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.

Investing 101 - Invest in Forex Currency Trading Now!

If you are just beginning to learn your way around the foreign exchange market, you must still be out researching for anything that says "Investing 101" so you can settle on a stable ground as you feel your way through the business.

A simple scenario to explain how currency value fluctuates is through a tourist. This tourist who may have US dollars in his pocket and is on a business trip in Europe, will have to convert his dollars to the Euro if he would be there for some time. Shopping around would be easier for him as well as doing any transactions that involve money. When he returns to the US, he will have to exchange his Euros for dollars again so he can use whatever amount he has left from his trip.

Professional traders on the other hand, buy and sell currencies on a high level. Some are transacting in terms of hundreds and thousands of dollars. The great thing about forex is you need not have so much capital to start up. What's more, you can get onboard now through the Internet, when before, only the large banks and companies dominate the forex market.

Now for an Investing 101 tip, you should be disciplined enough when you start with your forex endeavors. This behavior could easily spell out one's success at the forex. Discipline entails hard work in researching and planning so that you can get yourself prepared for the up and downtrends in foreign exchange. Discipline also asks for one's ability to continue investing and refining his strategies even after a loss.

Investing 101 tip number 2 is to become more patient and persistent. An investor's persistent attitude toward success is essentially the trait that will take him to huge profits at the right time and with proper planning. The follow-through on the plans and strategies that have been put up would result positively if the investor, who is willing to take risks, is also willing to push through the odds.

Probably one of the better items in Investing 101 is to learn to accept losses. No trading system, strategy, or method is 100% fail-proof. Losses are bound to happen every now and then because that is part of the natural cycle of foreign exchange trading. Those who have been successful in forex have learned to lose and stand up from their mistakes. They adjust their strategies and they move on with better plans and keener goals to hit the jackpot.

Another surefire tip in the Investing 101 list is the conscious effort to use stops. In the forex market, stops are used to refer to an allowance or a distance from the price entered, in case the market moves away from the expected result. Stops prevent the investor from losing too much by eating up excessive amounts from the capital. When one is too stiff and strong headed about his speculations and continues to risk without putting on the stops, he is bound to lose so much money.

More importantly, Investing 101 recommends a log. Investors should religiously keep track of their moves and how the currencies are performing at any given time so they can do some trending charts that can be used as tools for trading much more successfully.

What Are the Different Ways of Investing Money With Currency Trading?

When looking to gain some profit in the foreign exchange market, one should get himself armed with the different ways of investing money with currency trading. There are a lot of ways to move around the ever-liquid forex market and here are some of them:

Practice makes perfect too, in forex

Like the athletes or performers who exert much effort in practicing to perfect their crafts, a forex investor should also start learning his way through by practicing actual trading at a minimum level first. There are online forex systems now that can help in making a beginners become more familiar with the forex business first before actually diving. These forex trading systems employ demo accounts that users can use temporarily so they can simulate how they are going to earn or lose at the forex.

Be aware of market conditions and world economies

When you get yourself involved in the foreign exchange business and you are keen in know all the different ways of investing money with currency trading, you should regularly and consistently be updated about business in your country and the whole world. The figures and trends that happen in actual can dictate any significant changes in the values of currencies.

Know the strategies and use them to the best of your ability. When you have set a plan, stick to it and just adjust it here and there as the market condition changes. As there are different ways of investing money, there are also a lot of strategies involved. These strategies are the carry, momentum, and value trade.

Carry is the strategy to sell currencies with low interest rates and buy currencies with high rates. Momentum is mindful of the direction or trend of the current market. Value strategy is used depending on an investor's speculation of the currencies' values. Which strategy to choose is entirely up to the user's discretion.

The different ways of investing money are somewhat dependent on the person's emotional quotient towards risks. Forex is a very risky business and one that results very huge losses as a consequence. If one is keen at investing and considering that risks are part of it all, then he can become successful at the forex if he would be able to manage his money and emotions very well.

Stick to your chosen currency pairs. That is the key to becoming successful at forex. Instead of watching and carefully studying so many pairs of currencies, just zoom in to 1 or 2 and exert efforts to know more about these currencies' movements and trending. One of the different ways of investing money with currency trading is to invest on the tried and tested currencies.

Plan very well based on a lot of research work. This could help you as you try on the different ways of investing money with currency trading. Use charts to establish the trends of the currencies you are watching. Subscribe to online updates on the minute-by-minute data and statistics that can help you trade currencies.

Online Investing - Invest in Foreign Currency Now!

The Foreign Exchange, simply known as Forex, market is reportedly the biggest and most liquid market of all financial markets the world over. Banks, governments, multinational corporations, currency speculators, central banks, individual traders, and all other financial markets and institutions trade in the Forex market, also referred to as the currency market because foreign currencies are what's traded in this kind of market. These days, more and more people are choosing online investing as opposed to the traditional type of investing method, and this article will tell you why.

The Forex market is said to be unique because of many characteristics, including its trading volumes, extreme liquidity, long trading hours, geographical diversity and dispersion, the variety of factors that affect exchange rates or the value of a particular currency, the vast number and variety of traders, the relatively low margins of profit compared to other markets that have fixed income, and the use of leverage. Reports have announced that equities have been, for many investors, the road to wealth. Selecting the currency market is the best decision you can make, considering all the traits mentioned above and the fact that the Forex market offers unparalleled thrill and excitement among all other equity markets. By engaging in online investing, you can benefit from the advantages that foreign currency trading poses.

Online investing, as the name implies, pertains to the kind of investing that is done through the Internet. As an investor, you don't have to leave the comforts of your home or the office to join in any trading activity. All you need is a reliable Internet connection and you're ready to take on the world. You can participate in foreign currency trading any time and anywhere you want. Most people who trade in the Forex market opt to trade online primarily because it's convenient and hassle-free.

Another thing that investors consider an advantage in online investing is the efficiency in trading and managing their portfolios online. To avail of this benefit, however, you must devote a certain amount of education and research. As an investor, you must learn the secrets of the trade in order to know where your money's going. You can find several websites that offer new investors basic information and the latest in financial tools.

One tool you can use to ensure that your investment in foreign currency trading pays off is an automated trading bot, which is a robot designed to do the trading for human investors who like to enjoy their free time and not spend all of their hours monitoring the charts and deciding on entry and exit points.

Online investing is creating quite a buzz in the Internet. With the rising cost of living these days, it's not hard to understand why people continue to look for other jobs apart from the one they already have just to make ends meet. By investing in foreign currency online, you don't have to worry about spending too much time and effort and you're sure to earn the money you need.

Day Trading - What's it Really All About? Choices That Lead to Stellar Success and Unlimited Wealth

There's an old Buddhist saying, As within, So without.

You may think its all about the charts, the fundamentals, your system and the unprecedented world economy, but haven't there been times when you sensed there was something more to it?

Me too. Being tuned in to all that is what separates the super traders from the guys who are second mortgaging their home hoping to make a come back.

Aside from the obvious, not putting too great a percentage of your overall nugget in any one trade, how does one keep the emotional element out of decision-making? Is this emotional element the same thing as your gut feeling? It's easy to confuse the two and it's well worth learning to discern the difference.

Keeping notes is critical, but not just about the numbers. Taking time to notice your own patterns is invaluable in the long run if there is to be a long run.

Over-confidence can be just as deadly as under-confidence. And playing when you really don't have the juice to, but feel like you need to can also have its consequences,

There really aren't a lot of women out there trading, not relatively, so for a long time I thought it was only because I had focused on my inner work for so long that I was naturally using my trades as way of flushing out my deeper issues---resistance to having more than enough or the compulsion to keep trading when I had already done well enough for the time being.

But then I attended one of those weekend workshops with the best of the best. And on the very first day my trading coach said, the market is mirror---a stark mirror.

That, to me, was worth the price of admission!

Day Trading Advice From Tiger Woods

What advice could Tiger Woods possibly have for you as a trader? What could he possibly know about hitting a bid or getting out of a bad trade? When has Tiger ever felt the pressure to pay the bills with his next trade?

I would hope it is safe to assume that anyone reading this is savvy enough to know who Tiger Woods is. He is the worlds #1 golfer by a mile and he is projected by Forbes to become the first billionaire athlete by 2010.

If you ever hope to be successful, and hopefully enormously successful you absolutely positively need to take the advice I am about to give you. Study successful people. Not just successful traders. It doesn't matter if it is a grand master at chess, a violinist, a professional athlete, a dancer or a cook or a single mom raising 6 kids.

I am not talking about learning what they do; I am talking about listen to what they say about how they got there, what kind of effort it takes to get there, and what it takes to stay as one of the best. I am sure you want to succeed as a trader. I am sure you want to earn more money than you ever thought possible. I am sure you "want" it. Well I am here to tell you that wanting it is not enough, sorry to throw cold water on your face but it's the truth.

You need a burning desire. How do you know if you have burning desire? Are you willing to get a part time job while you are learning to pay your bills? Do you go to the office every day early and stay late every day to ask questions of those who are succeeding? Do you faithfully keep a journal every day?

When you were a kid did you practice because you wanted to or because you had to? Winners never have to be told to try a little harder next time. Winners never have to be asked to stay late to practice.

Do you go to the bookstore in your spare time or do you watch 6 hours of TV? Let me tell you a universal truth, how you spend your spare time is how you will spend your future.

One of the best places to read about success on a daily basis is Investor Business Daily, the "leaders and success" page in the front section. I have a shoe box full of these articles that I go back to once in a while to get re energized.

So what does all this have to do with Tiger Woods? In case you aren't a golf fan, last week he won the US OPEN (one of the 4 major events in golf) with a torn ACL ligament in his knees and two stress fractures in his other leg.

Although that was impressive, that's not the point I wanted to make. I was watching the interviews with him on the Golf Channel after the match and here is the quote that struck me. "I basically spend the entire tournament trying to minimize mistakes until a few good opportunities present themselves." To the casual observer this probably didn't mean that much, to me, well I almost fell off my chair.

Tiger Woods just explained how to be a successful trader. Tiger Woods says the secret to his success is minimizing mistakes. Spend your day following your plan, and a few trades will end up presenting an opportunity for a better score (profits). In the mean time as the day unfolds just minimize mistakes and stay in the game. Pay attention to those who are successful, if you are aware you will get clues.

One last quote to leave you with, one of my favorites. It was to Maria Callas, the most renowned opera singer of the 1950's. A young aspiring singer walked up to her and said "I would give my life to be as good as you." Callas casually looked at her and responded "I already have." Think about it that is pretty profound.

3 Most Common Mistakes Traders Make

Now if you have been trading for a few months, you will realize that there are very few things that you need to do right to make money.

On the other hand, there are a lot of things or habits you have to avoid if you intend to make consistent profits.

Here are the 3 most common mistakes or bad habits new traders pick up which ultimately lead to their failure.

1) No proper thought out trading plan

Many traders will insist that they have a trading plan all thought up nicely already. Also these same traders will say that they are also in touch with market forces. But the bottom line shows the results! Regardless of what you may say or feel, the truth will e shown in your profit/loss statement. Do you make consistent profits, if you don't make profits then there is something wrong. Usually it means that there is a small but crucial portion that may have been overlooked by the trader. Correct that and watch your profits soar!

2) Lack of discipline

I say this a hundred times, I will say it a thousand times more! Discipline is the most important thing that a trader needs. You don't need a fancy degree, or insider information or knowledge of the newest technical indicator. What a trader needs to succeed is nothing more than then ability to discipline his/her mind and actions. When I say discipline, I mean physical, mental, and emotional discipline. This discipline can be acquired in a variety of ways. We will cover that in another article, but remember traders who do not have the discipline to follow their plan, do not have the discipline to follow their money management rules always end up giving their hard earned money away to the people who have discipline. If you want to succeed in any sort of trading, discipline is a very big must have.

3) Poorly set money management rules

Gunning for the top dollar is all well and good. The thing about looking up at the sky when you walk is that you might miss the hole in front of your feet. That is what usually kills the new trader. The greed level becomes too high and the want for instant gratification blinds all rational thought. Sounds too far-fetched? Ask yourself when you last traded and there was the opportunities for more profit did you ignore all your pre-set money management rules and went for the kill? We if you are like 90% of the traders in the market then you most likely did. This forms a bad habit, regardless of whether you made or lost money. It is worse if you made, as the fleeting success will build on the false promise that betraying your own rules is a good thing. In the long term there will be more failed trades than successful ones. Each time you take a gamble and plunge in, you will only end up poorer.

In conclusion, the above-mentioned 3 points are highly common mistakes or habits that are form when the trader is relatively young. If the trader can safely keep away from these 3 mistakes then you as a trader can highly increase your profits and make trading a way of living.

The Fundamentals of Fundamental Analysis

Fundamental analysis helps to determine the prices of the stock. It is also known as stock valuation method. But remember that it is not necessary that the price determine by fundamental analysis is always right. It helps to determine the prices of a company (in a market). It helps to determine whether the company is running in loss or it is earning profits. It includes the financial and non - financial information of the company. It help you to decide whether to invest or not in a particular company. It gives an idea whether a particular company is running in loss or it is running in profits. It gives a brief idea about a particular company.

Fundamentalists' general strategies

Fundamental analysis help fundamentalist to move towards intrinsic value of a company. If the current value is lower that intrinsic value the investor would buy the stock, if the current value is higher than intrinsic value the investor would not buy that particular stock. Before investing in the particular company the fundamentalist would examine the past and the present history of that company. That would give you an idea whether to invest or not in a particular company

Fundamental analysis expression

One should have an idea about fundamental analysis before starting. The following are the some important analysis expression that one should keep in mind

1. Earning per share

You should try to find how much profit does the company allocate to its outstanding share? The amount is calculated by dividing net profit with the number of outstanding share.

2. Price/ Eps ratio

It is also known as "earning multiple". Price is divided by the profits earned on each share. It helps to get information about companies past profit and it also provides the information regarding the company's next year profits. It would give you an idea that how much profit does the company gives to its investors.

3. Dividend

Dividend is the amount of profit that the company gives to its investors. Some part of the profit is reivestved in the business while the remaining profit is distributed among the investors of that particular company.

Before investing in any company investors should keep all this points in mind.

The Key to Trading Profits

When you trade do you want to make money for yourself or would you like to give money away to others? Does it seem a strange question asked? Honestly this is no strange question, because this is the question I ask myself each and every time I enter into a trade.

Why would I go to such extremes (I even have it written on a large board in-front of the area that I do my trading)

This is to remind me of the key to trading profits. Yes, both you and I have in our possession the key to all trading profits. Just what this key is you may ask, well I tell you now, it is your mind. More precisely it is how you use your mind to think.

A lot of literature have been written on the power of thoughts, so I will not delve deep into this subject. Suffice to say, you and I have the power to change our bottom line, by changing the way we think. When you change the way you think you will change the way you behave.

Wouldn't you agree that trading is nothing more that making an educated guess that investment either goes up or down? But then how do professional traders make money so consistently day in and day out. Why can't you emulate the same success?

The reason lies in the way you think. It is that simple! Do you get emotional and angry and resentful when you lose money? Do you feel that you have been cheated and hurt by the trade that should have made you money but turned against you? Do you want to recoup your loses each time you lose in a trade? If you answered yes to any of the above, do not fret because you are just like the rest of the traders in the world.

The successful trader can curb these impulses, use that energy and research and then enter a new based on a pre-planned strategy! These traders leave all frustrations and all negative energy outside of their mind when they trade.

You hold the key to your trading success in your mind; can you change the way you think? Yes you can because if there is one thing you have full control of in your life that is your mind. So harness the power of your mind and make the difference shown in your profits.

Why New Traders Fail

There is a lot of hype in the online world that lures many from all walks of life to try their hand at trading. Only a few succeed to make any money, most almost 95% fail and lose their account. There are a couple of simple reason why this happens. In this article we will list them out, and hopefully the young trader can avoid such mistakes.

1. Too eager for profits. This is the number one killer I believe. Why I say this is because many young traders succumb to the greed that is the curse of us humans. We want to make quick profits and in that want we take risks that we would normally not take. In fact we do the craziest things and actually believe that it becomes something that would "just for us" We create a fantasy world and live there!

2. Not enough learning. This is really the 2nd biggest killer. Now you might e screaming out loud saying you have read and bought every book every written on trading. So why aren't you making a killing? Knowledge and learning are different matters. Learning is taking that knowledge and applying it to each and every action you do. If you have the knowledge but take no action on it, then it is same as the trader who has none.

3. No proper trading plan. Now a trading plan is not a jumbled collection of wants. A proper trading plan lists out each and every action you will take at each juncture of the trade. It must clearly spell out, what your profit objectives are, what is your risk level, your stop loss, when to enter, how to exit the trade. And to top things off it must be so simple that a 5 year old could do it! Sounds like a tall order? Not really, read my free ebook to find out how you can do all that.

4. Discipline. Most traders would say that their discipline is really there, but sometimes things happen in the trade and you know...stuff happens...I get that so often it starts to become funny. These are excuses, and if you have been telling yourself that it is time to stop and take stock. Manage your mind and you will be able to manage your trading. That will lead to profits coming in consistently.

Do not wonder why the above mentioned sounds so common sense. You have been given pointers, the only thing that separates the old you and the new profitable new you, is the action you will take now. Choose wisely and take responsibility for your choice.