Saving and Investing

The stock market was down 400 points or so yesterday, which makes me slightly happy that I dont invest in stocks, but I am still thinking it might be time to start. My friend showed me his portfolio today and directed me to http://www.scottrade.com/ where he does all his trading. He says they are the cheapest online brokerage at about $7/trade. He also sent me a referral to http://www.ingdirect.com which is an online savings account that boasts 4.50% interest rate and is also FDIC insured. I get $25 if I fund it with atleast $250 and he gets $10. I like the fact that its FDIC insured and almost as nice a return as a bank CD. The other option is to trade foreign exchange. I recently took a course at fxcm.com that has given me good beginners knowledge of how fx trading is done. I am eager to finish reading the lessons, buy the book, get proficient at trading in the demo account so I can start making some real money.