Talking about investments. Hubby was involved with what's called Day Trading and earlier than that a friend introduced him to invest in Stock Market. There were a lot of drawbacks as to being new and untrained. He attended seminars to be able to learn more and know exactly what he is up to. There were tons of softwares that he was using and some work and some do not. Overall through the years the result was fair. Always remember there is a long learning curve co'z people tend to make mistakes and it costs you money. So it's best to learn slowly to minimize the losses.
In most traditional publications the writers are not experienced investors and tend to make their living in journalism.
He has a lot of friends that were very successful and it makes him to keep going. I think in life this is how it works. To succeed you are always looking for that something that would work for you. One could become 10 times richer and to others it wasn't for them.
But if you're really interested to learn about investing and trade virtual money with real stock here's one I could recommend for you the MyWallSt.net. Why not join their site and make your profile. Go out there ask questions,participate and get involved. These people have a long experience in sucessful investing to avoid the mistakes and could help you long term. It's best to get involved with people,who have the knowledge and experienced investors.