The Harsh Reality
As a general rule, most people think that entering the stock market and start making money soon go hand in hand, I disagree. Several articles related to the topic claim that 87% of people entering the financial markets, whether for long-term investments, for day-trading, stock-trading, options, or simply swing-trading, lose money.
If you want to enter this financial “world” as an escape from your daily life, and you’re thinking you’re going to earn hundreds or thousands of dollars after a few months, then, this article is not for you, because I am not going to lie to you.
But wait, don’t be disappointed. It’s not all bad. You don’t need a degree in management or economics to start investing in the stock market. I have been investing for over 2 years and my degree is in marketing. I also know many cases of known investors, who today make this a full-time profession, and they do not have a college education or even completed high school.
So buckle up and listen carefully! First things first, I’ll simplify the financial markets for you in 5 easy steps:
1. Building Good Foundations
Like everything in life, something healthy is not built starting from the roof, pass the expression. First, it is necessary to build a concrete base, with good foundations, that will support the whole journey and the project in a healthy way. In this case, when I refer to foundations, I mean the basic concepts and strategies. You need to know what are stocks, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, day-trading, stocks, the options market, etc…
2. Knowing Who Am I As a Trader, And What My Strategy Will Be
As a general rule, all individuals have their own market strategy. There are those who start in the markets to invest “piece-by-piece” in one or two stocks with high value, and those who are already preparing their retirement. There are others, who want to exchange an index, or a stock, in one day, and leave on the same day, reaping the fruits of performances (whether positive or negative), of that day. There are still others (like me), who are called hybrids, who are in the stock market to earn some extra money with quick entries and exits and, at the same time, plan for a future, ten or twenty years from now, betting on stocks that (we think) have good value or the perfect future performance. For each of these strategies, there are methods that can be used to shorten the space of success. This takes me to step number 3:
3. The Know-How of a Good Market Analysis
Two analyzes, two strategies: Technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Due to the complexity and extensive work of the second one, I’ll be talking only about the first one, as it is the ideal way for more beginner investors.
Technical analysis allows us to draw more structured conclusions, and with logic, based on graphics. This method is made to the corresponding graph of the stock, index, or commodity that you want to exchange. A good reading of the chart with a set of techniques, interpretations, and daily records, can lead to good results. Depending on a confident and intelligent analysis, you will then have the option to buy or sell the position you wish to hold. For this, I recommend checking: Investing.com, Atom, or even Yahoo Finance. These platforms have charts, indices, news, and even “winners and losers”, of daily stocks.
4. Choosing a Trading Platform
The range is vast, so we can talk about the various platforms that exist and which is the easiest to understand and use. We have several options, such as the best-known ones like Plus500, IQ Option, E*Trade, among others, and all of them, have their own designs, schemes, and analysis techniques that would take hours to introduce, but if you want a detailed and quick overlook on these, and others, be sure to check out BestStockTradingApp.com. I’m going to talk about the one I use, which was easier for me to start on, and which I still use today (being my favorite): eToro.
EToro is probably the easiest platform for beginners, as it has an intuitive design, easy to use, it’s beautiful and intelligent. Obviously, eToro marketing was designed for that very reason, encouraging you to choose this platform to trade instead of another. I chose it, because it allows analyzing the choices of professional investors, knowing what they think or what are they betting on, through the community. It ends up being kind of a Social Media platform for trading, where you can make posts, follow people, and most importantly, and, in my opinion, what makes eToro so famous, the possibility of copying investors.
5. Explore The Platform, Know The Mechanics And Use It Well
Your performance as a trader will always be affected by your understanding of the markets, technical and fundamental analysis, as well as your involvement with the platform you chose and use. I’ve read about investors who have lost and keep losing money because they don’t really know the platform they are using. I’m the perfect example of it, as I did some mistakes at the beginning because I didn’t know the platform very well, which is normal for many users who are starting. But you can be different, as I’m here to help you not to commit the same mistakes as I did. You need to STUDY your platform first!
In addition to this, eToro for example (and many others) give you the opportunity to explore with “playing money”, allowing you to become familiar not only with the platform but with all the logic of trading itself. With that in mind, go, and test, (not without first having studied the foundations as I mentioned in the first, second, and third points).
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, the financial markets are not guaranteed “fish in the tank”, it is an arduous process, which involves a lot of studies, reading, analysis, patience, and, above all, a lot of power and mental balance. However, with time, everything can be achieved, believe me. I didn’t know if I would be able to enter and enjoy this stock market experience, however, it has been above all a fun and exciting ride. In a double way of concluding, in this specific case, fun represents hard work at first, and the more study you do, the more profit you will have, and consequently, more enjoyment. See you later!