The Key To Successful Online Stocks Trading

If you have ever considered online stocks trading, now is a great time to get involved. Stocks are still down across the board but we are getting close to the turning point in this recession where everything will start to go up. This is great news if you are just starting out because chances are any stock you pick is going to increase in value as the whole market ride a wave to recovery.

There are never any guarantees with the market, a painful lesson a lot of us learned over the past year and a half, but a century of historical data shows that even with its rises and dips, the stock market always rises over the long term.

Indeed, "The long term" is the key to online trading success. So, you'll actually make money if you hold on to a stock as long as you're patient. It is usually the people betting on short term gains that get badly burned in the market.

So if you have started to think seriously about online stocks trading, you need to first make yourself a budget. Simply put, the money you can afford to lose is the money you can afford to invest in the stock market. The money should be in the bank where it safe, if you need to pay some bills the next month.

That way, if you are never forced to pull money out of the market, then you will rarely lose any. Because if a stock goes down, all you have to do is hold on to it and wait. Unless the company has totally imploded, the stock will usually recover in time.

To get started with online stocks trading, you need to create an account with a reputable online broker. Pick one that is well known as they will have the most secure websites. You don't want to rist yourself with identity theft, so this is very important for you since you will be sharing your personal banking info and credit card to set up an account. The stock market is risky enough!

Once you have found a brokerage site that you like, you can start researching and picking stocks. My advice to those just starting out with online stocks trading is to buy small amounts of inexpensive stocks to start. This will allow you to spread your risk around and if any of your choices turns out to be a mistake it will not wipe out your whole portfolio.

Online stocks trade should fun and by investing small amounts you can get involved with more companies which increases the rate at which you will learn about the market. My advice is buy a few reliable stocks and then take a little more risk with those that are volatile. It prevents you from losing it all while gives you a chance of hitting it big.

Stock Trading Online - What You Must Know

The process of stock trading has of course evolved a lot over the years as technology as developed. In the early part of the 20th century you had to physically visit a stock brokers office or trading room to buy and sell stocks.

When the postal mail became into common use you could then buy and sell stocks by mailing a letter to your broker, of course today nobody would dream of doing either of these.

Today the most used method of trading is either using the telephone or stock trading online. When using the telephone to trade stocks you can still do it by speaking to a broker and giving them your clear instructions, or you can do it all yourself by using some form of menu system using the digital key pad.

But by far the most common form of trading is done online, so what do you need to know about stock trading online?, more than you may think!

Here are some points that you may not have considered:

1. Virtually every broker can do stock trading but what about options, Forex and futures?. While you may not be interested in trading either Forex or futures it is quite likely that at some time you will want to trade options online, even if it is just covered calls. Make sure that your chosen broker allows you to trade all the markets that you want to.

2. Of course the fee's charged by your online broker is an obvious point to check, the fee's can vary a lot and if you are doing hundreds or thousands of trades a year it can add up to quite a lot of cash. Did you know that you can just call up your online broker and ask for a reduced commission charge?, yes you can, I've done it. Of course they don't advertise it but if you do a lot of trades they will want to keep your business.

3. Have you planned what you will do if you are in a trade and your internet connection goes down for any reason, it could be a power failure, problems with the internet or your PC crashing?. If you are day trading you will want to telephone your broker and manage your trade, probably you will just want to close it. How will your broker deal with your call, will they answer quickly, will they look at charts for you and describe what is going on?. Make sure that your broker has good telephone support.

4. Are your trading funds safe?, make sure that your broker is a member of SIPC, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which protects against losses caused by the financial failure of the broker-dealer, but not against losses resulting from depreciation in a security's value. Usually trading accounts are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), up to $500,000 (including up to $100,000 for cash claims).

Whatever you decide to do, before trading stocks, options or anything else make sure that you get a good trading education by reading the best trading books that you can.