How to become a good stock trader

Diving into the market can be overwhelming on multiple levels.

While many young investors will likely opt for a company-wide k plan , opening a brokerage account is another option. And whether you do business at TD Waterhouse, eTrade or some other brokerage , you can save money with every trade if you know the ropes. See, savvy trading is just a matter of squeezing out an eighth here and a quarter there until your nickels and dimes add up to thousands and then tens of thousands of dollars over an investing lifetime.

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This is especially true for those with a smaller pile of funds to invest, as each nickel and dime is a larger piece of your pie. Strange things can happen at the opening bell, so you may find yourself paying much more than you intended on the buy side, or you may receive far less than you expected on the sell side.

If you must trade at the opening, protect yourself with a limit order.

Market-shaking government statistics are almost always released in the morning. So are most corporate earnings reports.

A good real-time quote system will tell you not only the last price of a stock, but also the bid price , the ask price and the number of shares being bid for or offered at those prices.

By the same token, a large position on the ask side implies there are lots of sellers eager to get out. What if the bid and ask sizes are almost equal?

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Chances are, your order will be executed right there in the middle. The best time of the month to sell is during the first two and last two days.

Also, you should be an aggressive buyer during the months of September and October, when the market has a strong seasonal tendency to bottom. Plan to do most of your selling in April and early in May. There are two reasons for this advice: Like what you see?

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