Stock Market And Stock Exchange Basics - More Info To Help To Help You Master Stock Trading

Submitted by: Reginald T. Hobbss

'Stock Market' as it is used in general conversation has taken on the meaning of both the business being conducted in investment markets and the physical place where most of the transactions are taking place. We can speak in broad terms about the Market being up or down and mean the general performance of many individual stock exchanges in the country, such as NYSE or Nasdaq in the United States. To use more specific language for where stocks are actually traded, the term 'Stock Exchange' is used.

Each company will generally trade its stock on one Exchange, unless the company is very large and, for example, trade in multiple countries. Each country may have several Exchanges where different companies are listed. As long as operating hours are obeyed, people around the world can trade in any country's Exchanges. Trading times are similar to, but slightly shorter than, a regular business day. Exchanges in New York are open from 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern Time and other exchanges have similar trading hours in their local time zones. Japan, India, England, Germany, Switzerland, China, and the United States host the major world Stock Exchanges. Notable among these big players are the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq, the NYSE, the AMEX, the London Stock Exchange, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Stock markets can be used as a barometer for economic health of a country. When production is high, unemployment is low, and inflation is low the market gains total value. This rise is a bull market. When stock prices start falling in a bear market, the economy is generally on a downturn. High inflation and high unemployment are usually seen at this time.

Changes in stock prices aren't entirely dictated by the health of the economy. A large part has to do with investor psychology and how it relates to changes in supply and demand. When one stock becomes a hot commodity, other investors try to join in and the price is driven ever higher. Conversely, if a number of people start to sell a stock and the price drops, others will try to sell before it drops more. This push to sell just drives down the price faster though. These psychologically driven market changes tend to be short lived and balance out in the long run. It is the economic health over time that is reflected in the long-term trends of the market.

Stocks are not the only place to invest though. Other major investment markets include Foreign Currency Exchange, Futures, and Options markets. Globally, the largest single segment of the investment sector is in Foreign Currency Exchange. Currency traders move very large sums of money between different currencies very quickly to take advantage of small fluctuations in the exchange rate. These trades usually are only owned for a day and are only profitable if the trader is very attentive to factors influencing the day's rates.

Futures Markets are designed to give buyers and sellers in volatile markets fixed prices at set times. The price for a quantity of goods is fixed in the contract, as is the time of the delivery. When the market then fluctuates, the locked in price for the contracted good means that the value of the contract itself changes. Traders in Futures are less interested in the price obtained in the contract for the goods, but are interested in the value of having that price fixed against the changing actual price of the goods.

The Options Market also deals with contracts for future prices. The difference from the Futures market is that Options allow the owner to buy at a specified price before the date given, but does not force the owner to buy that item. The Options themselves may be bought and sold, or used on a higher-risk investment as insurance. These investment tools have a high risk of loss. It requires a specialized knowledge of the option itself as well as the market it is trading in to make a profit. Most traders also benefit from having experience in a market. Stocks require less specialized knowledge to invest in with relative safety because the market as a whole changes more gradually than options on the market change. Stock traders can invest in certain ways intended to change the value of holdings very quickly, but the majority of investors put their long-term investments into stocks.

About the Author: Learn to trade like a winner. Trade stocks with confidence with exclusive tips, free tools, and techniques. Start to trade profitably with our no cost Stock Trading report for traders of all skill levels. Grab a free copy here Stock Trading Software today.

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Day Trading, Forex Or Currencies Back Testing - A Way To Improve Your Trading Score

Submitted by: David Jenyns

You can draw some useful parallels between running a business and Day Trading, Forex or Currencies trading. For instance, most successful businesses keep statistics on everything from their conversion rate, to their average dollar sale, to the number of people that come in the door. Businesses do this to keep on top of how they are doing on a day to day basis and businesses must first take score before begining to improve on that score. Using a Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan in your trading works exactly the same way.

Now that you`re looking at Day Trading, Forex or Currencies trading as a business, you need to learn some valuable statistics about your system so you can improve it`s performance. You would use a Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing method. You can`t improve your system unless you have something to measure it against. How could you expect to improve your trading unless you knew what it was you were looking to improve? You can discover these measurements and other valuable information about your trading system, by using a Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan.

There are two ways that you can use a Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan to back test a system. You can do it manually, which can be a drawn out and labour intensive process, or you can do it with the aid of some software packages. Unfortunately, I recommend you do it by hand when you first start out. You`ll get a much better feel for your system, and you`ll understand exactly how using a Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan works in all its intricacies. Once you have the Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan and the in depth knowledge, you could look at finding a software package that does it for you.

There are a few major statistics on your Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan that you need that you will uncover through back testing. The first statistic you need to become familiar with is the R multiple principal. R stands for risk, the risk you take on any trade when you enter the market. The R multiple of a trade is the ratio of the profit or loss compared to the amount of money risked to make the profit or loss.

Therefore, if you risk $200 dollars in your initial purchase, and you make a profit of $1,000, you have made five times the amount you risked in the trade. You have an R multiple of five. This statistic gives you a good idea of the relative size of your profits to your losses. You can compare the average size of your winning trades with the average size of your losing trades.

The next statistic you`ll find useful is your win to loss ratio. This is how many times you get a winning trade in proportion to how many times you get a losing trade. For example, if you had ten trades, four of those trades were winners, and six were losers, your win to loss ratio is simply four to six. This is your hit rate; you`ll get 40% of your trades correct.

With these two simple statistics, you can calculate the average size of your profits and of your losses, multiply these figures with your win to loss ratio, and calculate on average how much money you make with every dollar you risk.

For those of you who think this sounds like a too much work, particularly using a Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan that you need to do to uncover these statistics, consider this scenario: Imagine yourself trading a system that you knew had a win to loss ratio of 60/40. You made profit on every six trades and lost one out of every four. How do you think you would feel, where would your confidence level be, after you traded the system for a little while and you received a string of 11 losses in a row?

Now, you know that this system has a win to loss ratio of six to four. Would you have the confidence to open another trade if your system brought up another buy signal after getting 11 trades wrong?

Unless you use Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan to back tested your system, I doubt that your confidence level will remain high. That trading system may be a fantastic profitable system. However, since you didn`t use your Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan to back test it, you don`t know that historically this system received up to 13 losses in a row, but was still profitable.

Here`s another point you may not have picked up unless you used your Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan. Once you`ve set your money management rules and you begin to trade, you will likely experience a string of losses. Countless times, I`ve had clients who get disheartened by this fact because they don`t understand the nature of setting good management. If you`re adhering to the rules of cutting your losses short and letting your profits run, because you`re cutting your losses short, those trades are going to last for a shorter amount of time.

This means once you begin trading the odds of getting losses early in the game are much higher than getting a winning trade. This is particularly true when you consider that many successful trading systems run on a 40/60 win to loss ratio. However, you will never know the intricacies of your system unless you use a Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan and back test it.

Using a Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plan, will help you to understand what works and what doesn`t. It will give you the statistics to gauge the effectiveness of your trades. It fills in your scorecard, and allows you to make improvements. But, you shouldn`t simply believe everything I`ve told you. Instead, you need to prove it to yourself by using some Day Trading, Forex or Currencies back testing plans and back test your system.

About the Author: David Jenyns, leading expert in designing profitable trading systems, offers a huge free collection of trading related tips and tricks. http://forexcurrencytradingsystems.com/index.php

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Day Trading, Swing Trading, Or Long-Term Trading - How Do You Choose To Profit?

Submitted by: Reginald T. Hobbss

There are many different ways to profit in todays exciting stock market. Long term investing in the stock market is a good option for those who put their trust in companies that are reliable and are continuing to grow. This can yield excellent results for investors and has long been the norm in stock investing. This is not the only way to profit from today's vibrant market as there are many different trading opportunities available.

Short-term traders can also find investment opportunities in the market. Market prices can change rapidly when traders get nervous and sell their stocks or go into a buying frenzy. This type of trader psychology can make stock prices fall quickly, and sometimes rise rapidly. This may happen even when the fundamental financial numbers don’t reflect this.

Why do traders get nervous about their stocks? It could be as simple as a rumor, or more reliable resources like news reports and government concerns about the economy. This could cause an investor to think that a company will find financial trouble or increase in value. If a stock goes up or down, some traders will dive into the stock and cause the price per stock to rise quickly. The market will once again fall back into place, but quick-witted. short-term traders are smart to watch the market and take advantage of price changes that may offer a profit.

Position Traders - Of the three styles of trading, position trading has the longest term of trading. Position trading stocks may be kept for a long time as compared with day trading and others short-term stock trading methods. These traders will choose to hold on to their stocks for months to several years. Position traders will wait for a fundamental change in the financial reports, industry analysis, or stock value before they consider selling their stock. Position trading requires little time from the investor. The stock holder will simply check the market reports daily to plan their trading strategies. This is great for the person who is just looking to make a little income on the side. The investor may work a half hour a day after their regular day of work.

Swing Traders - A swing trader is an trader who generally holds stock for a short period of time, typically from one to five days. A swing trader looks to jump on market swings. This technique of trading will require a lot of time, but also can often yield sizeable return on investment. They will usually research stocks and plan investments for several hours a day. Swing traders look for trends in the market to help map out their opportunities. They use intraday and daily charts to predict how their stock may move.

Day Traders - For those who enjoy taking risks and like fast-paced trading action, day trading is a perfect way to play the market. Those who are educated day traders have learned how to decrease their risk and maximize potential profit. A day trader is someone who buys and sells stocks very quickly. The stocks could be bought and sold for a few minutes or a few hours, but always held on to for less than a day. Day traders frequently analyze data on the tick, minute, and hourly levels. This is not the place for an emotional trader. Because this type of trade requires so much time, it is only recommended for someone who wants to do this full-time.

About the Author: Discover the best Stock Trading Game info, tricks, and methods at Effective Stock Trading. Get the inside scoop with our free stock trading ebook. Grab your free copy at http://www.EffectiveStockTrading.com today.

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What is Day Trading?

Day trading offers the potential to realize a financial freedom. Today trading is much easier compared to the past with the low cost of trading technology as well as broad access to the markets. 

Traders can develop their individual trading system, execute a simple trading strategy and realize the profits on a daily basis. 

Many traders begin with mini trading accounts less than $250. A small percentage of new traders learn technical analysis and able to turn small amounts into serious sums. But a vast majority of traders lose money. 

Low capital requirements of modern trading markets make possible to try your skills first with little sums, and take a decision to continue or not.

Day trading requires time and this can be very challenging for those traders with busy lives. Sometimes plenty of time needed to sit in front of monitor for trading opportunities. 

If you are willing to execute day trading, please note that it produces high levels of stress. If you cannot challenge this situation, it is better not to day trade, because it may further lead to trading errors and increased overall risk. 

Trading in general requires steely discipline. The most successful traders are the most disciplined ones. You can read about winning trade system by clicking on the banners around this page.