funds but with more trading felixibility. This way your risk and
volitility is reduced because you get the benefit of broad securities
under one fund. The India ETF just opened, great international, albeit
one country, exposure while having an interest in many companies. There
is a short post on the blog on this one. Others I am in currently in
are PBW, QQQQ and soon to be DIA.

Any good brokerage you choose will have educational information to get
you started in the mechanics but as always, research until you are
comfortable. Things like Volume, PE, PEG, moving averages etc all play
a part in assisting you in making your decision.