Beginners Guide To Trade The Stock Market

Do you want to get a piece of the stock market but don’t know where to start?

Just like moths to a flame, world markets attract speculative capital. Most people throw money at securities without understanding why prices move higher or lower. Instead, they chase hot tips, make binary bets and sit at the feet of gurus, letting them recommend buy-and-sell decisions that make no sense. A better path is to learn how to trade the markets with skill and authority.

As a beginner, you need to start with a self-examination that takes a close look at your relationship with money. Do you view life as a struggle, with a difficult effort required to earn each dollar? Do you believe personal magnetism will attract market wealth to you in the same way it does in other life pursuits? More ominously, have you lost money on a regular basis through other activities and hope the financial markets will treat you more kindly?

Now take these away:

• Learning how to trade the financial markets begins with educating oneself on reading the financial markets via charts and price action.
• Use technical analysis, in conjunction with fundamental analysis, to decipher price action.
• Practice makes perfect or, at the very least, it allows the neophyte to test out theories before committing real funds.

What Are Some Common Trading Strategies?

Common trading strategies include following the trend, or buying when the market is rising and short selling when it is declining; contrarian trading, or going against the herd; scalping, which involves exploiting minute price gaps caused by the bid-ask spread; and trading the news.

Looking to learn more about trading and investing? No matter your learning style, there are more than enough courses to get you started. With online course providers, you’ll be able to choose courses taught by real-world experts and learn at your own pace, with lifetime access on mobile and desktop. You’ll also be able to master the basics of day trading, option spreads, and more.

The Bottom Line

Start your trading journey with a deep education on the financial markets and then read charts and watch price actions, building strategies based on your observations. Test these strategies with paper trading, while analyzing results and making continuous adjustments. Then complete the first leg of your journey with monetary risk that forces you to address trade management and market psychology issues.