It’s becoming clear that more and more Brits are taking a crack at trading and investing. Trading is one of the many lucrative ways to grow your finances, but you can easily make mistakes and lose all your hard-earned money. Here’s what you need to know, especially if you’re a beginner.
What common trading mistakes should you avoid?
Trading expert Louis Schoeman, managing director of Forex Suggest, highlights three common mistakes beginners should avoid while trading.
1. Letting greed take hold of you
Trading requires you to keep your emotions in check, and this is not easy. Once profits start trickling in and you have a good run, the probability of losing focus increases.
It’s easy to get greedy, and you’re more likely to make a costly mistake. Louis Schoeman recommends planning out your risk management in advance for sustainability and to keep your emotions under control.
2. Lacking a trading strategy
Entering a trade can be easy, but what do you do when the market turns against you? What if it aggressively moves in your favour? Where do you exit your trades?
A trading strategy helps you control what you do once these events occur, meaning you’re less likely to make mistakes.
3. Not having rules or failing to stick to them
Having rules is important because there are times when you might be tempted to make unreasonable decisions. The rules you set will ground and deter you, increasing your chances of making error-free trades.
How can you be successful in trading and investing?
Louis Schoeman also gives us three tips for trading and investing successfully in the stock market:
1. Watch the market closely
Of course, you can’t just start trading blindly. It’s important to research and find out what’s going on in the market. The pandemic affected many industries, but as the economy recovers, many investors are keeping an eye out for opportunities.
Keep tabs on the market to know when to enter and exit trades successfully.
2. Carry out technical and fundamental analysis
This requires some experience, and, in most cases, if you’re a beginner, it’s important to seek help from a professional.
It’s wise to combine technical and fundamental views to get different companies’ consistent earnings and revenue growth. This way, you’ll be in a position to find flourishing companies. You’ll also be able to identify the ideal entry time and have the patience to wait for your exit time.
3. Diversify your portfolio
Undoubtedly, there are times when some industries are affected more than others. If you’re trading in only one sector and it is negatively impacted, you could make losses. However, if you diversify your portfolio and trade in several different sectors, you’ll be able to minimise losses.
Final word
There is always an element of risk when trading, and you may get out less than you invest. It’s your responsibility to carry out your due diligence.
If you’re still worried that you might lose your hard-earned money, then you may need to get some professional financial advice before taking the plunge. It’s also wise to compare different trading brokers to get the most suitable deal for you.
Was this article helpful?
YesNo
About the author
Victor is a freelance writer who loves to read and write about personal finance and related disciplines with the aim of educating people to make better financial and investment decisions.
Some offers on The Motley Fool UK site are from our partners — it’s how we make money and keep this site going. But does that impact our ratings? Nope. Our commitment is to you. If a product isn’t any good, our rating will reflect that, or we won’t list it at all. Also, while we aim to feature the best products available, we do not review every product on the market. Learn more here. The statements above are The Motley Fool’s alone and have not been provided or endorsed by bank advertisers. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Barclays, Hargreaves Lansdown, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group, Mastercard, and Tesco.
This post was originally published on Motley Fool
