Many novice traders, economics students and just amateurs of new things often wonder what the stock exchange is. This is the place where securities are traded. There is no single center, but the existing ones are interconnected and have similar quotes, that is, prices for specific quoted shares. For example, the value of a security in relation to the Russian ruble or the American dollar.
What are the players on the stock exchange
Most often - just traders. However, you can call them stock speculators, private investors, retail traders or stockbrokers. The essence of this profession does not change from this. Despite this, the trader is the most correct and well-established name for this type of activity. In principle, what the players on the stock exchange are called is also applicable to foreign exchange and resource markets. It doesn’t matter with which tools the work is in progress - forex, futures or options. The line of business will be called trading.
Bulls, bears and stereotypes
Historically, traders are given a kind of nickname, depending on their behavior on the exchange. This is also another example of what players are called on the stock exchange.
Bulls are traders who play for a raise at a certain point in time. In fact, these are those who are buying shares now, believing that the price will increase in the future. When the price of a stock or a quoted pair rises, then this trend is called a bullish mood. However, not only bulls affect the price. Bears are traders who believe that the price will go down and sell stocks or currencies. As for the price, here everything is similar to the bulls, only the opposite: if the price tends to go down, then the mood is “bearish”. It is important to remember that these are stereotypes, and only a novice trader adheres to them. It does not matter what the players on the stock exchange are called, because there are practically no pure bulls or bears, each exchange participant is looking for opportunities to earn money at the right time and can adjust his behavior depending on the situation and the forecast he made. If there are signs that the price will go down, an experienced trader sells, and in the case when the value of stocks or currency rises, he buys. It is very important to be able to identify such moments and take advantage of the opportunity. There is a technical and fundamental analysis for this. The first involves working with charts and indicators, the second - with economic news and financial reports of specific enterprises.
Stock exchanges in the Russian Federation
Almost every state has its own operators of activities related to the circulation of securities. In the countries of the European Union, the developed Asian states and, of course, in the USA there are many stock exchanges. This is due to economic growth, development and high demand for this type of service. As for our state, the Russian stock exchanges include six major operators of such activities, but in reality there are many more. The terms of trade, the minimum threshold of funds for transactions, as well as the list of quoted shares will depend on the chosen service provider. The most famous stock exchanges in Russia are MICEX (Moscow Exchange, MOEX) and RTS (Russian Trading System). It should be noted that when working with exchanges, there are some nuances, the main of which is the presence between the exchange and an intermediary client in the form of a broker. This is a separate legal entity, has a license and ensures the transfer of information about transactions. The list of brokers that we are working with can be found on the website of a particular exchange. Trading without intermediaries is possible, but requires additional costs, rental of server equipment, and in some cases - opening a legal entity and obtaining a license.
Where to begin
It is important to understand that such an activity is a serious work that requires a lot of effort. Many beginners do not distinguish trading from gambling and perceive this area of activity in a completely incorrect way. As a rule, a person may think that if he is unlucky once, then someday luck will turn to face him. This is also a false statement. Working on the stock exchange is, first and foremost, the ability to absorb information and interpret it correctly. It is important to master the technical and fundamental analysis, read specialized literature, analytical publications, special sites and news. You should also pay attention to the various financial statements of those enterprises whose shares you intend to acquire.
What else is important to know
You should be wary of various "teachers", paid "miracle signals" and other dubious things. As they say, free cheese is only in a mousetrap. And in our case, you will have to pay for getting into this same mousetrap. However, if a novice trader will conscientiously engage in, read useful literature and really love this kind of activity, then he will definitely achieve certain successes. A huge amount of information is in the public domain. Most importantly, do not take advice from strangers and do not buy anything from them. You should also be wary of calls from various managers. They usually impose services or engage in outright fraud, but this is more common in the foreign exchange market, in particular Forex.
Other tools
Before trying your hand at the stock exchange, you should learn to work with simpler tools. For example, Forex or binary options can help a novice trader to master technical analysis, because its principles will be identical with the currency, so with stocks and even resources. In addition, Forex and binary brokers provide their clients with demo accounts where you can work with virtual funds. However, the listed tools have one main minus: such trades are fictitious, transactions are not displayed outside the broker's server, but are just akin to real rate quotes.