Currency exchange for beginners. Game on the stock exchange or how to trade on the Forex market and where to start for a novice trader. Who is a trader and what does he do - the definition and essence of the profession

Currency exchange for beginners. Game on the stock exchange or how to trade on the Forex market and where to start for a novice trader. Who is a trader and what does he do - the definition and essence of the profession

06.04.2022 Thrombosis

How to trade and make money on the stock exchange? Where to start learning stock trading for beginners? What are the features of trading with a minimum deposit?

Good day, dear readers of the HeatherBober website! Alexey and Dmitry are with you, today we will talk about trading on the Forex currency exchange for beginners and analyze the top five brokers.

Understanding the material provided below will help remove the dark veil from stock trading and enable beginners to feel much more confident in the market.

So let's get started!

1. Features of trading on the stock exchange

To characterize the features of trading on the currency exchange, we first classify the financial market as a whole. It has three large segments: exchanges goods, shares(stock) and currencies(Forex).

We will talk about trading in the stock market later in the article “”, here we will indicate the features of the Forex market.

The first important point - Forex is nowhere not localized, that is, there is no specific building in which traders gather to trade.

Trading on the stock exchange seems to be something complicated and incomprehensible to a person who has never encountered it. How can a beginner start trading on the stock exchange, and even more so, how to make money on it? Let's understand the basics of trading on the stock exchange.

There are 3 types of exchanges: commodity, currency and stock exchanges. In this article we will only look at the stock exchange. Bonds, options, futures, bills, debentures and stocks are traded on stock exchanges. From the entire list valuable papers we will only be interested in shares. Trading shares on stock exchange is the easiest and most accessible way for a novice investor to start trading on the stock exchange.

Participants in exchange trading are divided into 2 types: traders and investors.

Traders are active players on the stock exchange. They follow the news and can close and open positions in stocks several times a day. Using borrowed funds for trading is not uncommon for traders.
Investors prefer to invest in stocks for a long term (from several months to several years). This is where a newbie on the stock exchange should start. If for a trader trading on the stock exchange is a full-time job, then for a private investor it is an opportunity to test their strength and intuition. It is the actions of a novice private investor that we will consider in the context of trading on the stock exchange.

An exchange investor is not directly involved in the purchase and sale of shares. This is done for him by a professional market participant - a broker. The investor only gives instructions to the broker to perform this or that action on the stock exchange. That is, a broker is a person who works in an investment or brokerage company whose specialization is intermediary services when trading on the stock exchange. To pay for their mediation, brokerage companies charge traders and investors some commissions and payments, which will be discussed below.

The general list of actions when trading on the stock exchange is as follows:

The investor enters into an agreement with a brokerage company and transfers money from his bank account to a special brokerage account, which is provided to him by the brokerage company and from which trading will be carried out.
If a client wants to buy shares, he gives the appropriate instruction to the broker. When the broker executes an order to purchase shares, funds for this purchase, as well as commissions and payments, are debited from the investor's brokerage account.
If the client wants to sell shares, then he also gives the corresponding instruction to the broker. When the broker executes an order to sell shares, the investor’s brokerage account receives funds from this sale minus commissions and payments.
An investor can transfer his funds from a brokerage account to a bank account and vice versa.

We see that a bank account and a brokerage account are involved in this money circulation scheme. A brokerage account is opened for you by a brokerage company. Transferring money from a bank account to a brokerage account and back typically incurs a fee. But it can be avoided. Large brokerage companies usually have subsidiary banks. By opening a current account with such a bank, you can avoid commissions when transferring between a brokerage and bank account.

Direct purchase/sale of shares

We found out that the investor does not directly engage in trading on the stock exchange, but gives instructions to the broker. How can an investor give instructions to a broker?

There are 3 ways to do this:

Orders through the trading terminal;
Orders via the web interface;
Voice order.

Trading terminal is a special program that is installed on a computer and with which you can monitor quotes, conduct technical analysis and give instructions. For a novice investor, trading terminals are complicated due to the abundance of information and interface congestion.

A monthly fee will be charged to your brokerage account for access to the trading terminal. For trading, as in the following case, you need constant access to a computer and the Internet.

Orders via the web interface

In general, trading through a web interface is similar to trading through an exchange terminal, but does not require the installation of any programs; it is much simpler and more convenient in the initial stages.

In this case, instructions to the broker are given over the phone in a normal conversation. Large brokerage and investment companies, as a rule, have toll-free phone numbers with the 8-800 prefix for these purposes.

Access to the broker is regulated. You can’t just call on the phone and say “Buy Gazprom.” To ensure that your shares and money cannot be managed by just anyone, the broker must identify you. When concluding a brokerage service agreement, the client receives a list of passwords, from which the broker will randomly select a voice password to authenticate you as a client. You will need to introduce yourself, give the brokerage agreement number and say the voice password, which the broker will ask you to identify. After completing this procedure, you will need to inform the broker about the nature of the transaction (purchase or sale), the name of the issuer (which shares this needs to be done with) and the number of shares. To eliminate errors, the broker repeats all this information and, after your confirmation, executes the order. To avoid controversial situations, conversations with brokers are recorded. There is no fee for trading “per voice”.

Types of transactions in the stock market

There are long and short positions in stock trading.

Long position is opened in the expectation that the purchased shares will rise. Investors who trade in a rising market are called bulls.
Short position opens with the expectation that stocks will fall. The shares are borrowed from the broker, sold at a high price, and when their value declines, they are bought at a low price and returned to the broker. Investors who trade in a falling market are called bears.

A long position is opened by buying and closed by selling shares. A short position, on the contrary, is opened by selling shares borrowed from a broker and closed by buying.

Selling and buying shares at the current market price is called market order. But there are other, much more cunning types of orders on the exchange:

Limited order means that the investor instructs the broker to buy shares at a price set by the investor below the current one or to sell shares at a price set by the investor above the current one. That is, if an investor is not satisfied with the current purchase/sale price of shares, then he sets the price at which he is ready to buy or sell shares. In this case, the order will be executed only when the set price is reached by the shares. Limited orders on the Moscow Exchange can be submitted both during main trading and during the “pre-market” 15 minutes before the start.
“Stop” order designed to insure investors and speculators against large losses. For example, if you bought shares in the hope of their growth, but they go negative, a “stop” order will allow you to get rid of these shares automatically if there is a slight minus.
“Stop”-limit order combines a limit and a stop order. That is, a price is indicated above the current one for buying shares and below the current one for selling them with an open “long” position. For the “short” one, the opposite is true.

The lifetime of orders on the exchange is one trading day. If the application is not executed during the day, it will not be transferred to the next day. You can also withdraw an order if it has not yet been executed by the broker.

Trading time and currency

On the Moscow Exchange, trading in shares begins at 10:00 and ends at 18:40. This is the so-called main trading mode. There are also pre-trading (from 9:45 to 10:00) and post-trading (from 18:40 to 18:50) periods during which you can send limited orders to the exchange. Trading is not conducted on weekends and holidays. The trading currency is Russian ruble.

How and where to monitor stock prices?

Obviously, in order to understand what actions need to be taken to buy and sell shares, you need to know their current price. Russian shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange and their quotes are also presented there. However, price changes are displayed there with a delay of 15 minutes. For long-term investors, this is a completely acceptable delay, but for speculators or traders who make several purchase/sale transactions per day, such a delay is critical. In such cases, special access to the exchange is purchased through a trading terminal.

Mandatory commissions and payments

Few people in our world work for free, and brokerage companies are no exception.

Brokers charge a commission for executing investor orders. As a rule, this is a percentage of turnover, that is, the amount of shares purchased or sold. For example, in the companies BCS and Finam, at initial rates the commission is 0.0354% of turnover. It is clear that the higher the turnover, the lower the commission percentage.
In addition, as mentioned above, for access to online quotes through trading terminals you will need to pay for access to the Moscow Exchange.
There may also be a fee for maintaining a custodial account (the account that holds records of your shares).
Depending on the bank, there may be a fee for depositing or withdrawing funds from a brokerage account.

Where are the shares stored?

Usually in our time, shares are not physically printed and are not stored anywhere. The brokerage company has its own securities accounting center, the so-called depository. When concluding a service agreement with a brokerage company, the client receives his depository in this brokerage company (depository account). This deposit account stores all records of the availability and movement of your shares. Also, these records are duplicated by the issuer (the company whose shares you bought).

Dividends

If you are the lucky owner, then dividends will be paid to your brokerage account. They are calculated from the amount per share. In order to receive them, it is enough to be in the register of shareholders at the time of its closure.

Taxes

The tax rate on income from the sale of shares in Russia is 13%. In this case, the tax amount is calculated from the tax base. The tax base in this case will be the amount of income received from the sale of shares and expenses incurred for their purchase, storage and other commissions. That is, tax must be paid only on the net profit received from the sale of shares. If there was no profit, no tax is paid.
The tax rate on dividend income is 9%. In this case, the amount of dividends received is taxed.

Your brokerage company will act as your tax agent, so you do not need to file any returns. All taxes required by law on your income, if any, will have to be paid by your brokerage company.

Withdrawal of funds

You cannot withdraw funds directly from your brokerage account. In order to receive money in your hands, you must first transfer money from a brokerage account to a bank account, and then pick it up at the cash desk.

Choosing a brokerage company

What should you pay attention to when choosing a brokerage company?

Experience. The longer a company operates on the market, the better;
Having your own bank;
Presence in your region;
Service tariffs;
Reliability rating;
Reviews.

The most famous brokerage companies in Russia at the moment are:

"Opening"
"Finam"
"BCS"
"ATON"
"KIT-Finance"
"Sberbank CIB"
"VTB 24 online broker"
"Uralsib"

Many of them trade shares not only on the Moscow, but also on the London and New York stock exchanges.

It can be very difficult for a person who is far from trading on the stock exchange to take the first steps. Many questions arise, the answers to them have to be collected bit by bit on the Internet, unless you immediately find a good guide to the world of finance. An already established trader can shorten this path tenfold. But how to find it? Who can really teach you how to trade on the stock exchange constantly in profit in order to regularly increase your deposit? Some points will be clarified in this article.

Where should a newbie in trading start?

We are bombarded with Forex advertisements from literally everywhere - you can find them much more often than offers from brokers for trading futures and shares on the stock exchange. Why is this happening. The fact is that trading currency pairs internationally foreign exchange market Forex is available to literally everyone. It can be started with minimum quantity money. And in order to learn, you don’t need money at all - many brokers offer opening a demo account for an indefinite period. In the same way, you download the platform for trading and the quotes in it are the same as on a real account and all the functions are exactly the same, it’s just a virtual account, there is no real money on it. Therefore, if a person does not know how to trade on the stock exchange, he can try his hand without fear of losing his savings.

How long does it take to study on a demo account and when to switch to a real one?

Experienced traders have slightly different opinions on this matter. But everyone advises not to stay too long on a demo account, since trading on it is still different from trading in real life. Not the functions of the platform and not the quotes, there is a much greater difference between a real and a demo account - the psychological component. As a rule, learning the rules of trading on the stock exchange and learning how to use two or three popular indicators is not difficult. Many novice traders almost immediately begin to show good results on a demo account, but in real life they begin to lose money. Don't blame the broker for this. The main obstacle to stable earnings is the psychological aspect. By all accounts, work on psychology is never finished.

Opening a demo account does not oblige us to anything. Therefore, you shouldn’t think too much about choosing a broker at this stage. But later this choice becomes very important. On the Internet you can find a lot of advice for novice traders, a huge number of reviews that list the main points of trading conditions for different brokerage companies. They differ, for example, in the size of the initial deposit. The most democratic offer to open a cent account for 10 dollars. The money is very real, trading is carried out in cents or even fractions of cents. Of course, there is no need to talk about significant profits here, but a cent account can become a bridge when switching from a demo account to real trading.

Best markets to trade

When the first trading experience has already been gained and the price charts do not seem like gobbledygook with incomprehensible spikes up and down, you can think about better assets and a more careful choice of broker and exchange. For serious investors looking for best ways investing and multiplying your capital, you have a choice of three options: trading on the Russian, European and American markets. There are also more exotic options: India, Asia, Australia. In practice, few people seriously consider these markets. The reason lies in volatility, because the more volatile the market, the more profitable it is to work on it. In this sense, the European and American markets are considered the best. Although trading shares and futures on the Moscow Exchange is also very popular among domestic traders. There are many special educational materials on where to start trading on the MICEX exchange.

What is the best way to trade?

The choice is between stocks, commodity futures, options or currency pairs on the Forex market. Bloomberg broadcasts quotes for a huge number of financial products. We are talking about millions of shares. You can’t help but get confused when you think about where to start trading on the stock exchange. Is it realistic to trade all the offered assets? Of course not. Just to view them will take more than one month. “Forex” is simpler in this sense; it does not confront the trader with such huge selection. Most brokers support the ability to trade several dozen major currency pairs. Of these, up to ten assets are the most popular: EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDCHF, USDJPY, USDCAD, AUDUSD and their crosses. As a rule, a person working in the Forex market manages to look at the main pairs before starting trading and select the most promising ones for the current day or week. Trading shares on the stock market requires a different approach.

Choosing an asset in the stock market

Even after the previous tips for novice traders on market segmentation, the list turns out to be quite an impressive one. And again, it is not clear how to choose from it what is best to trade. There is no clear answer to this question. Many traders successfully trade currency pairs on Forex. There are also those who believe that trading on Forex cannot be compared with futures and stocks, where the volatility is much higher and you can earn much more. We must not forget that high volatility is also a double-edged sword; it allows you to make good money, but you can also quickly lose everything. Much here will depend on the individual qualities of the trader: character, skills, personal preferences. If you have already chosen a trading option that suits you, all that remains is to work on improving your skills in this particular market segment. Believe me, the market always provides a large field for activity, and you can improve your trading results indefinitely. For beginners, a few tips on how to become a trader will be useful - they are collected in the next section.

Some of the following secrets of stock trading may seem elementary, while others may seem dubious, but all of them are sealed by the destinies and losses of millions of traders. Before becoming successful, everyone went their own way, usually through deposit loss and personal dramas:

Do not use all your savings for trading. Invest in a new business only such an amount that you can lose without drama or significant damage to the family.
Learn to take losses calmly; they should not disturb your sleep, just like good days in the market.
Don't think about profit while trading.
Don't change your mind during the bidding process. Analyze the situation, make a decision that clearly outlines the moments of closing a position, both positive and negative, and do not retreat under the pressure of the market.
Learn to make your own decisions and not be fooled by the judgments of others. Trading is an almost intimate matter, you need to learn, but in the learning process you must develop your own trading style and your own strategy.

Sometimes it is useful for a participant in exchange trading to simply take a break from trading. Do not despair if nothing works out and all trades are unprofitable. It seems that the car has already received the information, but there is no point. If you find yourself in this, take a break. Forget about profits, don’t expect anything from the market. After a while you will return calm and balanced and everything will go like clockwork. This advice will be especially useful for those who absolutely cannot tolerate drawdown. As soon as the price goes in the wrong direction and your nerves begin to give in, the deal is closed immediately, and literally within a short time the price goes where you expected. A break for a couple of weeks will be of invaluable help in such a situation.

When will the first success come?

At first, trading will not be able to become your main activity, even if you enjoy the process. There are different opinions regarding the timing of development, but all experienced and successful traders talk about years. Therefore, if you have just come to the exchange, you should not think that trading is not available to you if nothing is working out yet. Time must pass without personal experience, according to the general opinion, no matter how much you study, you will not become a trader. There are too many nuances in trading that cannot be perceived in a short time. Is it possible to become an engineer in six months? Trading is a profession that is equally complex and takes time. Of course, by being trained by a trader who has been trading successfully for a long time, your own process of development can be significantly accelerated. But it will take at least several months to feel confident on the stock exchange.

Minimum tools and indicators to get started

Try not to spread yourself across many assets at first, and use a minimum of indicators when trading. It's better to learn to use one or two of them, but study them thoroughly. This will be of more use than jumping between different strategies and different tools. The famous trader Alexander Elder, and not only him, advises using one indicator from different groups: one oscillator (for example, Stochastic or MACD), one trend indicator - Bollinger bands or moving averages, and one volume indicator. This minimum set, which is always present on any platform of any broker. The general consensus is that even with this set of standard indicators, you can build many profitable strategies on different time frames and for different instruments. There is a lot of information on how to trade on the stock exchange using these indicators - if you thoroughly study the work of the main ones, success in trading will not be long in coming.

If you trade currency pairs, take one or two pairs to start with, no more. When the result is consistently positive, you can begin to gradually increase the number of tools. For those who trade stocks or commodity futures, the advice is also relevant: choose assets from the same commodity group that can correlate with each other. Let's give an example of how to trade stocks on the stock exchange using the correlation between assets. If in the group of legumes there is a clear increase in prices for all instruments except soybeans, it makes sense to prepare for sales on this product - it is obvious that at the slightest hint of a downward movement in the group, soybeans will be the first to rush down.

The following few tips can become the basis of a successful strategy, as they themselves provide valuable hints for opening positions. There are some patterns in price behavior depending on the opening of the current day or the close of the previous one. For example, if the price opened up, then with a greater degree of probability it will continue to go up. It is also recommended to open long positions if the price has consolidated above yesterday’s close and vice versa. This rule, in fact, applies to any time frames - if you scalp on minutes, you can also adapt it to your trading.

Choosing a trading style and timeframe

Now about timeframes, or how to trade on the stock exchange and Forex better - intraday, medium-term or long-term. The main task of a trader is to make a profit, what it will be is another question. There is no need to set yourself obviously impossible goals in the hope of receiving excess profits. Many beginners are interested in the question of how much interest can be “raised” in a week, month, or year. You shouldn't focus on this. At the first stage, it will be a great achievement if you learn not to lose your money. As for percentages, there are no clear statistics here. It all depends on the person, the strategy, the asset being traded and many other things. It is known that trading on small time frames can bring large profits in percentage terms, but it is exhausting, both physically and psychologically. Sitting all day under extreme stress - how long will it last? This approach can be beneficial for a short period of time, in order, as traders say, to “accelerate” the deposit to an amount with which it will be comfortable to trade in the future.

Over the long term, scalping or short-term trading can lead to exhaustion nervous system. Although there are people well-known in RuNet trading circles who do not change this trading style and receive visible pleasure and good income from it. If you have just come to trading and do not know the difference between a trader and a broker (a trader is a person who trades on the stock exchange, and a broker is a company that provides intermediary services for traders), do not try to conclude more transactions. Let it be one transaction a day, but a high-quality one. Imagine that you are a hunter tracking down your prey for a long time. Watch, watch, wait, and finally, at the right moment, “shoot” a profitable trade. This style of trading will bring satisfaction at first, and over time you will understand what you like best.

With a larger deposit, more opportunities

Finally, we will talk about how to become a trader and work without the participation of brokerage companies. Some beginners are immediately interested in such advanced questions. How to trade on the stock exchange without a broker if you are a trader with very modest funds. You need to immediately decide that such an opportunity exists only for those who own fairly large capital. After all, the broker not only gets rich from our losses, but also brings a lot of opportunities to traders: it provides quotes and leverage, thanks to which a trader with a minimum deposit can participate in trading. The broker gives you the opportunity to use its platform, already tailored to the basic requirements.

Many accuse brokerage companies of manipulating quotes - after all, they have all the orders of small traders in the palm of their hands. All this has a basis. Therefore, large investors are looking for an opportunity to enter the international market without the mediation of a broker. However, the starting capital for trading without an intermediary must be at least $10,000,000. It is clear that the vast majority of traders without the participation of a brokerage company would not have the opportunity to take part in trading.

However, you must understand that No Dealing Desk, as trading without a broker is called, does not guarantee that your orders will not be read. In fact, real trading without a broker is only available to very large investors who can spend a lot of money on the appropriate software and hardware and have millions of dollars to enter the market directly. Everything else - renting a separate trading server from a broker or any other options - does not provide any special privileges or advantages.

In most cases, an ordinary computer with the Internet, a passport to open an account and, of course, start-up capital that you are willing to risk are enough

The Moscow Exchange has little in common with those foreign platforms that we are used to seeing in films and television news. Here you will not find a crowd of shouting traders or huge boards with quotes. Even the “red room with a clock,” which is usually shown in stories about the Russian stock market, has a very indirect connection to trading: it is staffed by technical staff of the exchange.

The heart of the site is a spacious room in which there are almost no visitors. It has powerful computer equipment capable of processing tens of thousands of transactions per minute. It is here that electronic applications for the purchase and sale of securities flow from investors located in different parts of the world. In the main trading mode, transactions are concluded automatically when the prices of buyers and sellers specified in orders match. As a result of trading, securities are transferred to the accounts of buyers, and sellers receive money. This method of stock trading is called Internet trading.

A broker is any Russian bank or company with a license issued Federal service By financial markets(FSFM). It is through a broker that you can connect to electronic exchange trading. A list of the largest brokers working with individuals can be found on the Moscow Exchange website. But it does not include medium and small brokerage companies and banks. You can also search for a broker in your region on the developer page of one of the popular online trading programs. Read below for recommendations on choosing a broker.

Step 2: Try your hand at a demo account

You will have to download a demo version of the program for online trading from the broker’s website. As a rule, the file distribution is located in the “Software” section. The most common programs in Russia are Quik, TRANSAQ and Netinvestor. In addition, many brokers offer their own trading terminals. For example, SmartTrade from IT Invest, or Alfa-Direct from Alfa Bank. There are no fundamental differences between them, but “general market” products have an advantage: if you decide to switch to another broker, you will not have to install unfamiliar software and you can continue to use the familiar one.

After installing the trading terminal, understand the interface settings so as not to waste time on this in the future:

build charts of those securities and indices that you plan to monitor, and delete all unnecessary ones;
create tables with information about these securities that will be constantly updated
place the news feed in a convenient area of the screen;
do not forget to save the configuration so that the one you created appearance subsequently loaded automatically.

There shouldn’t be any particular difficulties with the settings, and if they do, a call to the support service will help (at this stage, brokers are always willing to communicate with potential clients). A list of frequently asked questions can be found on the website of your broker or trading software developer, such as Quik. The demo mode of the trading terminal differs from the real one only in that virtual money is spent - there is no risk. You will see stock quotes, view the news feed, and be able to trade with leverage.

Nuances

You can conclude stock transactions without the help of a computer by calling a broker or coming to the office. However, an additional commission is usually charged for processing such orders - 30-150 rubles for each order;
Many brokers, in addition to the regular trading program, also offer a lightweight version of it, which does not require installation on a computer and runs in an Internet browser window. In terms of functionality, it is slightly inferior to the standard version, but it looks simpler. In addition, it can be used even on someone else’s PC, without installing a full-fledged trading terminal. The main thing is not to forget about the safety rules in online trading.

Step 3: open a real account

At the broker's office you will need to sign a set of documents by presenting your passport. Additionally, a certificate of TIN assignment may be required (the exact list of documents depends on the broker). The account will be opened on the same day. You will also receive a password to access your personal account.

To open an account remotely, you need to leave a request on the website or by phone. The broker will send a set of documents filled out in your name, which you need to print and sign, having the signatures notarized. And then send them by mail or courier service along with copies of the passport pages. As soon as the broker receives them (delivery time depends on your region), an account will be opened for you. Second copies of the documents, certified by signature and seal, will be sent back to you. Some brokers cover the shipping costs (for example, KIT Finance).

To trade on a real account, you will need to generate electronic keys for the trading terminal. To do this, a special program is used, which can be downloaded on the broker’s website in the “ Software" Fill in your data and you will receive two files as output. One of them is the public key, and the other is the secret key. The first one must be registered with the broker (or on the website in personal account, or by sending the key by mail). In the settings of the trading terminal, you will need to indicate in which folder the keys are located (in the Quik program this is done in the Settings/General menu, in the Program/General/Default Settings tab).

Nuances

Some brokers, in particular Finam, allow you to open an account remotely in an accelerated manner. To do this, you need to fill out an application on the website and attach Required documents(passport and TIN).
brokers offer to join the standard terms of customer service. But if you wish, you can offer to change these conditions if something in them does not suit you. For example, the standard text of the agreement often contains a clause that you authorize the broker to borrow securities from you at a purely symbolic percentage (under loan agreements). You can try to refuse this point to avoid unnecessary risks. The larger the client, the more willingly the brokers are willing to accommodate;
According to the standard agreement, many brokers can use clients' free money for their own benefit. It is possible not to give such permission. True, then you will have to agree to an increase in the cost of service.

Step 4: deposit start-up capital

You can start real exchange trading as soon as the funds arrive in your account. When depositing through a cash register - during the day, in the case of a bank transfer - usually on the next business day. Remember that no one can guarantee you a return on investment in securities or even a return on investment. Therefore, the amount contributed should be such that its loss will not greatly damage the budget if the stars align unsuccessfully. For most brokers, the minimum amount to start trading is 10,000 - 30,000 rubles. Of course, this is not enough to form a full-fledged diversified portfolio (you need at least 50,000 - 70,000 rubles), but it is quite suitable for the first experiments.

Who can a broker refuse?

This can only happen if you do not provide all the documents or their authenticity raises doubts among the broker. Foreign citizens and stateless persons must, in addition to their passport, present a migration card and a document confirming the right to stay in Russia (if you open an account remotely while abroad, this is not required). Individual entrepreneurs are required to have a certificate of registration as an individual entrepreneur and an extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs. If a brokerage account is opened for a minor, then to dispose of it in cash you will need to obtain in advance the written consent of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities to conduct transactions with the property of a minor.

The Internet trading service differs little from one broker to another, especially from the point of view of a beginner. Therefore, you can contact anyone. Just keep a few important details in mind.

1. The Russian stock market has nothing to do with Forex and CFDs (contracts for differences in stock prices). If you are persistently told to “invest” in CFDs or currencies instead of securities, it is better to look for another broker. And at the same time, check whether he has a brokerage license and whether he is really a trading participant on the Moscow Exchange.

2. Consider how important it is for you to take an in-person class on stock market fundamentals. Or it will be enough to read materials on the Internet. In the first case, the choice is narrowed to those companies and banks that operate in your region. Although those interested, of course, can go to a free seminar with one broker, and then start trading through any other, opening an account remotely.

3. Be sure to compare rates. And don’t be confused by the fact that commissions on transactions amount to hundredths of a percent. In relative terms, the numbers seem ridiculous, but in absolute terms they can add up to decent amounts. In addition, rates from different brokers differ significantly. Take the time to call the companies and banks that interest you and ask them to tell you about all the costs that arise when opening an account and conducting transactions. Do not rely solely on the information on the broker's website: unfortunately, it is not always comprehensive.

4. Consider the general impression that you will get after your first acquaintance with the company or bank. Pay attention to whether the broker is focused on serving retail clients: is the information on the website accessible, is there a section for beginners. In addition, it would be a good idea to search the Internet for reviews from investors who are already working with this broker.

As a rule, brokers offer several options to choose from tariff plans. Which one is best for you depends on your securities trading strategy. Here are four simple rules.

1. For investors conducting one or two transactions per month, the main cost item is the monthly fee for maintaining a brokerage account or securities account (that is, in essence, for storing securities). Accordingly, you need to select a tariff at which these fixed payments are minimal or absent.

2. With more active trading, commission rates on transactions come to the fore, so you need to focus on them.

3. If you plan to buy small packages of securities (worth up to 30,000 -40,000 rubles each), then tariffs that do not provide for a minimum transaction fee are suitable for you. Otherwise, it may turn out that the real size of the brokerage commission for you will significantly exceed its average market level of 0.03-0.1%.

4. And for the future: it is most profitable for active traders to use conditional unlimited tariffs(when the size of the commission is limited from above and is about 25,000 - 35,000 rubles per month). Often such tariffs are not included in the standard line, but brokers can set them individually.

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Closing a Position

Many market participants believe that positions should be closed on the same grounds as those used to open them - only they are used in reverse. For example, if a purchase is made on any “oversold” signal, then the sale should be made on a similar “overbought” signal. This is a misconception: closing a position means eliminating all risks associated with that position, while opening an opposite position means taking on new risks.

As soon as an investor or a novice trader thinks about what to do with his savings, he inevitably faces the question: “Where to start?”

In fact, you shouldn’t put money in the bank at ridiculous interest rates. Moreover, you won’t receive this interest later. If we also take into account the very real prospect of losing the entire amount in the same bank, then the benefits of such a management of money become quite obvious. Approximately these thoughts tormented the author when he thought about the unenviable fate of investors who entrust their money to all sorts of scammers. This was probably the impetus for me to follow the thorny path of a stock exchange player. Naturally, first of all, the author was faced with the same question - "Where to begin?".

Stock trading for beginners

The simplicity of the question touched me, but it didn’t make it any easier. It is not worth reproducing here the entire path that the author had to go through before he understood what needed to be done when the intention to trade on stock markets arose.
Having many mistakes behind him, made solely due to a lack of experience and knowledge, he decided to present here his main considerations about where, in fact, one should start. So, the first question to be solved looks quite simple.

1 It goes something like this: “What markets will I trade in?”
But this question seems simple only at first glance. In fact, it is fraught with danger, because without paying proper attention to it, you can very realistically find yourself in a dead end. The thing is that every market has its own characteristics. At the same time, they inevitably give rise to certain “pros” and “cons,” which, in turn, have more or less weight for each individual person, depending on his personal preferences.
To make it easier to understand this issue, we will try to consider all its components in order. This will allow you to organize your thoughts into a system. First of all, you should find out geographical position trade. In other words, in which market, by territorial basis, will trading operations most likely be conducted? For Russian investors and traders, there are basically three such points: Russia, Europe, and the USA.
Some, however, may turn to other markets - Australia, India, Asia in general, etc. - but still it’s rather exotic. In each case, the procedure is almost the same: you need to choose a brokerage firm, open an account, and then you can trade, not forgetting, of course, to transfer money in a timely manner. But this should not be done first, but at least only after you read this article.
The second problem is related to the first and may require you to rethink a previously made decision. The problem is figuring out what to trade. This question is not idle. The Bloomberg news agency reported in early 2000 that it broadcast market data on approximately 2.5 million financial products. To view all this data, spending only one second on each product, will require exactly a month of continuous work. It is unlikely that anyone will want to experience such pleasure for themselves.

In reality, to solve this problem they turn to the so-called “market segmentation”. Speaking in simple words, each type of financial instrument belongs to a specific segment. There is a property market (equity). The most active market here is the corporate stock market. There is also a bond market, which is usually divided into the market for corporate bonds and government debt securities.
Also considered the most famous is the commodity futures market (commodity), where transactions are made on futures not only for commodities, but also for currencies and indices. And finally, we should mention the market for cash foreign exchange transactions - the Forex market. There are other, smaller ones, but in this case it is not so important.

How to understand all this and what to give preference to? Usually this is a personal matter for everyone, so it is extremely difficult to advise here. As a rule, investors and traders who are concerned about their capital prefer the stock and futures markets. Some people are drawn to currency trading. Here you need to pay attention to one circumstance: the selected market segment is very closely related to which territory you prefer to trade.
If you are planning to trade futures, then in Russia you are unlikely to have anywhere to turn around, unless you are going to specialize in one or two financial instruments. The most developed futures market right now is America, where you can even find temperature trading contracts. The same can be said about the stock market.

Once you have at least tentatively decided what to trade, you should think about how to obtain data from the market and how much it will cost. The question is important, and in no case should it be discounted, since it can easily affect the previously made decision. To make it clear what we are talking about, imagine this picture.
You intend to trade on the European stock market. How many information sources can you find? How many programs can you find that can be considered as alternative options? In any case, a lot of effort will be spent. At the same time, there is more than enough information about the American market - it’s not even easy to hide from it!

Accordingly, the most comprehensive offer is of software products that provide analysis of the American market specifically across the entire range of financial instruments. The same can be said for data providers. This is an important point, since the choice of an acceptable amount of inevitable costs depends on it. In addition, ordinary investors and traders now usually use the Internet to connect to the data flow. As practice shows, it is easier to obtain data from America than from neighboring Germany.

Now it’s time to think about why, in fact, all this is being done. A question with an obvious trick. Ninety-five percent of traders, and perhaps more, answer it something like this: “To make money.” Unfortunately, this answer is incorrect. If you start with such reasoning, then it is indeed better to take the money to the bank, even with dubious prospects of getting it back. After all, monetary losses become almost inevitable in this case. The correct answers may sound something like this: “to successfully invest money”, “to improve the management of your own funds”, “to receive additional income in exchange for some risk”, etc. The difference in the answers obviously seems quite insignificant to you. In fact, it is huge. To understand this, you should turn to a solution to such a problem as market analysis.

Thus, in the next step, you need to understand the principles of market analysis. Currently, there are many theories and a wide variety of opinions on this matter. One of the most common methods is technical analysis. What it is? This approach is based on the assumption that the use of various indicators, as well as the study of price bar configurations, will help in predicting the market situation in the future. Proponents of fundamental analysis call this a fallacy and are of the opinion that by studying the economic environment, more significant results can be achieved.

In practice, both of them turn out to be idealists, because neither approach guarantees complete success and is not able to protect against serious mistakes. The only way is to combine both approaches through your own common sense. When studying how to conduct market research that precedes fundamental decisions for a trader, you should turn to publications that are devoted specifically to this topic - technical and fundamental analysis. Now the reader can familiarize himself with such an extremely useful magazine as “Technical Analysis: Stocks & Futures”.

As you learn the basics of analysis, a rethinking of the market usually occurs. This leads to the need to reconsider our understanding of the tools that are used in analysis. Having penetrated deeper into the specifics of market analysis, you may realize that you need a completely different software product that provides analysis. Even if such a feeling does not arise, at this stage it is still recommended to reflect on the question: “How to conduct market analysis?” In other words, which technical analysis package should you choose?

At this stage, you should at least first decide what type of trading operations you intend to carry out. This is an extremely important question, since there are four main alternatives: day trading (trading a large number of securities with fixation of small amounts of exchange rate changes within 1/8 or so), intraday trading (involves opening and closing trading positions within trading day), short-term trading (Short-Term - usually understood as trading lasting several days), and, finally, Long-Term trading (Long-Term - this usually refers to trading that lasts from 30-40 days). As you understand, the choice of the above-mentioned types of trading depends on your preferred investment horizons.

And only now we have to decide the question: “Which broker should I trade with?” It is clear that the choice of a broker and the conditions he offers depends on the type of trading behavior. If you intend to day trade, you should contact a firm that provides direct access to the “trading space”. Short-term trading is not so demanding; here you can limit yourself to a regular online broker. For long-term trading, a phone is often enough. Of course, all this should not be taken as dogma, but it should still be taken as a basis. Commission; the quality of the software product that allows entering orders into the system (if this is not done through a Web browser); reliability of connection with the broker's server; the speed and quality of execution of entered orders - all these are very important little things that should be carefully weighed before giving preference to one or another company. And here it won’t hurt to find out through which clearing company the brokerage firm you are interested in works through, how client orders are routed, and what are the reviews about this firm. The resources of the NASDAQ website provide coordinates by which you can find out, for example, whether there have been negative moments in the history of a particular company. And it is highly recommended to do this! Sometimes it is also important how wide the range of financial instruments that can be traded is. This is especially true for the commodity futures market.

We just need to remind you: the industry of providing services in the stock and futures markets in the United States and in a number of developed countries of the world operates so steadily and is so tightly controlled that many brokerage firms simply would not think of drawing up two copies of the contract. This may seem like a scam to some, but as one investment manager once popularly said, “it’s much harder to steal here than at the bank.” That is why a brokerage service agreement is a public offer agreement in the form of a unilateral agreement. It's similar to the deal you make when you buy a magazine: by handing over the money, you've essentially agreed to the other party's terms. In the case of a broker, consent is expressed by the presence of your signature. So if you want to have a contract in your desk drawer, be sure to make a copy before sending a copy to the brokerage firm. If the matter concerns an American or British company, this is even more necessary.

When the choice is made, there is nothing left to do but rush into the abyss of the stock market. True, the most meticulous and cautious investors will not rush, but will work on drawing up rules for portfolio management. In any case, “fundamentalists” (those who adhere to fundamental analysis) devote a lot of time to this. Ardent supporters of technical analysis are engaged in design and testing trading systems. In opposite positions are those who worship the science of money management. They tend to view everything through the prism of probabilistic processes and statistical series, or operate with mathematical formulas that allow them to calculate all the necessary parameters for risk and profitability. Be that as it may, in reality, no type of trading approach can guarantee 100 percent success. The market simply does not tolerate certainty; it immediately rejects any certainty. Watching a bullfight will help you understand this. How will a bull behave in the arena when a red rag is waved in front of its very nose?

You should never forget that everything in this world changes. What seemed worthy of respect to you yesterday may no longer be taken seriously the next day. Then you will definitely reconsider your views on the market, perhaps even change the rhythm of trading. This is why investors and traders constantly “wander” from one broker to another. It is for this reason that the answer to the question of whom to trade through should not be treated as an unshakable and unchangeable ultimate truth. Remember: everything in the world changes, and so does the market! Therefore, we must change with it if we want to trade successfully!