Forex
Trading
In
any business or moneymaking venture, preparation and foreknowledge are the keys
to success. Without this sort of
insight, the attempt to make a profitable financial decision can only end in
disaster and failure, regardless of your level of motivation and determination
or the amount of money you plan to invest.
In
the stock market, this rule applies to the nth degree, as you are investing
your own money in what could be considered a high risk wager, and you are
playing with fire if you do not have at least a general background knowledge of
how it functions. Since having a
background in any area is helpful in guiding you down a path in that particular
region, the more solid your basis of investment knowledge is, the more likely
you are to profit from any attempt to trade on the open market.
In
many ways, trading on the stock market can be compared to driving – you do not
have to be an expert to get behind the wheel of a car, though you are expected
to have some previous knowledge about basic traffic laws, including moving
violations, safety regulations, and other legal vehicular infractions, which
are learned through either specific study and coursework or even through some
form of simple exposure (such as the years you have spent riding with your
parents and others who have driven for years).
You should be able to comprehend the basic tools used to navigate a car
(where the break pedal is located versus the gas, and how to use the rearview
mirror, for example), even if you have never touched a steering wheel.
The
same is true in entering the world of the stock market. While you do not have to know all the
terminology (you will not be short selling or determining your own long and
short positions at first, so you do not have to understand these references
completely, though you should be aware of them), you should certainly be versed
in the basic functionality of trading stocks, bonds, securities, and other
commodities. And just like someone who
is behind the wheel of a car and getting ready to touch the gas pedal for the
first time, you should start out with caution and work your way in slowly. A first time driver will first set the
mirrors to his or her own liking, then put the car in gear, look for any
interfering traffic, and ease onto the gas pedal, never flooring it and testing
the engine coming out of the gate on the first attempt. Likewise, when you select your first
investment, you should choose something stable with little fluctuation and not
invest a large sum of money on this first venture.
When
a person is learning to drive, he or she will be accompanied by another
individual who is more experienced and can assist them in making better driving
decisions and offering corrections that will aid in learning to handle the car
more efficiently. In the stock market,
there are stockbrokers and other experts who can give you input and advice to
help you in building your knowledge of the commodities in which you are
interested, essentially “steering” you toward better stock market buying and
selling decisions.
You
could spend hours and hours researching the stock market and its functionality,
learning how to become involved in the trade and who to contact to get in the
game, especially if your interest lies in the Foreign Exchange Market, which
goes far beyond the level of complication of the domestic stock market. However, in this book, you will find all the
basic information you need to get started down the path to trading success. All of the leg work and tough research has
been done for you, collecting the data and knowledge into one source from which
you can gain enough insight to make you a successful trader on the open market. All you have to do is read in order to gain knowledge
and wisdom, step by step that will bring you to a heady level of success. In this ebook, you will find all such helpful
information, all brought together in one single source for ease of reference.
How
Investment Works
Any
time you are going to be putting your money into a fund; it is a good idea to
start by understanding what you are buying into. The stock market is a complicated entity, and
doing minimal business in trading requires a fair amount of basic knowledge, as
well as the understanding and acceptance of the high risk factor. The more you know in advance regarding the
functionality of the system, the less likely it is that you will take a heavy
hit, ending in devastating loss.
First
of all and probably most important in the trading business, you should
understand what stocks actually are.
When you buy or sell a stock on the open market, you should keep in mind
that you are dealing with real objects, not pieces of paper; you are buying and
selling real parts of a particular company, its product, or some other various
commodity.
Owning
a “share” means that you have actually bought into the company or product
involved and become a partial owner of that commodity. Of course, you could be one of millions of
shareholders, as most companies and products are broken into minute pieces of
the whole, but you are still considered an investor in that company or product
until you sell your shares.
Think
of it as paying for a tank of gas in the car that your parents bought for you
to drive. You may have even bought the
oil filter that has been put on the car, and you may feel that this investment
makes you part owner. However, when you
look at the overall cost of the car, you have really contributed very little to
that amount. However, as long as you
continue to invest in the gas for the car and take care of the maintenance
needs, you can claim part ownership of the car.
Because
the value of a company and its products or services can fluctuate continuously,
the value of the stocks you hold will not be the same from day to day and can
sometimes even change hourly. When the
price per share drops and is considered low, it is an ideal time to
purchase. This is the least expensive
way to begin your trading venture, and working with a stock broker will allow
you to gain more information as to what stocks are ripe for the purchase at any
given time.
In
doing so, you become a stockholder, and the value of your holdings will
fluctuate from day to day. Your gamble
(and hope!) is that the value of the company or product in which you have
invested will increase or rebound from the low price at which you made your
purchase. This is the goal of all traders and means that your stock will become
more valuable.
As
the value of your securities increases, so does your net worth. When the price of the stock in your
possession reaches a high point, it is time to sell, making a profit on your
original investment. Ideally, you will
always sell your holdings for a reasonably higher price than the purchase amount
and should never sell when the current value of the stock is below your initial
purchase price. It is important to make
sure that you do not purposely take a net loss because there are plenty of
occasions when you could be forced to take a loss.
For
example, if you purchase shares of a company at twenty dollars each, you should
never sell them for eighteen dollars apiece.
If possible, you want to hold off until they are each worth perhaps
forty dollars, in essence doubling your money.
Of course, this is just an example, and not all stocks will ever double
in value, but the illustration is meaningful.
There
are other, more complex ways to invest in the stock market. However, much like learning to ride a
bicycle, you do not want to make your first attempt without training
wheels.
Making Decisions In The Beginning
Let
us return to driving as a reference.
When you first start driving, you will not enter the highway and take
the car at speeds of sixty and seventy miles per hour. Instead, you will stay in residential areas
or at least on the access road, where there is less pressure to maintain such a
high speed. In the stock market, you
will also want to stay away from any expensive stocks or extremely volatile
investments until you have become extremely comfortable with the process of
trading.
There
are small investment opportunities referred to as “penny stocks”, which will
help you try out your sea legs and get a feel for how the stock market works
prior to investing large sums of money and risking a big financial loss. These particular stocks cost literally
pennies or small dollar amounts and typically only fluctuate fractions of a
cent on any given day, making them extremely safe for those just starting
out.
Once
you get the hang of it and can better judge the market trends, you can
comfortably move on to more complicated and adventurous areas of the
market. It is like removing the training
wheels from your bicycle or entering the freeway the first time at an hour of
the day when there is no traffic to contend with.
Be
aware that, just like you may fall off your bike once or twice and end up with
some scrapes and bruises, you may lose money in an investment here and
there. This is very typical, and
investing in the stock market is a lot like gambling. In poker, you cannot expect to win every
hand, and the same is true in the world of investments. Learning to watch the market trends, though,
is similar to watching other cars as you join traffic and determining the
correct speed and proximity to other cars for optimal safety. Such diligent study can help you improve your
statistics drastically in a short time.




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