If you want to grow your money by investing it, you might have thought about a high-interest savings account at a bank, the stock market, bonds, and other options. The stock market is, of course, the fastest way to make money, but it is also the most risky. Because of this, people who put money into stocks should learn as much as they can about them so they don't lose everything.
- How Stock Market Trades Work
Whether you want to make just one trade or many, you will need a stock broker. Brokers can also give advice on which stocks to buy and sell and how the market is doing. The commissions for these full-service brokers are pretty high. Many people use discount brokers to save money because they charge much less than other brokers. The downside is that you don't get expert advice, but if you're willing to give that up, you might want to rely on the fact that most brokers won't do a trade that isn't profitable.
- Services for brokers
Brokers often trade online, and some of them can even help you with your trades. This is called "broker-assisted trading," and some brokers offer options like the Interactive Voice Response System for placing orders by phone and wireless trading systems for placing orders with web-enabled cell phones or other handheld devices. They take their jobs very seriously and are always connected so they can make a deal.
- Track Stock Market Movements
Most brokers will go the extra mile to make it possible for their clients to place orders online. There might also be software that can help clients see charts and graphs. The whole system is protected by a password, which usually doesn't cost much more. This can save you time and money and be very helpful.
- Stock Orders What They Mean, Too
Market order: An order to buy or sell at the current market price
Stop Order: Tells the broker to buy or sell at a certain price.
Limit Order: Tells the broker to buy or sell at a certain price or higher
GTC is an acronym that means "good until cancelled." Your order to buy or sell will be carried out until you tell the computer to stop.
- The Trade That Everyone Knows
Most trades happen in what are called "round lots," which are multiples of 100. Even though you can trade different amounts of stocks, this is called an odd lot. Both kinds of orders can be taken care of by trading software, but odd lot orders are a little harder to fill than orders for the most common trade denomination.
