What do you need to trade online?

One of the most exciting things that the internet offers us is the chance to invest online. This has opened up countless possibilities that simply never existed before.

If you want to trade stocks, commodities or currencies then you can now do so very easily from your home simply by following a few pieces of advice.

Basic Equipment and an Internet Connection

The first point to make is that there is absolutely no need to get hold of any special equipment to do this. A normal computer is more than enough to handle this on your behalf. Having said that, there are some laptops that are perfect for stock trading if you want added flexibility without losing any power.

In fact, you can also carry out mobile trading on a phone or tablet if that suits you better. In the same way, you don’t need a particularly fast internet connection either. The only time that this truly matters is when you plan to mine cryptocurrencies in order to then trade them. In this case, you need a powerful computer in order to carry out the mining part.

Time and Patience

Trading online can turn into a fascinating and potentially rewarding hobby if you can dedicate the time to it. Watching how the markets evolve and react is great fun but it does take a fair amount of time and effort. You can find out lots of valuable information on sites such as Financial Times, Seeking Alpha, and The Motley Fool. 

Both Seeking Alpha and The Motley Fool have amazing communities where you can contribute as well as ask questions and learn a lot. 

You will want to do enough research to feel confident about the type of trading that you plan to carry out. Successful investors tend to all agree that spending enough time on research is one of the keys to doing well. This can mean spending several hours a day doing your homework on a company or companies. Again, when it comes to trading good information is extremely valuable. 

There are hundreds of different companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange as well as in the other global exchanges. Equally, if you are interested in leveraged investments, then there are thousands of CFD types that you might want to look into, from shares to forex and indices.

Once you get started, you need to carry on being patient. Most investments of this type take some time before they begin to give good returns, while you may find that you lose money in the early days. There is no fixed waiting period for returns, as it all depends upon the individual investment made.

It’s also a good idea to invest in what you know. If you know a lot about technology, for example, look at investing in tech companies, if you know a lot about pharmaceuticals look at investing in pharmaceutical companies. This is sound advice that even Warren Buffett recommends.

A Trading Account

Finally, you need to set up an online trading account to invest in this way. This is easy to do and within a matter of minutes, you will be ready to start making some moves in the market that you choose. Popular sites for stock trading include Fidelity, Merrill Edge, and TradeStation. The Robinhood app is a popular app for mobile trading, allowing users to trade without fees.

However, it can make sense to set up a trial account first of all. This is a way of starting to gain confidence by using dummy money to make trial trades. Clearly, you won’t make or lose money in this way but you will start to understand the market.

Once you are ready to invest real cash, you need to fund your account. A word of warning here, the money you invest is at risk but because you are trading online it can be easier to be lulled into making bigger investments that you would normally be comfortable with.

As with any kind of investment, it is important to only ever use money that you can afford to lose. This is especially true if you opt for the higher risk types of trading such as day trading, or buying up the cheap penny stocks that tend to be more volatile.

By following these simple steps you will soon have a lot of fun trading online, and make also make impressive profits if you do so wisely.