If you want to be a successful day trader or even a much longer term investor, you need to have some basic tools in your personal personal trading toolbox that will help you consistently pick winning trades. Of course, finding a competent broker is important. You can find brokers that let you do all of your decision-making yourself and execute orders online and pay very low commissions. Or, if you want more professional support, you can sign up with a full service broker that gives you personal service but charges a lot higher commissions. However, opening an account with a good broker is not the first tool you need in your kit.

The critical tool you need to sharpen if you are going to be a successful trader is your own personal trader education. It will pay off many times over to invest now in high quality trading and investment education courses so you can find your own approach to trading in your chosen market.

You also need a good source of market data to trade profitably. For day trading, you need real-time charts with price data and market indicators so you can watch the markets to make your trading decisions. If you invest on longer time frames, you will still want a source of charts, but they do not have to update in real time if you will be making your investment decisions when the market is closed.

Whether you trade using fundamental analysis or technical analysis, you also need an independent source of market research and information, preferably someone who is not financially tied to promoting any particular company or industry. Although you might prefer to do your own research in the markets that you trade most actively, it is a good idea to take advantage of the resources that a service with broader access to market information can offer, especially when you start to diversify your investing into new markets.

With the proper tools at hand, you will be well on your way to successful investing. But, remember that trading and investing involve a substantial risk of loss. There are no guarantees that any particular approach to trading will always be successful. If anybody offers you a "guaranteed" way to make a million dollars in the next week, hold tight to your wallet and run quickly the opposite direction! Manage your risk carefully, trade with discipline, and you will be on your way to realizing your goals.