StockTracker

Stock trading can be an exciting venture, but it's important for beginners to understand the basics before diving in. Here's a comprehensive guide to get you started.

Understanding the Stock Market

The stock market is a collection of markets where stocks (pieces of ownership in businesses) are bought and sold. These transactions happen on exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or NASDAQ...

Why Companies Issue Stocks

Companies issue stock to raise money to operate their business, expand, pay off debt, or launch new products. When you buy a stock, you're purchasing a small piece of that company, making you a shareholder. If the company does well, the value of your stock may increase. Conversely, if the company doesn't do well, your stock may decrease in value.

Types of Stocks

Common Stocks: Shareholders have the right to vote at shareholder meetings and to receive dividends.
Preferred Stocks: Shareholders typically don't have voting rights but they have a higher claim on assets and earnings than the common shareholders.

Stock Trading Basics

Buy: You purchase shares of a company.
Sell: You sell shares you own.
Bid: The highest price a buyer is willing to pay for a stock.
Ask: The lowest price a seller is willing to accept for a stock.
Spread: The difference between the bid and the ask price.

How to Trade Stocks

To trade stocks, you need a brokerage account. This is an investment account that allows you to buy and sell stocks. There are many online brokers to choose from, each with different fees and offerings.

Researching Stocks

Before buying stocks, it's important to research the companies you're interested in. Look at their financial health, business model, industry position, and the news that might affect their stock price.

Fundamental Analysis

This involves analyzing a company's financial statements to determine the fair value of the business. Key metrics include earnings, revenue, and debt.

Technical Analysis

This strategy involves analyzing statistical trends gathered from trading activity, such as price movement and volume. Unlike fundamental analysis, it doesn't involve looking at the company's financials.

Diversification

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Spread your investments across various sectors and industries to reduce risk.

Risk Management

Only invest money you can afford to lose. It's also important to set stop-loss orders to limit potential losses.

Trading Strategies

Day Trading: You purchase shares of a company.
Swing Trading: You sell shares you own.
Position Trading: The highest price a buyer is willing to pay for a stock.
Scalping: The lowest price a seller is willing to accept for a stock.

Understanding Fees

Be aware of the fees associated with trading stocks. These can include brokerage fees, commission fees, and potential tax implications on capital gains.

The Importance of Patience

Stock trading isn't a guaranteed way to make money. It takes time to learn and understand market trends. Patience is key.

Emotional Discipline

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement or fear of trading. Successful traders make decisions based on logic and not emotions.

Learning Resources

There are numerous resources available for learning about stock trading, including books, online courses, and seminars. Take advantage of these to enhance your knowledge.

Paper Trading

Before investing real money, you can practice trading with a stock market simulator. This is a great way to gain experience without any risk.

Regulatory Bodies

Understand the role of regulatory bodies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S., which oversees the markets to protect investors.

The Role of News

Stay informed about current events, as news can greatly affect stock prices. Economic indicators, earnings reports, and political events can all have an impact.

Long-Term Investing vs. Trading

Trading involves short-term strategies to maximize returns daily, weekly, or monthly, whereas investing is about building wealth gradually over an extended period through the buying and holding of a portfolio of stocks, baskets of stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and other investment instruments.

Starting Your Journey

Begin with a clear plan and objectives. Determine how much time you can dedicate to trading, your risk tolerance, and your financial goals.

Conclusion

Stock trading can be a profitable activity, but it requires education, patience, and a clear strategy. Start small, learn continuously, and don't let emotions drive your trading decisions. Remember, there's no guarantee of profit in the stock market, and it's possible to lose your entire investment. As a beginner, focus on building a solid foundation of knowledge and skills, and consider seeking advice from financial advisors or experienced traders.

Home Page

Here you can access the Market View table and the Watch List a few ways. you can use the navigation menu icon that provides a directory list such as "Market View", "Watch List", "Stocks 101", "How To Use", "Credits", and "settings". You can also access these pages by simply scrolling down until you have reached what you want to view. The "settings" button allows you to switch to light or dark mode and clear local storage. Another feature on the home page is the "Explore" button that takes you directly to the Market View table where you can choose from a list of companies to view their performance over the last 30 days.

Market View

In the Market View table you will see that there are 8 columns. At the top of each column will be a label that will indicate different ticker information. The 8 columns are named as follows.

Ticker Symbol: which is an abbreviation used in lieu of the company name to help shorten often lengthy corporate names. Example: AAPL stands for Apple Computer,Inc.
Company Name: such as Apple Computer, Inc. or Amazon.com, Inc.
Intraday Price:Represents the price of a single share at market open.
Change: The difference in the price of a single share at the time of market open and when the data was last refreshed.
Shares: The total number of shares that exist for the company.

"+": Below this list item you will have the ability to click on a button that will give a 30 day chart. on the right hand side of the chart will be more detailed information regarding the performance of the stock over the past 30 days.
Action [Add to Watch List]:This item will also have a button that will let you add a particular stock you are interested in into the Watch List.
Delete: This allows you to remove companies from the Market View table.

The last three columns in the Market View table have buttons that you can click. You will notice that there are 4 other buttons on the Market View page. The "Refresh Stock data" Button at the top right side of the table. On the bottom left side will be an "Add New Company" button. To the right of that will be "switch to Watch List". Finally the "Return Home button" is located on the bottom right.

Refresh Stock Data: This button allows you to update the data.

Add a New Company: This button will allow you to add companies to the Market View table.

Switch to Watch List: Lets you go directly to the Watch List to view the companies that you have chosen.

Return Home: Brings you back to the home page.

Watch List

The Watch list holds all of the companies that you chose from the Market View table. Each company has a drop-down box that you can click with key features that give you an accurate representation of how your stock is performing in the real world. There are two navigation buttons on the page and one button labeled "Clear Watch List" which will be discussed in further detail below. The first of the navigation buttons is at the top right side of the Watch List which is labeled "return Home" which will take you back to the home page and the another at the bottom left side of your watch list labeled "Switch To Market View"" which will take you straight back to the Market View table.

Clear Watch List

This is a button that allows you to clear all companies in your Watch List. once you click on the button, another pop-up prompt will ask if you are sure you want to proceed. If you click "yes", the entire Watch List will be removed. If you click "cancel", then your Watch List will remain intact. Once the Watch List is Cleared, it cannot be undone. However, you can rebuild your Watch List by returning to the Market View page and rebuild a new list of companies to follow.

Your Stocks

When you click on a company in your watch list, the container will expand and reveal a more comprehensive view of the performance of the stock. you'll see detailed information regarding your personal holdings with the company. here are some features listed below.

Price Per Stock: this represents the price of each share purchased.
Amount of Stocks: this list the amount of shares that you curently hold with the company.
Value of Stocks: This is the value of the stock at time of purchase.
Percentage Gain: Is here to show how much the value has incresed or decreased.

30 day stats & options

The bottom right side of the graph is the stocks 30 day stats. The above graph is an illistration of those stats. Just left of that will be a container labeled "Options" with two buttons labeled "Remove From Watch List", and "Add More Stock". When you click to remove the stock a pop up will appear asking if you are sure you would like to proceed "yes" or "No". When clicking to add stock to current container, a prompt will pop up asking for the price of shares and also the amount of shares. you can then either press enter or cancel from there.