J77

If you're talking pounds sterling and trading UK stocks then I'd recommend £4-5k as a good amount for trading, less than £2k to start with is tricky.

Depends really on what you want to do ie trade or invest. But if you're on 2k and the stock moves 10% then after brokerage and costs etc you'd get about £170 - which is pretty good if it's within a few days. But the challenge is significantly harder when you have small positions. Probably better to start smallish and work your way up with consistantly good trades first, then maybe pump in some more. Also you can get great results with a few thousand pounds. Good returns are relative to how much you have invested and over what period imho.

There is a thread called 'UK brokers' on here you should check out.

In my opinion, any profitable trade is worthwhile. Any negative trade is also worthwhile because you always learn more from your mistakes!