Regardless of the fact that the world's stock markets have shown absolutely no growth between the date of writing this article (Late April 2005) and the late 1990s, they should still be looked at with more than just a sideways glance.

Speak gently to them, speak well of them to your friends, learn to trust them, cuddle up close and get to know them - and they will reward you in a way that the banks, mutual funds (Unit Trusts in the UK), pension funds and insurance companies never can or will.

The Personal Stock Market Revolution is here, and it's here right now - on a computer screen near you.

You see, thanks to the internet and the "information super highway" (now there's a phrase that's disappeared in the last few years) anybody and everybody can easily beat the Wall Street professionals at their own game.

And it's so simple, even a child could do it.

Seriously, even a child could do it.

Everything you need to trade or invest on your own account is just a click of a mouse button away and it's online right now waiting your command - in fact there's so much information, there may even be too much.

This is the first in a series of articles about the Stock Market and what it can do for you - if you learn to love it allow it to be your friend.

So stop being afraid and jump on in - you'll never regret it.

But before we progress, let's put some semi-negative thoughts into your head and then in the next article we'll try and expel those thoughts and get you thinking positively.

For example, the world and his dog knows...

Over the past few years the world's stock markets have been in a "slump".

OK, ok - you've got me there. Yes its true (after a fashion). Here are the facts:

At the time of writing the US Dow Jones Industrial Average (the Dow) closed last evening at 10198 - more or less exactly the same as it's close on the 5th April 1999 (10174) - That's what appears to be 6 whole years with no growth.

At first sight your probable first reaction is; that looks awful, and I'd be inclined to agree.

But as with all "bareboard figures", the truth is often concealed behind the headline.

Here's the truth behind the figures you see in the media...

You may or may not know that when looking at the stock markets with a view to profiting from them, you can take almost any time frame you wish - the markets are in a constant dynamic state of change.

It moves by the second, the minute, the hour, the day, the week, the month and the year and whenever it moves there is money to be made (and lost by some - ask the Enron investors, including a lot of very large pension funds in America).

But for the sake of convenience and space in this article, we'll just look at the weekly time frame over the year (59 weeks) from April 1999.

The Bare "Headline" Facts:

• The Dow Jones closed on 5th April 1999 at 10174

• 59 weeks later (22nd May 2000) it closed at 10299

• A 14 month rise of just 125 points - or 1.23%

However, during that 14 months...

• On 12th July '99 (14 weeks) it closed at 10210 - a rise of 1036 points

• On 11th October '99 (13 weeks) it closed at 10020 - a fall of 1190 points

• On 10th January 2000 (13 weeks) it closed at 11723 - a rise of 1703 points

• On 22nd February 2000 (6 weeks) it closed at 9862 - a fall of 1861 points

• On 20th March 2000 (4 weeks) it closed at 11113 - a rise of 1251 points

• On 22nd May 2000 (9 weeks) it closed at 10299 - a fall of 810 points

So, althought the Dow only "officially" moved 125 points during that 14 month period, there were at least 6 potential trades for a total of 7851 points.

Put another way, the Dow during that 14 month period acually moved up and down for a total of 77% of it's starting points total.

Quite staggering.

And each one of those points could have been dollars in your pocket (or any other currency, because wherever you live in the world you can trade any stock market you wish - and profit from all of them)

Sounds weird?

I'm sure it does, but you'll soon get the hang of it.

Remember what I said earlier?

"It's so simple, even a child could do it"

So maybe it's time to re-discover the child in you and profit accordingly.

In the next article, we'll compare the performances of the highly paid Wall Street fund managers and analysts.

But make sure you sit down before reading it - you'll be shocked at just how bad they are!

More next week...