How to Take Your First Steps into The Stock Market
Whether you’re keen to take an active approach to your wealth-building strategy, or you want to earn more cash long-term, you’ll need a plan. The worst thing you can do as an investor is jump into purchasing assets and securities without properly thinking about what you want to achieve and how you’re going to reach your goals. The good news is that taking your first steps into the market doesn’t have to be as daunting as it seems. If you’re willing to take things slow and learn as you go, then you’ll be on your way to some incredible results in no time.
Get Acquainted with the Market
The first step is to learn as much as you can about the industry. The more you learn about things like day trading strategies, penny trading, and ETF’s, the more you can make informed decisions with your cash. As you probably already know stocks trade on an exchange like the NYSE or New York Stock Exchange. How often you interact with this environment will depend on the kind of strategy you want to pursue. Some people spend every day examining the exchanges, buying and selling based on tiny movements in a price index.
Others simply invest in a few securities that make sense to them and allow those assets to grow gradually over time. Your process will depend on how much money you have to spend, how much risk you’re comfortable taking and more. One thing you’ll need for any trading campaign is information. Researching a security means getting its ticker symbol, and googling to find any crucial details you can about the company and how well it’s growing.
Know Your Reasons
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, you can begin to think about how you want to proceed by establishing your purpose for trading. Some people want to get involved with the market on a daily basis, while others just want to get a bit more out of their cash than they would if they left it in a savings account. There’s no wrong answer to what’s your reason, however, the purpose behind your investment will help you to make some important decisions about how you plan on using your cash. With that in mind, it’s also worth making sure that you understand what kind of financial position you’re in before you jump into the market.
For instance, if you want to be a day trader, then you’re going to need around $25k in your account at all times. Alternatively, swing trading doesn’t require a minimum investment of capital. Still, you will need a decent amount of money if you want to make sure that you can take advantage of opportunities as soon as they appear. Depending on your broker and your strategy, you can also get started with stocks for a much lower amount of capital, it all depends on your needs and what you feel comfortable with. If you’re not sure where you want to get started, it might be a good idea to speak to a financial advisor before you jump into stocks and securities.
Barry Lachey is a Professional Editor at Zobuz. Previously He has also worked for Moxly Sports and Network Resources “Joe Joe.” He is a graduate of the Kings College at the University of Thames Valley London. You can reach Barry via email or by phone.
