You need to choose an area where you can learn and absorb yourself into it, preferably outside of volatile markets. I invest in oil because despite the volatility it is still quite a simple supply and demand market containing many companies worth next to nothing who could one day be worth something. There are many similar markets but you need to research and get to know who the big players are and what the impacts of world events likely are on each business. It might be worth looking into where you have worked in the past, it is always better to choose things you know.
Doing your research and being comfortable is vital, simply buying into something like the FTSE100 without any prior knowledge is a sure fire way to lose everything fast. The FTSE market is also very boring and you are very limited to what you can make whilst your risk to losses is still high. I'm pretty sure everyone who doesn't manage their pension for example has no idea that their pension companies barely bother to monitor them and they will notice a considerable chunk of their contributions were wiped out by Brexit..
The best thing you can do first is to get a trading book to learn the basics and then try out a live test platform which uses fake money and see how you do. After that yes the transaction fees can be big but choose carefully and build up your confidence. Remember to keep the news on too because world events directly influence trading, it has to be a constant thing and if you can't manage your trades for at least a couple of hours a day it isn't worth bothering. If you want to set it and leave it you could look for companies with good dividends but your earnings over a year will be very limited with a small cashpile.
Even the weather can influence trading for example Majestic Wines were a good buy a few weeks back with the weather being good... More people buy wine in good weather, it's all common sense really.
Doing your research and being comfortable is vital, simply buying into something like the FTSE100 without any prior knowledge is a sure fire way to lose everything fast. The FTSE market is also very boring and you are very limited to what you can make whilst your risk to losses is still high. I'm pretty sure everyone who doesn't manage their pension for example has no idea that their pension companies barely bother to monitor them and they will notice a considerable chunk of their contributions were wiped out by Brexit..
The best thing you can do first is to get a trading book to learn the basics and then try out a live test platform which uses fake money and see how you do. After that yes the transaction fees can be big but choose carefully and build up your confidence. Remember to keep the news on too because world events directly influence trading, it has to be a constant thing and if you can't manage your trades for at least a couple of hours a day it isn't worth bothering. If you want to set it and leave it you could look for companies with good dividends but your earnings over a year will be very limited with a small cashpile.
Even the weather can influence trading for example Majestic Wines were a good buy a few weeks back with the weather being good... More people buy wine in good weather, it's all common sense really.
Last edited: