MarketFilter: Got any advice for trading Futures? Help a newbie! I've entered the BP trading game . which is a virtual futures trading game for university students. According to their site, I'll be able to trade live futures prices for ICE Brent Futures and ICE Gasoil Futures over a period of a few weeks. I've got some idea what to look for when trading stocks (PEs and other bits of fundamental analysis), but have never traded futures before. Have any of you guys got any advice?

MarketFilter: Got any advice for trading Futures? Help a newbie! I've entered the BP trading game . which is a virtual futures trading game for university students. According to their site, I'll be able to trade live futures prices for ICE Brent Futures and ICE Gasoil Futures over a period of a few weeks. I've got some idea what to look for when trading stocks (PEs and other bits of fundamental analysis), but have never traded futures before. Have any of you guys got any advice?

Do U.S. government takeovers of financial corporations mean the possibility of substantial profits for the government when the markets turn around?

Looking for good articles, links, etc. that discuss (rationally, not all panicky-like) strategies for managing one's 401(k) in light of recent shifts in the market and (perhaps more importantly) the declining dollar. So far, everything I've found seems geared toward investors managing their stock portfolios rather than workers managing their retirement accounts. Part II: if anyone would care to comment (I know that You Are Not A [or My] Financial Planner), here's my particular situation (hence why the question is anonymous; it's that weird American neurosis about discussing income rearing its ugly head).

Looking for good articles, links, etc. that discuss (rationally, not all panicky-like) strategies for managing one's 401(k) in light of recent shifts in the market and (perhaps more importantly) the declining dollar. So far, everything I've found seems geared toward investors managing their stock portfolios rather than workers managing their retirement accounts. Part II: if anyone would care to comment (I know that You Are Not A [or My] Financial Planner), here's my particular situation (hence why the question is anonymous; it's that weird American neurosis about discussing income rearing its ugly head).

I have become interested in finance. After lots of reading, I understand the mechanics of how most financial instruments work. Now I want to understand how they are used in the marketplace, specifically analysis or description of transactions and their outcomes. What should I read? I feel I have a good theoretical base of information about how financial instruments work. Stocks, bonds, options, futures, swaps - I can understand how they work and what they do in theory. But I feel like I know all about the parts of a car and what they do without knowing what it is like to drive in a race.