My advice is to try the imaginary trading. I know it's hard to keep track of something daily or weekly that's not real, but it'll pay off. Right now $200 is not really enough to start out with so keep saving, and by the time you have some more money your knowledge will be better. I like to stick with large stable corporations. EX: Home Depot, Coke, Walmart, Merck, Pfizer to name a few. Theres not a lot of opportunity to make a lot in the short term with these stocks, but after a few yrs I know what their low points are. Making a couple hundred dollars a month with these is good enough for me. The more money you can invest the more you can make (or lose). I prefer to pick a stable company, and sell after a 2 point increase. Each time I can get a few more shares.