New Forex Trading Strategy

Monday, December 7, 2009

ETF Trading Strategies: Introduction For Beginners

By Patrick Deaton

ETF trading is exciting and can be thrilling when one is successful. When a person first starts trading, they will find that there are several ETF trading strategies, methods, and trading techniques that are available and can help one to be more successful. Before committing to a strategy however, it is important to take some time to find out which strategy best suits the type of trading that you will be doing.

Establishing safety nets, such as buy and sell limits, will give the beginner the flexibility needed to try strategies and methods as they find the one that is best for their needs. Creating a plan that includes a time-frame for testing methods and strategies will allow a person to use a strategy without making a long term commitment to that strategy.

The type of ETF trading that a person is going to do will impact the type of strategy that will work best. If an individual is adding ETF to their established portfolio, the trading strategy will be different than for the person who is going to be trading regularly.

ETFs are becoming a popular product to include in long term mixed portfolios. When an individual has ETFs in their long term portfolio, they may only evaluate the ETF on a yearly basis when they look at the rest of their portfolio. Changes and trades are usually managed by the portfolio manager or broker that is handling the portfolio. Individual who have these ETFs do not trade often and usually don't have a lot of knowledge about the possible advantages that can be made through a more proactive trading approach.

The knowledge and skills that an individual needs to be effective with a trading strategy will impact their return on trading. When a strategy or method is being considered, it is important to take time to research the strategy and find out how it has performed historically.

If a strategy is being considered that has no history of consistent effectiveness, there is an added element of risk in trading. When a person is involved in a riskier ETF trade, such as Leveraged or Inverse ETFs, this added risk is unacceptable.

Buy and Hold is one of the most popular ETF trading strategies used by people who are making long-term trades. The trades are spread among many sections and there is limited risk to a portfolio. This is the strategy that many financial advisers recommend and by individuals who want a fixed income or steady growth for their portfolio from any financial product. This is more of a hands-off strategy and an individual does not need to follow the index, make trades, or have in-depth knowledge about the sectors they are in. However, this lack of knowledge and tracking also means that a person is missing opportunities to make gains that occur in the market on a regular basis.

The Active Long-Term Strategy is like the Buy and Hold, but a person is more involved in their trades. The individual who is uses the Active Long-Term Strategy may, or may not, be involved in monitoring their sectors and the index to the extent that they can make trades in a proactive way. If this strategy is used in combination with some of the methods used by more aggressive strategies, a person can see significant gains in their portfolio.

The ETF strategies that are available provide a person with many opportunities to make gains in their trading. However, research and knowledge of the ETF and how it works is an important part of pairing the most effective trading strategy with the type of trading that a person does. When deciding on the strategy that will be most effective for one's needs it will be very helpful to talk to an individual who has expertise in both trading strategies and ETF as a whole. - 23305

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