Stock Markets Exposed - How do you become a proffesional Stock trader?

How do you become a proffesional Stock trader?

i want to make money from trading in the stock market. i 17 and slowly learning how it all works by reading the book "investing for dummies". but surely proffesional traders who are millionaires e.g warren buffet) didnt all of a sudden trade and become rich. What courses did they do at college, university etc? thanks (england)

Public Comments

If you're really into this, immediately declare something along the lines of finance when you enter college. While at college, get internships at investment and financial management firms. When you're an upclassman, if you have a good GPA, some companies will actually bring you onto the trading floor (in Chicago or even NY), to let you see what that is all about. Then when you graduate, get a job at an investment company, since you will need their sponsorship to take the Series-7 exam. You can ONLY take the series 7 with an investment company sponsoring you. Once you pass, you will be certified to buy and sell securites for other people, and now you are a full fledged stock broker.
Excellent career choice- 1- major in finance (nothing else) 2- make your own decisions, don't listen to too much "advice" from others 3- save all your money by eating in and hanging out with friends or a girlfriend who enjoys inexpensive activities 4-invest your savings, however small, in the markets. Real fortunes, the big ones, start small and are never made overnight.
Investigate the different investments you have available to you. Make THE BEST investment you can: Invest in yourself - your own education. Once you have that knowledge, no one can ever take it away. In the beginning “newbie” traders & investors DO NOT INVEST any money. It probably won’t be long when you’ll feel you’re ready to invest your hard-earned money. Before taking that step, you really should do research about what you are investing in. You should LEARN HOW: A] the stock market works. B] to invest in many, many various ways. C] to properly trade D] Properly manage the money in your trading account. "Newbie" investors & traders ALWAYS make mistakes. In fact, throughout a person's trading, he/she makes mistakes. In the beginning, you READ & LEARN about the market & how it works: Read "Investing for Dummies" As you read & do research about the investments you are interested in, sometimes you'll come across a financial or investment term you never heard before. http://investopedia.com is a free site. It’s recognized by Y! A as a "Featured Knowledge Partner". You can usually find excellent, easy-to-understand definitions of many financial & investment terms by going to Investopedia’s dictionary. It also has a free, paper trading platform. You can set up a virtual account & almost trade as though you were trading with real money. http://finance.yahoo.com is also recognized by Y! A as a "Featured Knowledge Partner" THIS IS NOT SPAM: I DO NOT know this man. I am not associated w/ him in any way. I know of him & the wonderful book he wrote. You should invest in a copy of “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Classon. You can get the book on http://amazon.com Its easy to read & follow. You can write in it & make notes in it. Simply read five [5] pages of this book - or any book - each and every day. OR You can leave it on the shelf, on a table or on the floor & let it collect dust. This is what I learned about the stock market and trading: 1] I read a little about the overall market and how it works. I read about different aspects: mutual funds, currency, commodities, stocks and options. 2] I asked Qs of my coaches and mentors; suggestions were made to me. 3] THEN I read and studied about those areas which interested me. 4] I concentrated on those areas which interested me and which fit the amount we had to work with. 5A] For those strategies I felt comfortable with, I developed trading rules. For those strategies I didn't know anything about, I developed some trading rules. 5B] I discovered I only needed trading rules for 4 to 6 trading strategies. 6] Using those rules, I paper traded. 7] When trades went against me - when I lost money - I adjusted or "tweaked" those rules for that strategy. 8] I paper traded - again and some more. 9] I made further adjustments. 10] The actual trading account was opened: As a speculator, with margin, with the approval to trade options. 11] Yes, it was VERY scary AND I was VERY apprehensive: BUT, I MADE THE BIG JUMP: Going "live" - in-the-market - with real money. I lost some money. NO ONE ever succeeds in each and every trade 100% of the time. BUT I didn't use the entire amount of the account's money on one trade. I learned AND I lived to trade another day. AND I continue learning and living to trade other days. AND YES, I STILL have losing trades. Thanks for asking your Q! I enjoyed answering it! VTY, Ron Berue Yes, that is my real last name!
First, you learn how to spell "professional." You don't need a college degree to trade stocks. You do need securities licenses, though, and in order to get them, you have to work for a brokerage firm who will sponsor you.
Buffett started out at the Wharton Business school. But he transferred to the University of Nebraska and got a degree in Arts and Sciences. That covers a pretty broad range of things but was most likely in Economics Then he got a Masters degree from Columbia in Economics. There he met Ben Graham who was a professor and practically revolutionized investing through his research and books. Buffett put Grahams ideas into practice. He created Limited Partnerships and invited other people to invest. Buffett took a small management fee and a bigger percentage of the profits. Later he closed out the LPs. In the 60s corporations became a popular form of business ownership. It was in the 60s that Buffett started buying stock in textile manufacturer called Berkshire-Hathaway. Which he used in the meantime as an investment vehicle and the cash flow to invest in other things like Coke and insurance companies. In the mid 80s he finely closed out the operations of the textile business. Insurance companies have to keep reserves from their premiums in order to pay claims. They invest the reserves in the meantime. And thats where Buffett got the cash to invest and how he got rich. There are volumes of books and articles and websites on Buffett. Things have changed quite a bit in investing today. Institutional investing is much bigger now with hedge funds and retirement funds and companies trading on their own just to make money and investment products like derivatives. You should get a degree in finance with heavy emphasis in financial accounting. You need to understand what goes into the financial statements And some macroeconomics if you want to go into this business..
I don't know what buffet studied in college but I think he and others educated themselves by reading books and annual reports from different companies. I would read a book about how Warren Buffet invests and read the free info on the websites below. Good luck!