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Whether you’re getting into the stock market for the first time, or have been a seasoned investor for years, the market can be a tough place to entrust your money. Many people have made and lost fortunes on the market, often far greater than the level of investment that you’ve placed into stocks. Nevertheless, the average investor can feel a bit overwhelmed by the realities of the market and the movement within on a daily basis.

Thankfully, the market is not so overwhelming that the average investor cannot make headway. In fact, there are some general stock trading principles that can guide the typical investor, allowing them to make money within the investment markets and protect the principal that they’ve invested should the market take a turn for the worst.

One principle that an investor should pay close attention to is what many professionals refer to as churning. It is one of the largest stock trading principles that an investor can heed. A trader with online account access can oftentimes feel the tempted to actively trade their investments on the tiniest up and down, in an attempt to profit from each move while avoiding losses. In the long run, a strategy like this will not pay off as the unseasoned investor cannot time the market well enough. Therefore, trading in this manner is ill advised.

Churning often will eat away at the profits that you would otherwise realize in your portfolio thanks to the commissions that brokerages charge to trade your stocks on your behalf. In reality, a person who churns their portfolio will see their small profits eaten away by the commissions charged on every trade, often leaving an investor who would have made money by simply holding on to their stock with a loss.

Another stock trading principle that every investor should partake in is the act of doing one’s homework on a company prior to executing a purchase, even if the shares are in an employer or business one deals with on a regular basis. Taking advantage of the stock trading tools that are available on the internet allows the average investor to have a finger on the pulse of a company’s movement, allowing them to know the financial conditions and the outlook for the company with just a few clicks.

Charts and financial summaries are additional tools that allow both the season and less experienced investor to do a deeper fundamental analysis to compare companies and industries, and give them a better view of whether a firm can make it in the long run. In many cases, a surface analysis of a company versus its competition is enough to provide an abundance of information that will allow an investor to make a well informed decision.

Actively following, but not obsessing over your portfolio’s performance, is the third of these significant stock trading principles. It is important to remember that earning money in the stock market is never a sure thing. A considerable amount of investors have a \”leave it alone\” attitude towards the market, assuming they can simply buy stock, and over time they will make money. This can often be true considering the average long term return in the market, but is not always the case.

Always remember; Buy low, sell high. Keeping up to date on any information or news involving companies you hold stock in, and paying attention to major developments or changes in the industry as well as the economy that might affect the company and your investment in either the long or short term, will help you hold true to that important principle. Staying current on important information and news about the companies you have invested in will keep you better prepared to execute a decision on a trade.