Are you wrestling with the question of what to trade? Those new to the world of trading and investing often have a hard time deciding whether to focus on stocks, bonds, options, commodities, forex, precious metals, cryptocurrency, or something else. It’s a common dilemma that is relatively easy to sort out. Generally, it’s wise for first-time traders to avoid complex instruments like options, bonds, and futures.
Favorites among newcomers are traditional big board corporate stock shares, commodities, gold, foreign exchange (or forex), and cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum. What you choose depends on many factors, including your preference, the amount of capital in your account, the amount of risk you can handle, the hours you prefer to operate, and more. Consider the following choices and see which ones seem like a good match for you.
Corporate Stocks
People have been buying and selling corporate shares of stock for more than 100 years. Anyone can get involved via an online brokerage platform in today’s digital economy. Some trading enthusiasts choose to make a part-time or full-time job out of the practice. Others do it on the side as a way to potentially earn a profit on their portfolios. Stocks are straightforward. You choose which ones to buy, decide how many shares you want, place an order through your brokerage account, and that’s that. Later, as prices rise and fall, you can sell whenever you want and for whatever reason. The most frequently traded asset of all is corporate stock.
Commodities
The commodities markets offer traders the chance to take part in the fast-moving price action on assets like oil, agricultural products, metals, natural gas, and dozens more. Depending on what commodities you trade, prices can be more or less volatile than individual stock shares. But there are many excellent choices for anyone who wants to trade commodities with confidence. For example, using a powerful and innovative platform is an effective way to take advantage of competitive margins and spreads and access a vast menu of CFD (contract for difference) instruments. If you trade the commodity oilusd on Xtrade.com, you can participate in the minute-by-minute price changes of West Texas Intermediate crude oil quoted in U.S. dollars.
Precious Metals
For some trading newcomers, the idea of gold and silver is alluring in many ways. If you choose these assets, keep in mind that there are many ways to own them. Namely, you can buy bullion, purchase stocks in mining companies for broad exposure to the market, or buy ETFs (exchange traded funds) that directly track the prices of silver, gold, and other precious metals.
Cryptocurrency
If you have a high tolerance for risk, enjoy following the financial news, and like the idea of getting involved with a relatively new asset class, crypto might be your cup of tea. If you choose to buy and sell the most prominent crypto in the niche, bitcoin, you can buy as much or as little of the coin as you wish. There are no minimum purchase amounts. Plus, you can choose to operate on one of the many exchanges or work through a broker who supports cryptocurrency. By far, crypto is the most volatile of all major assets, so be ready for a wild ride.