Swing Trading For Beginners

The swing trader is not looking to turn a profit in a day. He will hold a stock anywhere from three days to three or four weeks.

This trading technique is most suitable for people who do not have the time to dedicate to sitting in front of a computer to monitor the markets when they are open. Many traders who are novices find swing trading to be the style that they are best suited for.

Swing traders tend to pick stocks that are traded on the big three exchanges which are the NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ. The reason that they stick with stocks traded on these markets is because they are the most actively traded markets so these stocks have the greatest chance of going very high or low in a given day. This means that the swing traders wont have to hold onto stocks too long before making a profit.

Swing traders prefer to trade when the market is not in full bull market or in full bear market. Swing traders are poised to make the most profits when the market is relatively static. The swing traders will make money with short-term movements in the market.

As a swing trader, you will not make a lot of money with one trade. The profits will be aggregated from making multiple trades over a period of time. Swing traders will only buy and sell once the stock has reached its baseline, so that they could make their trade at the best possible moment to get the most bang for their buck.

A swing trader will attempt to earn a 10-15% gain on his investment, which makes it a viable strategy for beginners, but would also have enough profit potential to interest intermediate traders too. To make the most gains, swing traders try to sell their stocks as close to the upper or lower margins without jeopardizing their chance at missing the large gains. If a swing trader waits too long he runs the risk of the market turning around and hell wind up losing money instead of gaining.

With practice, a swing trader can learn to read the market indicators and avoid this from happening often.

The great thing about swing trading is that beginners find out pretty quickly whether their decisions to buy or sell have paid off, which can be an enormous incentive to continue. Swing trading isnt as quick as day trading to see a return on your investment, but it also doesnt require the attention to market conditions and details that is necessary for day trading to be successful.

In addition, swing trading is also a lot less stressful than day trading. Day traders often find themselves stressing over all of the stock trades they have to make in a day and hope that they have made the correct decision.

How Does Day Trading Work?

Day Trading is the name given to buying and selling stocks and shares (and forex) during a trading day. The trades (or positions) are usually opened and closed within the same trading day, sometimes even in minutes. The aim, as in all stock market trading, is to sell for a higher price than you bought. You have to bear in mind that there will be a spread (the difference between the buy price (the Ask) and the sell price (the Bid). This varies depending on which broker you trade with.

So, for example, if you have a stock that has a 1 cent per point (or Tick) and the share price is quoted as 50 cents, this is called the Mid price and is what you'll see in the morning newspapers. If there is a four point spread, the Ask would be 52 cents and the Bid would be 48 cents. The spread is used as the brokers commission and to pay other fees. So in the example above, if you bought at the Ask of 52, you would have to make up the spread before you break even, so the Bid price would have to reach 53 before you would be in profit.

Spreads vary between brokers and markets. You might find a 4 point spread on NASDAQ but a 10 point spread on S & P, so ideally you need to shop around to see who is giving the best deal for you. There are plenty of brokers on the Internet, and quite a few financial spread betting firms who will gladly and easily open an account for you. Most will let you open a virtual account so that you can paper trade until you get used to it and there is a very good Day Trading Simulator available free on the Internet. But remember this : Day Trading is in reality a form of gambling, so only use what you can afford to lose and get yourself a plan.

Commodity Trading Involves High Risk With High Reward

Commodity trading is the buying and selling of contracts of items that we use everyday. It is the trading of primary or raw products. Some of the items traded in the commodities market include such common, everyday items as: soy beans, cotton, orange juice, cocoa, sugar, wheat, corn, barley, pork bellies, milk, feedstuffs, fruits, vegetables, other grains, other beans, hay, other livestock, meats, poultry, and eggs. Energy items that are traded on the commodity markets include oil, natural gas, electricity, and gasoline. The commodity speculators in the energy market were blamed for the recent price increase in the cost of gasoline at the pump.

Buying and selling commodities is very similar to buying stocks and bonds on the stock market but with much more risk. Since it is much more volatile, commodity trading is very speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and is designed only for sophisticated investors who are able to bear the loss of more than their entire investment. It is not for the investor with a weak stomach! However, commodity trading is a battle between return and risk. Because of the leverage involved, you can achieve a higher rate of return than from most other forms of investment, but at a higher risk.

Commodities trade on different markets than typical stocks. For example, most people are familiar with NASDAQ or NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) for trading stocks and bonds. But commodities are traded on the world market. A few of these places are the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) (these two exchanges trade much of the grain and agricultural commodities), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (for livestock and meat), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) for energy, and the London Metal Exchange for precious metals like gold and silver.

Since it is so risky and speculative, many investors shy away from investing in commodities. However, it can be a very lucrative way to make money if you have the stomach for its wild ups and downs.