Safe trading for beginners - what should I bear in mind? (2024)

You would like to Trading on the stock exchange Increase your capital quickly and reliably? Our "Trading for beginners guide" helps you with the basics and offers tips and tricks. You can also find out important information about trading strategies for beginners and which assets are suitable!

How trading works for beginners

At Trading for beginners we trade in products ("assets") such as Shares, ETFsraw materials, Options and others that are listed on a stock exchange. Our The aim is to buy at a low price and resell at the highest possible price - the difference is our profit.

In each of these asset classes, there are hundreds to hundreds of thousands of different shares and other investment products, each with their own characteristics, opportunities and risks.

The The right investment at the right time The most difficult task in trading, both for beginners and professionals! Because while a good decision on the stock markets can bring us high profits, the wrong choice can also result in corresponding losses.

In order to find out where our money is being put to good use, we have a Variety of data (indicators) available. With them, we can offer securities, financial products and co. to find the best candidates. Ultimately, however, there is always a risk even with the seemingly safest stock market product.

The various investments have different characteristics (risk, opportunity, duration, expense, etc.). In trading for beginners, we use them to create a mix that suits our goals and ideas: The investment strategy.

Through the many technical terms and the real risk trading for beginners has a seemingly high initial hurdle. In fact, newcomers have to build up a lot of knowledge first.

In practice the challenge seems much greater than it really is. In this "Trading for beginners" guide you will find a suitable introduction.

Fundamentals of stock exchange trading

Buyers and sellers meet on the stock exchangesto trade a wide variety of securities, commodities, financial products and contracts. At the point where supply and demand meet, the Market equilibrium. However, if one side is more strongly represented, this balance shifts and the result is Price changes.

We can earn money with these changes if we buy and sell at the right time.

Supply and demand determine the price and form the basis for trading for beginners.

Both sides want to make a profit when trading, which of course does not always succeed: There are winners and losers. With our trading tips for beginners, we want to make sure that you belong to the first group!

Brokers always carry out the actual brokerage, who buy or sell the respective product on behalf of their customers. These persons or institutions require a corresponding license and are subject to strict rules, to ensure the correct and fair functioning of the exchanges.

In the past, private individuals had to contact their broker - often a local bank - in person or by telephone to initiate a trade. However, with the success of the internet, this has fundamentally changed!

Modern online brokers like CapTrader offer you the opportunity to trade from the comfort of your home computer, tablet or smartphone.

Another positive effect is the resulting drastically reduced prices: In the past, brokers charged high fees (several percent of the order value!) for trading and even just storing the assets.

As a result, traders and investors had to significantly higher profits in order to offset the costs, which has made trading much more difficult for beginners (with small sums).

Easy access, the low fees and the option to find out about all the important aspects on your home computer or smartphone - Thanks to online brokers, trading for beginners has never been so easy!

Many investors therefore trade on the stock markets today in order to accumulate wealth, as a hobby or even as a professional activity.

Trading for beginners: these forms are available

The terms trading, investing, trading, stock market trading, etc. are somewhat blurred in everyday life. However, their respective meanings are actually clearly defined: Trading is when a short-term profit is generated through transactions with various assets.

In this form of financial transaction, the participants buy and sell anything that has the prospect of making a profit: Shares, commodities, options, ETFs and many more. Traders also use short selling to profit from falling prices.

A distinction is made between three forms, each characterized by its own pace:

• Scalping involves executing many trades and closing them after just a few seconds. The aim is to generate numerous small profits - the losses that inevitably occur are also limited and offset in this way.

Scalping strategies require a high level of concentration, analytical and technical understanding and a lot of time. They also come with a serious level of risk. Scalping is therefore considered a complex discipline and is a difficult form of trading for beginners.

• Day trading is also a fairly fast form of stock market trading, but much slower than scalping. Here, positions remain open until the end of a trading day at the most.

Day traders want to make high profits with every trade. The number of trades can range from a few dozen per month to several hundred - depending on which Day trading strategies be used.

The lower number is usually accompanied by higher amounts per trade. You therefore need a higher Day trading starting capitalwhich in turn makes trading more difficult for beginners. The risks also increase with higher sums, as losses can be considerable!

Although very few day traders are successful in the long term, this form of trading holds a special appeal for many people. If you are interested in day trading, you should definitely take a look at our Day trading tips throw.

In our contribution to Day trading strategies you will also find some trading strategies for beginners to help you get started.

• Swing trading is considered the slowest form of active stock market trading. Here you use the oscillations in prices that arise as part of trends. This is because the prices of an asset do not move in a straight line, but are more like a rollercoaster ride!

In this form, there is no formal limit to how long a position may remain open. Swing traders sell an asset after ten seconds or ten weeks - depending on how long the trade pays off.

Swing trading is most suitable for beginners due to this low speed. In fact, the chance of success is also the highest here - but the risk must still be taken seriously!

Although they are particularly well suited to trading for beginners, few newcomers opt for swing trading strategies. This is partly because day trading, which is much more dangerous, has such a strong appeal!

The three forms of active trading differ from investing: Here you use your capital for the long term, for example to buy shares, real estate or similar products.

In contrast to trading, it is not yet clear when (and whether) you will sell the asset. Shares, for example, are often held for decades. It is often only sold when you need money or the company's profit prospects have dwindled.

In our "Trading for beginners guide" we deal with the three active forms of trading. However, if you are interested in a long-term investment, you will also find useful tips and information in the following lines!

You can trade with these products

The global stock exchanges offer Millions of different products. These include, for example, shares in hundreds of thousands of different companies, products such as ETFs that contain several securities at once, commodities such as oil, grain or gold, trading contracts and many other offerings.

However, they can all be Range of categories subdivide. To make trading easier for beginners, we present the most important areas:

1. shares

Shares are undoubtedly the best-known stock market products and one of the most important asset classes. These are shares in companies. When we buy a share, we therefore acquire a fraction of a company.

If demand and interest in a share increases, its price also rises. If we sell such a security after the price has risen, we can make a profit.

Reasons for Demand and price increases are, for example, the success of a company (growth, strong sales, high profits) or the assumption that the company could be successful in the future (exciting business model, promising new products).

Also the The opinion of market participants plays an important role. Factors such as reports in the media have a strong influence on them - and consequently on prices. Often overlooked when trading for beginners: Professional traders, hedge funds and the like (the so-called "smart money") use shares specifically for speculation.

Many price movements can therefore not be explained objectively - In the background, however, these "big players" carry out complex trading strategies. These processes are often difficult for beginners to understand.

In addition, some companies can afford to increase their distribute profits to shareholders. This is usually the case if they do not have to make any urgent investments and the income is not needed for other purposes.

Such a "Dividend" is paid out pro rata per share and is another way of earning on securities.

The third option, alongside price increases and dividends, is the Betting on falling prices. Through the use of so-called "Short sales", investors can make a profit even if the price of a share falls.

Trading for beginners does not involve holding shares for the long term - Instead, the sale is already foreseeable. Therefore, dividends hardly play a role. Trading strategies for beginners focus instead on price gains ("long positions") or short sales ("short positions") when prices fall.

Because shares are so well-known and easy to understand, they have become a real standard in trading for beginners. Their importance is so great that we even wrote a separate article on the subject of "Day trading with shares" have put together!

2. investment funds

Many investors do not want to decide for themselves which shares and other products they should buy. With a Investment Fund we can give this selection to professionals: They are Combinations of different investments, selected by analysts and fund managers.

When you invest in such a fund, you receive a share of all the securities, real estate or other assets it contains - depending on what is in the respective investment fund.

You can easily choose from the extensive range ofChoose a fund that suits your goals. Some are riskier than others, but also promise higher returns. Some funds invest exclusively in equities, others mix the portfolio well ...

Since here professional managers take over the selection, investment funds are popular with private investors who do not wish to manage their own assets. However, such products are only suitable for beginners to a limited extent, because we are not really trading with them - it is more of an investment.

An annual fee is also payable, which is used to pay the fund managers, among others. This can significantly reduce profits.

3. ETFs

The idea, combine several investments in a single assetis as simple as it is ingenious. However, investment funds have their disadvantages due to high costs and dependence on managers.

With the relatively new class of ETFs an alternative was created that Trading for beginners as well as long-term investments particularly easy!

Here too, several shares or other investment products are offered together. By purchasing such an exchange-traded fund, you acquire a Share of all assets included. This ensures that your capital is well diversified and thus reduces the risk.

However, unlike investment funds, an ETF does not have a manager at the helm; the content of these products is instead automatically, based on predefined rules.

For example, an ETF could include shares of all companies from the USA with a market capitalization of over 500 million euros. Or all European companies that are active in the construction industry. Or or or ....

The possibilities here are seemingly endless and have led to the Creation of thousands of such ETFs led. Thanks to the impressive selection and low costs (after all, there are no managers and analysts to pay!), exchange-traded funds have quickly gained a large fan base.

Due to their rather low volatility (their prices move less than other assets), they are regarded as Ideal product for trading beginners. Here there is more time to make well-considered decisions, as it doesn't necessarily come down to one second!

4. bonds and government bonds

Who in Bonds invested, lends to an institutiona company, for example, Money. In return, you usually receive a rather modest interest rate. With government bonds, we make our capital available to a state.

This form of investment is considered particularly safeas industrialized nations in particular almost always pay their debts. However, we can certainly use bonds in a way that generates attractive profits - but then the risk is also higher.

Bonds always have a term - usually several years - at the end of which the amount is repaid. As the products Listed on the stock exchanges are, the prices change during this term.

In addition to the interest that the issuer of the bond promises us, we can therefore also benefit from a sale before maturity. Bonds, and government bonds in particular, are regarded as rather passive investments and are often used to hedge larger assets.

They hardly play a role in trading for beginners. In recent months, however, rising interest rates have made this product class appear somewhat more interesting again.

The Bond prices move only very slowly and do not have the volatility required for active trading. Some newcomers use this asset class for precisely this reason, hoping to learn how to trade for beginners thanks to the slow movements.

However, we advise against this and recommend setting up a free demo account with CapTrader instead. Here you can try out the trading strategies for beginners completely risk-free and with a full range of services.

5. raw materials

Almost All important commodities can be traded on the stock exchanges in different ways. So we can benefit from grain, coffee, oil, soybeans, wood and much more. But don't worry: you don't have to store 100 tons of grain in your cellar!

There are Products such as options or certificatesthat allow traders to, make profits without coming into contact with the raw material. With Futures we can even trade commodities in the future. Depending on the type of futures, make profits with rising or falling prices.

However, as these products are rather complicated, there are simpler alternatives for beginners: For example, we can with an ETC (a type of ETF that contains a commodity) invest in commodities very easily.

Many raw materials have a High liquidity and good volatility on. They are therefore quite suitable for implementing trading strategies for beginners.

6. metals and precious metals

The category of Metals is, strictly speaking, a commodity. However, due to their importance on the stock markets, they are often regarded as a separate sector. Their importance is based on the fact that they are needed in the industryto manufacture almost all modern devices and components.

However, as they only exist in finite quantities on earth, their price inevitably rises. A special role is played by the Gold Although it is only of minor importance for the industry, its high cultural value and rarity make it a a high price.

Gold is therefore considered a very safe investment and is part of many investment strategies. Even when trading for beginners, precious metals such as gold useful under certain circ*mstances be.

As in the case of raw materials, we can also different investment products to profit from price changes. An ETC is probably the simplest variant and is suitable for trading for beginners.

Even complex tools such as Futures and options are available. In the case of gold or silver, there is also the option of store precious metals in physical form themselves. However, this option only makes sense for long-term investments.

7. forex currency pairs

The Trading in foreign currencies, better known as Forex ("Foreign Exchange Market" or Foreign exchange market), is an important pillar for retailers. Profits are generated here through the Price differences between individual currenciesfor example the euro, US dollar, yen, pound sterling and others.

Currencies are only suitable for beginners to a limited extent. They have a very high liquidity, which can lead to strong price fluctuations. In addition, the use of leveraged products is common and necessary in the forex sector, which makes trading strategies more difficult for beginners.

Nevertheless, the currency market one of the most important points of contact for active retailers. It also offers you the option of trading around the clock. This in turn makes it interesting for beginners: many newcomers only have time to trade in their free time, outside stock exchange opening hours.

There are nMany more assets that you can use for trading for beginners. Some trading strategies for beginners require a specific asset class that may not be listed here.

In the course of your career as a trader, you may become interested in asset classes that do not currently play a role in your planning. One of the most important lessons in trading for beginners is therefore, to rely on a broker with sufficient choice.

In addition to the fees, which should of course be as low as possible, the selection of assets is the most important criterion. A product catalog that is too small limits your options and even makes some trading strategies completely impossible for beginners.

At CapTrader you will find a gigantic selection of more than 1.2 million shares, more than one million bonds and much more. You will also receive Access to 150 different stock exchanges in 33 countries and professional trading software free of charge.

Trading for beginners: analysis techniques and procedures

Trading for beginners there is no shortage of potential investments, in which you can invest your money. However, it is important to select suitable products and in a way that meets your goals and requirements.

Such a trading strategy for beginners can look very different and depends largely on your personal circ*mstances.

If you start trading as a beginner, you should first become clear about your own goals: Would you like to take a high risk with your own capital in an attempt to achieve maximum profits? Or are you planning a rather safe, slow wealth accumulation?

Trading for beginners is more about active trading with assets. Longer-term investment strategies should be considered separately, as there is usually little movement in the portfolio.

Instead, you should ask yourself, which trading style might suit you. At Scalping strategies high mathematical and analytical skills and discipline are required. Day trading strategies also require these properties, but are less fast and intensive.

In matters of trading Swing trading strategies are often ideal for beginners, as the speed and time required are lower. However, all three forms come with considerable risks!

Do you have a rough idea of where the stock markets are heading?You need to find lucrative assets that suit you. There are various approaches and analysis methods for this. The following are well suited to trading for beginners:

1. fundamental analysis

With the Fundamental analysis as the name already suggests, one considers the basic data of a companyto discover worthwhile investments. Due to the numerous sources of information is a good way for beginners to get started with trading.

Newcomers can register here Read the most important key figures at your leisure and make well-founded decisions. However, the fundamental analysis is not suitable for scalping, as the extensive analysis of company data is unnecessary for this quick trading strategy (but scalping is very risky for beginners anyway ...)

The special thing about fundamental analysis is that it The economic potential of a share is examined rather than its current performance. Traders try to determine the "fair value" of a share. However, the direction in which the share price has moved in recent days is largely unimportant.

The fundamental analysis is primarily applied to sharesbut can also be used for equity ETFs. Unfortunately, there are no instructions á la "these 3 values must fit".

Instead If you look at various figures in context. A look at the business environment, industry, region and the current economic situation is also necessary. Extensive literature helps to successfully apply fundamental analysis in trading for beginners.

2. technical analysis

You can use the Technical analysis as the opposite of fundamental analysis. This is where the Focus on the prices of an asset and we try to interpret patterns from the up and down movements.

One basic assumption here is that the in-depth examination of the key figures is superfluous, since all important factors already mapped in the price graph are. This approach is particularly popular with trading beginners, as quickly and intuitively from the graphs.

Simple upward and downward trends are easy to recognize, for example, but should always be placed in a larger temporal context.

However, you can do technical analysis professionally: Resistance lines, candlestick formations, pennants, rectangles, wedges ... experienced traders have a A wealth of designations for different charts. You can find out more in our article on day trading indicators.

Even when trading for beginners, the A highly interesting look at the graphs and a good way to familiarize yourself with the movements of the stock markets.

3. trend following

Many investors smile at the Trend following strategy - but it is ideal for beginners! Here we follow current trends and buy corresponding shares, ETFs, ETCs, etc. We therefore speculate that the current trend will continue and sell later at a higher price.

Particularly interesting is the trend following, if the development has not yet occurredbut merely assumed. Stock markets then speculate that a company, sector or other asset could become very lucrative in the future.

The result: Rising priceswhich are ideal for trading for beginners. However, caution is advised here, as expectations can also be disappointed, which leads to rapidly falling prices. When trading for beginners, you should also take short positions (Short sale) in order to profit from falling prices

One of the reasons why the trend-following strategy is often used in trading for beginners is because a large amount of information material available stands. Hundreds of websites, newspapers and other analysts provide more or less well-founded tips on upcoming trends.

Some of them have a long history of success and novice traders gratefully accept their predictions. However, traders are always well advised to to form your own opinion and consult several sources. The combination with other analysis methods (fundamental analysis, technical analysis) can also do no harm here.

Selecting a trading strategy for beginners

Lastly, we have to use the Findings on the asset classes, the analysis and selection of suitable assets and harmonize them with our personal goals.

If you have not already done so, you should now at the latest Think about what you want to achieve in trading and what restrictions (capital, time, effort, risk ...) you have to accept.

Try not to force a particular trading style or trading strategy! It is particularly important for beginners to act according to their own capabilities!

For example, if you do not have the necessary time, concentration and analytical skills for scalping, you will not be happy with this method. In this case, it is better to opt for another form, such as swing trading ...

It is recommended for trading for beginners, to start with easily understandable asset classes. These mainly include shares, ETFs and funds. You can add complex products such as certificates and options later, once you have become accustomed to them.

Your personal trading strategy should be based on asset classes that you are familiar with or that offer a manageable level of difficulty.

We strongly recommendfirst a Demo account with CapTrader to create! Here you can try out all trading strategies for beginners. You get access to all the functions of a "real" CapTrader depotsbut do not put your capital at risk.

Have you achieved reliable, positive results with the "play money" in your demo account? Then you are ready to start with your real capital. By the way: The demo account with CapTrader is completely free and without obligation!

Conclusion: Trading for beginners is not rocket science

Trading on the stock exchange can be very intimidating for newcomers. However, a look at the practice shows that with sufficient information, trading for beginners is no problem represents.

This requires a basic understanding of the respective asset classes such as shares, funds, ETFs, bonds, commodities and precious metals. Also a Trading strategy, that is suitable for beginners, you should select first.

You then examine the possible investment products to find promising candidates. For example, the Fundamental analysis or the Technical analysis can be used. However, we can also simply use the Tfollow trendsthat we ourselves or other stock market experts identify.

Once we have found a share or other product that matches our objectives, we go ahead and buy it. With a Brokers like CapTrader you can place an order with little effort and low costs.

For trading for beginners speculation on rising prices is recommended. This means that we buy a security because we expect the price to rise. If the asset is then actually more expensive than at the time of purchase, we sell it on the stock market and receive the difference as a profit.

Other forms, such as betting on falling prices, can be added later. Even if prices stay the same, we can earn through complex investment vehicles such as options!

Such products enable High trading profitsHowever, they are only suitable for beginners to a limited extent. However, once sufficient knowledge and some experience have been built up, futures and co. can also be used!

FAQ - Frequently asked questions about trading for beginners