Today’s newcomers to financial trading get a significant head-start when it comes to learning the ropes; certainly more so than traders of 20 or even 10 years ago. Technology is changing the face of online trading so quickly that it is likely it will look very different even five to 10 years from now.
This new technology is equipping beginner traders with access to more quality information than ever before. In terms of physical trade execution in the stock market, it wasn’t too long ago that you would have been required to pick up the telephone and directly call your broker to place an order. That long-winded process involved them calling in the order to a floor trader, finding a match for the trade, and filling it. During that time, it was a regular occurrence that the price changed hugely in that time, resulting in many traders missing out on excellent entry points.
Nevertheless, today’s trading technology that was once hidden away for institutional traders is now readily available to retail traders. Trading software gives beginners the ability to analyse markets at the touch of a button, test trading strategies using play money and, when the time is right to use real funds, execute orders with lightning speed.
Trading apps opened the doors for retail traders to trade commodities, forex, indices, and shares. But with so many avenues to explore it can be difficult to know where to begin. Let’s take a look at some of the left-field ways retail traders can start to make money online today:
Commodities
There are two types of commodities that retail traders can trade: hard and soft. Hard commodities include precious metals such as gold and silver, while soft commodities include agricultural produce such as sugar or wheat. These are proving particularly popular to trade at present given the political uncertainty throughout the world. The value of these commodities can fluctuate wildly depending on economic and political circumstances. For instance, those who trade commodities online certainly saw the impact of the Brexit negotiations and the uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s regime in the United States. Particularly harsh weather conditions and an indication of weakened or strengthening supply and demand can have similar effects. It simply involves keeping your ear close to the ground in terms of news developments.
Bitcoin
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon believes that trading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is not the way to go. But, tell that to all the venture capitalists successfully investing funds into Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)! Nevertheless, last year, despite taking a big dip in value, Bitcoin remained the leading cryptocurrency market by almost 9 percent. In fact, last month, Bitcoin recovered so impressively from its dip last July that it smashed through the $5,000 value mark to an all-time high; resulting in over 750 percent growth. Bitcoin is now valued four times higher than an ounce of gold.
Sports
It’s possible to use the same trading techniques used in financial markets to make a consistent profit on professional sports markets. Sports trading involves backing and laying (buying and selling) sports-betting odds for a profit. In order to execute sports trades, you will need accounts with a sports trading exchange such as Betfair or Matchbook. By laying the prices of a sports team or individual and backing at higher odds, sports traders can make a percentage profit either in-play or before the event has even started. There is even dedicated trading software available for sports traders such as Bet Angel and Racing Traders which can help execute trades with similar speeds and accuracy as financial trading software.
If you are looking for a new way to trade, make sure you consider the three innovative strategies above that could earn you a solid funnel of income.
