Accessing the stock market is easier today than it’s ever been. Thanks to things like online innovation and mobile trading apps, there’s no limit to who can get involved these days. It used to be that only the richest people or wealthiest companies could interact with the stock market, often through dedicated brokers that worked within the stock exchanges on their behalf. Now, you don’t need a huge amount of capital or a lot of pre-existing knowledge to begin making cash. If you’re willing to commit the right amount of time and effort to figuring out how the market works, and you’re committed to building a successful strategy over time, you can turn the stock market into the perfect avenue for personal growth. Let’s look at some ways to get involved.

Direct Stock Market Trading

Direct stock market trading is probably the most obvious way to access the market. You’ll usually access this method by signing up for an account with a brokerage and using an electronic system to set orders and execute trades. In the DMA (Direct Market) environment, you’ll be able to connect with an electronic order book that lists your orders and records the decisions made by buyers and sellers. The orders often remain in the book until they’re fulfilled by matching a price that you want to pay for a security, or a price that you want to sell that security for. In the past, you could only make and remove orders in a book with the help of a professional financial institution or broker over the phone. However, DMA solutions are now available for anyone online. These tools are also accessible for different kinds of trading, like working with financial derivatives or fixed income securities.

Using Your Apps and Bank

The accessibility of trading has grown so significantly in recent years that even banks and bigger financial institutions are offering ways to get involved. There are many banking groups today that can offer access to certain trading options within your own bank app. You can sign up to the service and decide how much cash you want to implement into your strategy each year. Alternatively, if you’d rather keep your bank savings and your trading separate, you can use a third-party application like Robinhood, which allows you to search through potential stocks and make purchases from your smartphone. The biggest benefit of these apps is often how simple they are to use. You can easily tap on different securities to get information about where your money is going, and make your own decisions based on research that you do in your own time. Some apps also come with access to resources to help you understand the trading space.

ETFs and Mutual Funds

If you’re just looking for a way to get started in stocks but you don’t want to expose yourself to excessive risk straight away, then ETFs or mutual funds could be ideal. Exchange traded funds have become increasingly popular with investors and individuals hoping to diversify their portfolio.  ETFs are low-risk investments because they allow you to hold onto a selection of securities and stocks that hedge your risk and reduce your exposure to volatility. ETFs do have some downsides, such as low dividends and higher bid-ask spreads, but they can be a good part of a diverse portfolio investment when you learn how to use them correctly. ETFs and mutual funds can also offer a great way to experiment with new markets and explore opportunities if you’re new to the trading space and don’t know where to get started.

CFDs

Finally, a CFD is probably the cheapest and most effective way to get initial exposure to the trading market. Companies like Friedberg Direct offer instant access to valuable Contract for Difference trading opportunities. For the uninitiated, a CFD is a contract between a seller and buyer that stipulates the buyer must pay the seller the difference between the cost of an asset, and the value that the asset has at the time when the contract ends. The concept might sound confusing at first, but it actually allows investors and traders a fantastic opportunity to profit from price movements without owning underlying investment assets. This can reduce the level of your risk significantly. With a CFD, your contract also doesn’t consider the underlying value of the asset, but focuses instead on the pricing change between entry and exit values. The CFD is an accomplished solution for trader’s looking to get involved in the market, who don’t want to take on huge amounts of risk straight away.