As a beginner investor, the stock market provides an opportunity to experience the market and what it entails. But do you understand how stock markets work? Can you compete effectively with the bigwigs in the industry?
Those are some of the stock market basics every beginner should answer before commencing on these types of trading. You cannot start playing with your finances before knowing more about stock investing. And if you don’t know, the stock market is very complicated and fun at the same time.
The stock market can be a lucrative way to build your net worth, but only if you understand the risks and you approach it with discipline. There is a lot to learn in stock market investing, but today we’re going to focus on the five types of trading.
Let’s see what all these entail.
1. Day Trading
With the risks involved in stock trading, some people do not want to hold positions overnight, lest they lose everything. That’s why they engage in the type of stock trading called day trading where they buy and sell the same day.
Day trading simply means closing out trades before the close of the market. The investors hold positions for hours, minutes, or even seconds. Some people glamorize this kind of stock trading as a get rich quick type of investing.
However, day trading is not really a get rich quick scheme. Like any type of investing, it takes risks and requires a high level of discipline. Day traders are exposed to financial losses, and it might take you time before you start making a profit.
This type of trading is mostly done by specialists in the stock market or market makers. Novice traders are also creeping in thanks to the rise of electronic trading.
2. Scalping Types of Trading
Like day trading, scalping tends to hold the position for a short time hence reducing the risks involved in stock trading. But this doesn’t mean that there are no risks involved. And without discipline, this type of trading won’t work for you either.
Scalping traders tend to look for even the slightest gap occurring due to bid-ask spreads. This is another one of the stock market strategies that involve buying or making the spread at a bid price and selling at the asking price. The traders then benefit from the difference between these two price points.
The trading method involves taking advantage of small moves that take place more often and smaller volumes occurring now and then. The profit here is based on small moves in the prices of stocks. It takes expert skill to master scalping tactics, but if you get excited by the adrenaline rush, you can still try it out.
3. Position Trading
Position trading is the opposite of the above types of trading. This is where the stock trader participates in what is called buy-and-hold stock trading strategies. This type of trading is not active trading, though advanced traders can make it one.
When you participate in position trading, you’ll want to study the market trends for days or months before you can trade your stocks. Depending on the market situation, you can hold your shares for up to seven days, seven weeks, or a couple of months.
During this period, the traders study the higher highs or lower highs until they reach the trend considered secure. The aim is to benefit from the upside and downside trend of market movement. The trading is about the direction of the market and not price levels.
When the market appears more established, that is the time when trend traders jump in. They stay in position as long as the trend lasts, but as soon as it breaks, they exit positions. The high market volatility means difficulty in trend trading; hence, fewer people hold positions to avoid the risks.
4. Options Trading
Investors use options trading to increase their returns or manage risks involved in the stock business. Options speculate in the direction of the market.
So, how do options work in trading? Option values are derived from the value of the underlying security stock, meaning they’re financial derivatives.
For every option purchase, there’s always a seller involved in the other end of the coin. Options come in either puts or calls with different risks depending on whether you’re buying or selling.
When you buy the call option, you have the right (not obligation) to set the strike price before the expiry. If you go for the put option, you have the right (not obligation) to sell at the strike price before the expiry date. Selling these options is what creates security in this type of trading.
5. Arbitrage Trading
Arbitrage trading is another way of how to trade stocks. It involves the simultaneous buying and selling of assets. The intention is to enjoy the price differences that occur from similar financial instruments of different markets.
Arbitrage comes as a result of inefficiencies in the market. It acts as a shield against price deviation up to an unfair value over an extended period.
This type of stock trading seems quite simple, and many people consider it an easy way to make money. However, this is not the case at all times because the advancement of technology has complicated things. It’s now hard to profit due to the possibility of mispricing the market.
Traders have employed mechanisms that computerize their trading systems and keep a close watch on market fluctuations. If anything, the issues get resolved quickly, and the opportunity for investors to benefit is eliminated. But you never know, loopholes here and there are unavoidable, and that’s where stock traders creep in.
Are You Ready for Stock Trading?
There are many types of trading that beginners looking to learn how to invest in stocks should know. One of the crucial things you should consider before indulging in stock market trading is your availability, patience, and the ability to stomach risks involved.
When it comes to things involving your finances, you have to carry out all the research and weigh all possibilities of benefits and risks. The benefits and risks evaluation doesn’t end with stock trading but every financial aspect of your personal and business life.
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