Learn Stock Market Trading

Learn Stock Market Trading - A Beginners Guide to Stock Market Trading

Many people want to get into the stock market, in hopes of gaining a more substantial income or a bigger retirement plan. For what ever the reasons are, most people don't have a clue of how to get started and that is why, if your reading this article, we are going to help you get started to learn stock market trading. The first thing you need to know is the stock market is not something you can jump into blindly and it's not something your going to learn over night. If you will follow some very basic information, you will be on your way to learning the stock market trade.

The first thing you need to learn is the lingo of investing topics. You have probably been to a few sites already and may have picked up on a few things. The best way to learn is by going to different sites and familiarizing yourself with the various topics and investment news they're telling you. Websites like "MarketWatch" are good places to start reading up on financial information. The Internet is the best place to learn stock market trading and the best thing of all, it's free. Unless you want to invest more in your financial education, many sites do offer classes for a fee. However, by searching financial websites and learning how to read the charts in the back of the financial section of the newspaper, you can keep your money where it belongs, with you.

The second thing to do is read, read and then read some more, it's the only way your going to learn stock market trading and be good at it. If you don't have the fortitude to do some serious reading, then go to Vegas and try your chances at the gaming tables because you're taking a gamble any other way. There are literally thousands of books about investing and personal finances and your local bookstore and library, (another free learning source by the way), are loaded with these "do-it-yourself" kinds of books. Magazines like "Fortune" and "Business Week" are two very good sources of learning information for starters. Take advantage of all the resources available to you literally at your fingertips.

Once you've found the books, websites, newspapers and magazines that you like the best, familiarize yourself with the information in them, then start looking for the news stories that have investing angles. Investing angles are stories that tell you more than the magazine and news stories tell you. They tell you why a company may or may not do something that could affect its stock price. Newspapers and magazines are good sources of up to date and breaking company news, so always keep your eyes open.

The third thing you need know when you start to learn the stock market is yourself. Take the time to get to know yourself and your relationship with money. No matter how old you are, or how much you've been through, it's a whole different ballgame when it comes to trading your money. Learn how comfortable you are at taking risks, if you don't have respect for your money you better get some quick or your going to find yourself broke before long. Do you know why you want to invest in stocks, bonds or options? Financial security is a great feeling and now you need to find out exactly what it means to You. Taking the time to learn the stock market trade with just these first few things for starters will take you a long and hopefully profitable way to investing in the stock market. Good Luck

Did you know that most of today's top stock traders made it big without prior trading experience? Ben Sterne has been trading stocks for over 17 years and has helped many rookie traders learn the ropes and find success in the stock market. To learn more about Ben's stock trading secrets, visit his personal website here: http://www.stocktradingcash.com

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Stock Market Investment Strategies

Stock market investment strategies are like opinions, but not everyone has one. To invest in stocks without any investment strategy is to invite frustration into your financial life. If you want to make money in stocks, start by defining how you intend to play the stock investing game. Consider these three investment strategies.

To put things into prospective let's consider the 10-year period from 1999 through October of 2009, and what happened to the stock market as measured by the most popular stock performance indicator in the world, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the DOW).

The DOW first hit 10,000 in 1999. In October of 2009 it was at 10,000 again. The stock market took investors for a wild ride that took them nowhere after 10 years. Stock investing was a losing proposition and was frustrating for most people.

If you want to invest in stocks and relax a little, its time to make a basic decision in terms of investment strategies. How are you going to play the stock market? You can play short term as a trader or speculator. At the other extreme you can just buy stocks and hold them. And then there's a third choice.

Few people really make money when they invest in stocks on a short-term basis. Traders have their good days, but few profit from market swings consistently. Besides, short term speculation is at least a part time job that requires time, effort and experience.

At the other extreme, buy-and-hold is a simple investment strategy and requires virtually no effort. This investment strategy has generated long term returns in the stock market of 10% a year, over the long term, for the past 50+ years. Not so in 1999 through 2009. For ten years stock investing the easy way produced little more than acid indigestion for investors.

I suggest you kick a field goal and split the uprights right down the middle. Don't try to make money in stocks with short-term speculation; or by just buying, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.

There have always been cyclical bull and bear markets, and markets have always gone to extremes from time to time. Recognize this, and pay attention to stock prices. By checking the DOW just once a week you can get a feel for what's happening in the world of stock investing.

When you see extreme price movements it's time to act. How can you spot extremes? Get familiar with historical stock market data. A good place to start: a long-term chart of the DOW.

For example, by the year 2000 it was obvious that stocks had gone too far too fast. The only thing keeping them going up was greed. Taking emotion out of the picture, any rational being could have seen that stock prices had gone to extremes. The rational thing to do was to take some money off the table.

Or, look at the stock investing scenario in early 2009 with the DOW having fallen 50% in a few months. Was this a time to step up and buy stocks, or was the world as we know it coming to an end?

Don't view the stock market as rocket science or some other complicated thing that you can't understand. Learn the basics and follow the market on at least a weekly or even quarterly basis. Your basic investment strategy: lighten up on stocks when it looks like they've gone up to extremes. Step in and buy when there's blood in the streets.

A retired financial planner, James Leitz has an MBA (finance) and 35 years of investing experience. For 20 years he advised individual investors, working directly with them helping them to reach their financial goals.

Jim is the author of a complete investor guide, Invest Informed, designed for average investors or would-be investors of all levels of financial background and experience. To learn more about investments and investing and his new financial guide go to http://www.investinformed.com

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A great article on stock market investment strategies, whether you are day trading or investing for the long term, you need good strategies to succeed.