Monday, February 9, 2009

Tips And Principles Of Trading For The Average Investor

By: JesseProfit

It can be difficult to trust the stock market with your money, whether you are new to trading, or are a veteran investor. The stock market has been a place where many investors have made both incredible gains, as well as loses, which are often much larger than the level of investment placed into stocks. It can be a bit overwhelming when faced with the realities and movement of the stock market on a daily basis for the less experienced investor.

Once the average investor starts to make headway, they will realize the market is not as overwhelming as they initially assumed. Especially if the investor takes notice of some of the general stock trading principles available, which can guide them in the investment market, allowing them to make money while still protecting the principal that they've invested.

One principle that an investor should pay close attention to is what many professionals refer to as churning. It is one of the largest stock trading principles that an investor can heed. A trader with online account access can oftentimes feel the tempted to actively trade their investments on the tiniest up and down, in an attempt to profit from each move while avoiding losses. In the long run, a strategy like this will not pay off as the unseasoned investor cannot time the market well enough. Therefore, trading in this manner is ill advised.

The effect churning has on your portfolio is to eat away at your profits, due to the brokerages charging commissions to trade your stocks for you. Therefore, a person who churns their portfolio will be left with a loss as they see their small profits disappear once the commissions have been charged on every trade.

An important stock trading principle that every investor should heed is to always remember to do one's homework prior to purchasing stock with a company, even if the purchase is with a company that the investor deals with regularly. The stock trading tools available on the internet should be taken advantage of, as with only a few clicks they allow the typical investor to keep their eye on a company's financial conditions, outlook and movement.

Charts and financial summaries are additional tools that allow both the season and less experienced investor to do a deeper fundamental analysis to compare companies and industries, and give them a better view of whether a firm can make it in the long run. In many cases, a surface analysis of a company versus its competition is enough to provide an abundance of information that will allow an investor to make a well informed decision.

A third of these important stock trading principles is to actively follow, but not obsess, over the performance of your portfolio. Many investors have the \"leave it alone\" attitude that they can simply buy stock, let it sit over time, and make money. Often, this can be the case given the average long term return of the stock market, but earning money in the market is never assured.

Make sure that you are up to date on the general news that is coming out of the companies that you hold stock in, and take note of any major developments in the industry or in the economy that could impact the company in the short term or long term. If you are fairly current on the news that comes out about these companies, you can be better prepared to pull the trigger on a trade and follow one of the best stock trading principles ever stated: Buy low, sell high.

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