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next 10 minutes or other short-term period of time. Investments can lead to real gains for all shareholders as the market rises, while trades require someone to lose a dollar for every dollar you gain. |
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If you trade online, you will find that the topics I present will be relevant to you. Those who are more active online traders (at least a few times per month or more) and who follow the markets closely, will find that many of the issues will be especially relevant to their trading frequency. |
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Technical trading strategies, trading systems, and analyzing stock fundamentals will not be our focus. So it is best if you already know how to gather this information. Since there are hundreds of web sites, books, and newsletters offering systems and strategies, you should have no problem finding what you are looking for. As a starting point, a comprehensive and well-organized web site with links to virtually any topic in the investment arena is www.investormap.com. |
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As I did earlier, I will mention a few choice sites along the way that I have found very useful. I will also identify some basic facts about market behavior that everyone needs to be aware of, and how you can use them to your advantage. So some strategic moves, as they relate to psychology, will be considered. |
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There are also a number of manuals on the mechanical aspects of electronic trading, including the basics of moving around on the computer. Since anyone who is computer-literate can, with some practice, learn the mechanics of online trading, inability to perform the simple tasks should not be an issue. But even here we find emotions come into the picture. |
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Emotions and the Mistaken Trade |
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For example, in a ''fast market," when stocks are moving very quickly (big, heavily traded stocks are always moving quickly but sometimes they move very quickly during panic buying or selling) and you must execute trades decisively, it is common for someespecially beginnersto get anxious and hit the wrong keys. |
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From this we get the horror stories of inexperienced traders inserting a price into the trading box different than the one they intended. Or they put in the wrong number of shares, or the wrong type of tradeall of these errors often resulting in frustrating losses. All this just for hitting the wrong keys. I have seen these mistakes occur both with those trying to learn day trading in professional trading rooms and by individuals trading on their own. |
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