I totally agree with you. My roomie is Chinese. and he is investing his fathers money in the Chinese stock market. He calls his broker in china everyday , but it only cost 2cent per min. But still he wakes up late night to watch how the stocks are moving and in 4 weeks he has made $6000. Its just amazing. I wish I knew Chinese..hehe.. There are a couple of stocks which move in opposite direction of the market. Its very rare but its a good idea to keep one in your stock portfolio.If you don't have time watching the stock market constantly, the best way to make money is to have well balanced portfolio, which will go over time. But if you have the time to watch the stock constantly, speculation is not a bad idea either. But low and sell high as fast as you can. hehee..but its really risky and should not be tried.. Hey do u know if a International student can buy nasdaq software so that people can exchange stocks online?