In event that your debit card is lost or stolen, there are certain steps you need to take immediately to limit your responsibility for fraudulent charges.

First, call issuing bank and cancel card immediately! If you contact bank and cancel card before any charges are made on card you won’t be held responsible for any charges. Even if you think you lost card and that you may find it, it’s safer to cancel card and limit your liability. Make sure that you keep a written record of date, time and who you spoke to at issuing bank.

Second, file a police report. Whether or not your bank requires it, you should file a police report with your local police department. In event that a negative entry is made on your credit report about charges that were fraudulent, you’ll need report to prove that you didn’t make charges.

The best way to prevent fraudulent charges on your card is to keep your card and account numbers out of hands of thieves. Identity thieves are extremely sophisticated and they don’t need to have physical card to drain your account, all they need certain information from card. Here are some steps that you should take to protect yourself from card thieves.

Be aware of your surroundings. If you use your debit card at an ATM machine, make sure that you’re aware of who is around you and shield keyboard with your body when entering your personal identification number (PIN).

When using a drive up ATM, make sure that area is well lit and is in view of passing traffic. Don’t use an ATM in a neighborhood you feel uncomfortable in.

Check out ATM machine. If there is a transparent overlay on ATM keyboard don’t use machine. ATM thieves use keyboard overlays to capture PINs. Also, if there is a detached card reader next to machine, take your business elsewhere: these devices are used to capture debit card data.

Don’t use your debit card for online purchases, use your credit card. If online thieves get your debit card information they can drain your bank account; if they get your credit card information they can only make charges up to credit limit of card. It’s much easier and less costly to dispute credit card charges than charges than withdrawals from your bank account.

Commit your PIN to memory, don’t write it down. Don’t give your PIN to anyone, not even someone at issuing bank.

Using your debit card to pay for purchases is convenient and fast, but it also exposes you to numerous risks. Be card smart: keep track of your debit card, monitor your bank account on a regular basis, take precautions when using your debit card, and, if your card is lost or stolen, report it immediately.

When I was trading I made a lot of good trades knowing who to follow and who not to follow. Yet, in long run, I do not believe you can make a living doing that. The biggest problem in following other traders is being too far behind trade because you are "following" and not leading. I think each and every trader has to become very best trader he can possibly be, on his own. He needs to get there as fast as he can. Following more experienced traders can be a means to this end and can help get you started, but it cannot be end. This takes planning.

A basic trading plan will take in your long-term goals and objectives as a trader. You'll have to decide if you want to try to make a career out of trading, or just be a part time trader. Once you have decided this you can make other decisions such as how much money you would like to make at either full time or part time trading. Your money goals have to be realistic. They can't just be, "I want to make as much money as I can". These basic decisions will determine time and money you will have to commit.

Your trading plan should be on going, constantly evolving and eventually contain things like how many days, weeks, and hours you will need to trade to meet your goals. If it is as detailed as I think it should be, you would know how many trades per day and how much profit per trade you will have to average. Of course, these things will have to be developed over time and added to your plan as you go and as you gain more knowledge.

There are many excellent books on learning to day trade. My favorites are found at http://www.TraderAide.com/books

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