Whether you are beginning your journey as a trader or are looking to improve your strategy, you need to know where to look for valid information. You may struggle to find tried-and-tested tips, not because the information is hard to find, but because there’s an abundance of resources out there. Which techniques can truly help you and which ways aren’t worth investing in?
Here’s everything you should know about the subject.
Virtual Platforms
If you’re the type of person who prefers to have a good rehearsal before you do your show, you’ll love virtual platforms. With nothing but an account and a few minutes, you can create a portfolio and start trading on your website of choice with virtual money. Now, there’s no need to worry about how accurate such websites are. While the currency you’ll have and will be earning/losing is virtual, everything else, from the exchange rates to the information graphs, currency values, and updates, will be real and current. What makes these platforms great is that whatever you learn through courses, blog articles, books, and your other resources, you’ll get to practice, risk-free, on your virtual platform.
Books
Once upon a time, they were the only way to learn about trading (and anything else really), and fortunately, they haven’t lost their stature. Books come with two advantages. First, with books, you can trust your source. If you see a name on a book, you can google that name, know their qualifications, and that would be it. When it comes to other sources, there are not as many guarantees, but this depends on the website you’re using, as some can be highly beneficial (we’ll tell you how to spot those). The second advantage is that most trading legends have published books. So, while the pages might be a bit too long, you will be getting the pulp from the best of the best.
Specialist Websites
With the advancement in technology, you can now get your trading information and know-how through videos, blog posts, and infographics. But how do you know if the information you’re getting is truly useful? One way of doing so is by looking into the author’s qualifications. You can also try the techniques out yourself on a virtual platform to gauge their effectiveness. That being said, there’s no limit to what a specialized website could teach you. The right specialist could teach you when to close a trade and when to use your call options. What’s better is that through the interactive comment sections, you can ask whatever you want, and you’ll get a reply within hours. Meaning, web content is always adapting and expanding. This quality gives online sources a major advantage over books.
Online Courses
If you’re not self-motivated enough to learn on your own, or if you need a degree in a trading-related course, online courses might be the right thing for you. Through courses, you’ll learn the basic techniques and trading strategies. You’ll also get some insight into trading, pricing, and business theories. The main advantage here is that you can choose as heavy or as light a course as you want. Nonetheless, with this comes one main disadvantage. As with school, you can’t choose your curriculum. You’ll eventually have to power through those unwanted lessons. Whether you should go with an online course or not, that depends on your priorities
Broker Software and Apps
Information is what all financial instruments and means of education are about. How do you become a good trader? Essentially, you need to understand the market. You need accurate graphs, indexes, and indicators so you could note patterns and plan your next set of moves. Broker software and certain trading apps pride themselves on the ability to provide accurate data so as to help their users make the right trades. With interbank rates and up-to-date price quotes on stocks, currencies, and goods, there’s no limit to what you can do.
After reading all of the above, if you’re still comparing and contrasting your options to find the best way to go about improving your trading game, then you’re doing it all wrong. In order to make the most out of this article, you need to use everything to your advantage. It’s not about finding the best way to learn, but the best combination of ways. Let’s say you read a book. The book introduces you to a concept that you then decide to learn about in-depth on a website. After covering the theoretical part, now it’s time for the practical work. Through an app, you can learn all about the market you’re trading in before you apply the newly learned technique on a risk-free platform using virtual currency. The only way you’ll truly become a better trader is by learning to take advantage of all of your resources.
