Desmond Macrae has written a good article for Futures Mag in which he lays out a few important considerations when selecting a set of software trading tools. First, he mentions the costs for software and data. Yes, there are costs, but for serious traders it's a necessary part of the job. Trading successfully is all about information and if you're only using basic free tools, you're at a serious disadvantage.

Next he offers some good advice to new traders about not getting overwhelmed with information. Learn to identify the news, price action, and indicators that are important, and ignore the rest.

Lastly he offers some important tips on maintaining your computer system in order to both prevent and recover from machine failures. You never think it's going to happen to you, but when it does, it always seems to happen at the worst time.

For the entire Futures Magazine article, CLICK HERE.