The world of trading has never been more accessible; anyone who wants to begin trading in stocks, shares, and other financial instruments can now do so with ease. However, before you begin trading, you need to know what you will be trading and how to trade it. In this article, we are going to take a look at two of the most prominent forms of trading – stocks and shares trading, and index fund trading.
Investing in Stocks
When you buy stocks and shares in a business, you essentially become a part-owner of that business. Each stock and share will represent a fraction of ownership. As you would expect, the amount of money you can make, either through the sale of stocks and shares or through dividend payments, is proportional to the portion of the business that you own. Conversely, should the business run into difficulties or fail completely, your financial liability will be proportional to the number of stocks and shares that you own.
Investors that trade in stocks and shares might be on the lookout for new businesses that show extraordinary promise, and can therefore produce extraordinary returns on relatively modest investments. However, they might also be looking out for already established businesses that represent a safer bet, albeit with a reduced potential for massive returns.
Trading in stocks and shares is relatively simple; the underlying principles are easy to understand even if you have no previous experience with investing. It is also easy to appreciate the risks and rewards involved in trading stocks and shares. While individual businesses are obviously impacted by wider market conditions, investors who are new to trading only need to get to grips with a relatively small range of data in order to assess whether a business is worth investing in or not.
Investing in Index Funds
An index fund is different from stocks and shares. It is essentially a collection of individual stocks that is designed to track a specific index. In the parlance of investors, stock indexes are usually referred to as a “basket of stocks.”
An interesting feature of stock indexes is that you don’t actually have to own any of the stocks within the basket in order to trade them. There are also stock indexes that are pegged to a specific category of stock. One of the best-known examples of this is the Nasdaq index, which is comprised entirely of non-financial companies.
The Benefits of Trading Indices
There are a number of reasons that many experienced investors prefer trading indices to trading individual stocks and shares. The most significant benefit of trading stock indexes over individual stocks is diversity. Because stock indexes incorporate a variety of different stocks, investors are somewhat shielded from the impacts of one business or market suffering losses.
Trading stock indexes that are based in different locations and markets enables traders to keep trading 24/7, which is beneficial to investors who want to conduct their trades at specific hours, such as part-time traders who are supplementing their main income with trading.
While trading in stocks and shares is the best place for a new investor to start, there are a number of good reasons to eventually graduate to trading stock indices. Regardless of what you trade or how, it is essential to research beforehand so you know exactly what you are getting into.