An investment strategy is paramount for day trading or any type of stock trading. A good strategy will mesh your investment goals with your skill level and the amount of time you have to devote to trading. Another key to developing your strategy to trade shares of stock is to decide how much money you can devote to trading. Never, under any circumstances, should you invest money that you cannot afford to lose.
Effective share trading strategies work toward meeting your investment goals. If you want to avoid market volatility, invest in stocks whose price doesn't fluctuate often. Stocks whose company makes products that are in demand or that fulfill a necessity of modern life are also stable investments. Share trading strategies are infinitely customizable, so even if you want to devote most of your money to stable investments, you can still invest in riskier stocks. After all, the reward of risk is profit, but remember that the penalty is loss.
The first step to choosing a share trading strategy, then, is to decide the degree of risk to which you want your money to be exposed. Secondly, decide how quickly you want to see a profit. If you are investing for the long term, buy only a few stocks and hold them. The opposite of this is day trading, a strategy of constantly buying and selling stock to make a profit in the extreme short-term. Growth stocks, which are stocks that are affordable and have significant potential to grow and become profitable, are good long-term investments.
After you have determined how quickly you'd like to see a return, be realistic with yourself. Decide how much time and skill you have to devote to investing. This point of consideration should also help you choose between short-term and long-term share trading strategies. Your skill level and amount of time for investing should also help you determine whether you need to enlist the services of a traditional stock brokerage firm or whether an online brokerage firm would be best. Online brokers are best for people who are comfortable trading stocks and conducting research, but traditional brick-and-mortar brokerages might suffice for new investors or investors who just want additional guidance.
Your strategy for trading shares should ultimately be an amalgamation of several share trading strategies. After you've contacted a brokerage firm and have developed the rudiments of your strategy — mostly long-term or short-term, volatility or security and so forth — it's time to diversify. Diversifying your portfolio allows you to take the best of several share trading strategies and use them experiment with new ideas. The biggest advantage to diversifying your portfolio, though, is that it minimizes your exposure to market risk. Remember, too, that your strategy is your own — it works for you, not vice versa.