A Trade A Day Now you can put your fortune on the line at the push of a button.

It was at the center of a recent multiple homicide. It'sreceiving close scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and ExchangeCommission (SEC). It's made millions for some, lost fortunesfor others. Yet day trading continues to entice Americans--and,yes, even entrepreneurs who may be juggling online trading withrunning their businesses--to take a chance with their personalfinances.

"There's a blurred distinction of what a day trader is,depending on whom you talk to," explains the SEC's JohnNester. According to the SEC, those individuals who invest onlineare dubbed "day traders light"--they execute a lot oftrades but don't have real-time access to the marketinformation that traditional, offline day traders do. Why thedistinction? Because if you can't trade in real time, youdon't know the most current prices and changes--and thatamplifies the risk of buying and selling. Still, these risks oftrading online aren't stopping day traders light from choosingthe Internet as their investment medium.

According to SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, 25 percent of alltrades made by individuals are done online. That's 7 millionU.S. investors, up from not one Internet trade a mere five yearsago.