Foreign exchange newbie, part II

[Paul Altman <paulha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I see that I didn't make it clear enough that I'm not about to take my 
grandmother's retirement account, and throw it all at a foreign exchange 
trade.  I'm not even planning to trade those markets.  All that's occurred 
is that I heard an outlandish-sounding claim from a stranger, and I'm going 
to get a chance to check it out a little bit.  Don't worry, I won't even 
take a $20 bill with me when I go.  OK?

That being said, I'm still interested in the questions I posed, if 
anybody's in the mood to answer them.  Thanks.

     Paul