Great to hear Bill. Just make sure that you go into trading with an open mind and with the objective of learning a new profession, and to converse with like-minded people, and generally have a nice time. Please don't go into trading expecting to make money - you've got a long way to go before you can hope to do that.
Do make sure you open a cash account with a spreadbetting company, such as
www.finspreads.co.uk not a margin account. A cash account is one where you are limited to trading within the funds you have available in your account. If you do not have the funds, you cannot open a trade. A margin account is one where you put up a very small percentage of the cost of the trade, and the spreadbetting company or broker lends you the rest. The downside is that when you lose your losses can be HUGE. So when you are learning, never ever put yourself into that situation. So go for a cash account with £250 in it, and if you blow the lot (although if you follow the guidance on these boards and use money management strategies, then there's no reason for you to blow your account), then you sleep soundly in your bed.
There are nightmare stories about newbies who have traded on margin, lost heavily, and then have not been able to sleep soundly at night for fear of how they are going to meet their margin calls (where you have to stump up the cash to meet your debts).
When you get further experience, and hundreds of 1p and 50p per point trades under your belt, you will understand the dangers of using margin, but be in a position to safeguard yourself by sticking to a pre-determined risk on each trade you enter.
But before you get to open an account, you will need to read these boards, particularly the newbie threads, and decide what sort of trading will suit you best.
In the UK the London Stock Exchange trades between 8am and 4pm (or is it 4:30, I've forgotten!), and the US markets trade between 2:30pm and 9:00pm UK time. So depending on your wife's needs, you can fit trading in. There's intraday trading where you are in and out in a day and don't hold any positions open overnight, or EOD (end of day) trading.
You'll need to use some software to look at charts - you can start by using some free ones on the Internet, BUT it is always better to go for proper software with a paid datafeed for numerous reasons. You can set them up how you want, personalise the settings, flip through them off-line, make notes on the charts, etc. If you want to do the job properly, you need proper tools.
You will naturally want to trade UK, because you probably feel that it is safer, and you will feel comfy trading London quoted stocks and indices. However, US stocks are much easier to trade, so don't ignore them just because there's a whopping expanse of sea between us and them!
Have a root around for the links to software and Internet charting sites - they're all on the threads and in the knowledge section of this BB.
Phew! That's given you a lot of things to do before you open a trading account, and you've got a lot of reading to do as well!
