Stock trading is an essential source of income for many people worldwide. According to the World Federation of Exchanges, in 2009, investors traded more than $181 trillion worth of securities. If you want to start with stock trading, you should know some basic terms before putting any money down.

Stock Exchange

The main objective of most stock exchanges is to provide a secure method for buying and selling stock. For buyers, this means that your money will end up where it is supposed to go; with sellers, this means trusted payment methods with protection against frauds and cheats. Some exchanges also have physical locations where individuals can trade face-to-face instead of electronically. These physical locations are called “stock exchanges.”

Stock Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

A stock ETF is an investment fund that owns the stocks of a particular industry or sector, otherwise known as “sectors.” This allows you to divide your money equally across an entire industry without investing in individual companies. For example, suppose you wanted exposure to the financial sector but didn’t risk investing in specific banks and insurance companies. In that case, you could buy ETFs representing certain sub-industries within finance instead.

Short Selling vs Buying Stocks

When you buy a stock, you profit when its price goes up over time. However, sometimes a stock’s price can go down even though it has been doing very well. This is generally seen as bad, but savvy investors can take advantage of these situations by short-selling the stock until its price recovers.

Types of Shares

There are two main types of shares, common stock and preferred stock. Common stockholders enjoy voting rights in the company’s annual general meeting (AGM), electing new directors or changing by-laws. Preferred shareholders are only entitled to receive dividends after common shareholders are paid.

What Affects The Price?

Stock prices are subject to fluctuation. A host of factors can affect a stock price – company earnings, industry performance, economic climate and market conditions among them. To calculate the value of a stock, investors consider its earnings per share.

For example, if a company operates on a 20% net margin and 10 million shares are outstanding, it will have a net income of $2 million for that fiscal year. If it wants to attract long-term investments from shareholders, it must show an increase in earnings over last year’s number because otherwise, the price would drop due to no growth. That is why companies resort to mergers or going public through IPOs (Initial Public Offerings), giving them more funds

for future expansion.

Day Trading

In general, day trading is when you buy and sell stocks within the same day based on how their prices fluctuate concerning each other. You can make money off this by buying low and selling high until all of your investments have been turned into cash.

However, because many people do this, you will have to find a way to distinguish yourself from everyone else if you want to achieve consistent profits. This kind of strategy typically only works for those with experience in financial markets or who work with a trained professional who can guide them on when to buy and sell since there are no guarantees for the stock market.

Industry-Specific ETFs

One of the most efficient ways to invest in a particular sector is purchasing an industry-specific Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). This strategy allows investors to diversify their portfolios while limiting risk simultaneously because, even if one part of your investment does poorly, others within that sector should be doing well enough to make up for it.

Summary

If you want to start trading shares, always ask yourself what will move a particular stock’s price, try to stick with well-established companies and look at market trends before opening a trade. New traders are advised to use a reputable online broker from saxo bank and trade on a demo account to practise different strategies before investing real money.