Robinhood is a fantastic newbie friendly trading platform because it charges no commission fees for trades that you make. That’s great for someone who is just getting started in the market and wants to learn the ins and outs of trading. While Robinhood’s interface is decidedly simple, there are still things that may be confusing for newbies, most obviously, knowing what to stocks to buy now. If you’re new to the world of trading and looking to get started with Robinhood, follow these tips to make your trading experience smooth sailing.
Always Buy/Sell Limit Orders
You should never issue an order at market price in Robinhood because that could lead to your stock getting filled at a price you don’t want. A market order tells the app to buy at whatever the current price is, which may be spiking rapidly if you’re riding an upward trend. Using market orders could lead to you buying a $2.50 stock for the price of $2.75. To avoid scenarios like these, always use limit orders to buy/sell. A limit order says you’re willing to pay this price and no more. The market will automatically buy or sell your stock at that price when it is reached, so you don’t have to worry about babysitting your stock. You can even choose if the order is good for that day, or good indefinitely.
Only Start with What You Can Afford to Lose
Many fresh investors plunk thousands into their account hoping to turn it into millions. Unfortunately, it’s way too easy for an unseasoned investor to lose it all from a basic lack of trading knowledge. Only fund your Robinhood account with what you’re willing to lose. This platform is designed to help ease you into the trading market. If you like trading and you’d like to move to a more robust platform for online trading, then you can start looking at traditional brokers. If you have a Roth IRA, you should be maximizing your contributions to that over trying to trade gains in Robinhood.
You Can Also Trade bitcoin
If you’re interested in cryptocurrency but don’t know which exchange you should join, you can trade most popular cryptocurrencies on Robinhood. Your state must be authorized to trade cryptocurrencies, but Robinhood is working to expand support across the entire United States. Cryptocurrency trading is not FDIC insured, and there are no guarantees with volatility. You can also chat with other Robinhood users about the price of cryptocurrency in real-time.
Follow Stocks for News
Robinhood makes it easy to get an aggregate of all the stock news for stocks you follow. It’s easy to follow a stock on Robinhood by tapping the plus button in the upper right-hand corner. If any news relevant to stocks you follow develops, you’ll see it in the card news feed below your portfolio chart. You’ll also be notified of any earnings reports in this section. You don’t have to listen in if you don’t want to, but it can be an excellent way to get some insights into the company’s leadership. Most financial websites will have a printed Q&A session available for investors to analyze later.