Stock Day Trading versus Investing - What's the difference?

Trading vs Investing 

So, you want to trade stocks?  Do you enjoy looking at the stock market daily, watching the financial news, reading charts? If you do, then trading is probably for you.  If you answered no to any of these questions, I think you are more of the investor type.  

Trading is a short game in the financial world. Let’s break it down, a stock trader typically looks at the news in the morning, keys up the stock scanner, looks for stocks that are on the move for the day. Then once the market opens at 9:30 E.S.T., he/she will execute trades in and out of stocks in the same day hoping to profit on the short- term movements of the stock. 

Investing is more of the long game in the financial world. An investor looks to buy a stock after learning about the fundamentals of the company and truly wants to be a shareholder. He/she hopes that the stock will increase in value over a longer time frame. That time frame may be a year or ten years.  

Many people like myself are both investors and traders of stock for both have their purpose. If you have a 401K at work you are most likely invested in mutual funds which is a long game mentality. However, if you would like to become a day trader, you can open a brokerage account and begin the journey into the world of trading stocks. I see stock trading as an opportunity to live my dreams and look out onto a bigger world than I could have possible imagined in a 9-5 job! 

Trading 101 Series : Episode 1

Thank you so much for joining me on this financial journey. I am looking forward to putting together a new series to help you get started from the bottom, all the way up to being a successful trader and investor.

What makes me qualified to teach these topics you may ask? First and foremost, I live the full time stock trader life and I am profitable. I am able to pay bills each month with money I've taken out of my trades as a day trader. I also manage traditional IRA and Roth IRA with a long term and swing trade approaches.  As far as education goes, I have an MBA and a BSBA in Finance from the University of Central Florida. Work experience includes being employed as a financial advisor and stock broker for Merrill Lynch, Empower Retirement and Duncan Williams, Inc. I have worked with thousands of people over the years to help them take control of their finances. Teaching them the basics and watching them flourish in the new freedom that control of your money has to offer.

As a basic syllabus I have outlined the following topics that we will cover in the upcoming days, weeks and months ahead.

-Trading versus Investing - Knowing the difference.
-When to apply Day Trading, Swing Trading and Investing strategies.
-Account Types - Brokerage, IRA, Roth
-Brokerage Firms- the good, bad and ugly.
-Basic Terminology of the Stock Market World
-Dividends
-Compounding
-Investment Types - Diversification
-Trading Section
-Investing Section
-Knowing yourself
-Mindfulness and Meditation; How do they apply to the world of Finance?
-Conclusions
-Personal Coaching - One on One assistance with your questions. (Specific stock selection not included.)


I hope you will all gleam nuggets of information here and on my podcast. My life's work is to educate and encourage you to take control of your money and make it work for you.

Namaste!
Michelle