Electronic trading, also known as online trading, refers to the process of conducting trades in financial markets through an online broker dealer using the internet. These trades can take place in the stock, bond, options, futures, or foreign exchange (FOREX) markets.
Electronic trades can only be conducted during standard market hours: between 9:30 am and 4 pm Eastern Standard Time on weekdays. Traders can create orders after markets close, but the orders won’t be executed until the next trading day.
With just a few clicks, investors can buy or sell just about any stock, exchange-traded fund, or derivatives contract.
This represents a big change from the way the stock exchange worked prior to the internet, when traders would gather in one central place like The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and buy and sell stocks in person. With advances in digital technology, that’s no longer necessary and the age of electronic trades now dominates.
How to Start Electronic Trading
Many investors today will only ever engage in online stock trading. Traders no longer need a personal broker whom they have to call on the phone each time they want to buy or sell a security.
Instead, investors can now open an online brokerage, create an account, and start placing trades. But choosing a platform is only step one in electronic stock trading. After that, you’ll need to decide what stocks to trade, what type of orders to use, what expenses will be involved (if any), and how trading might affect your tax liability.
Choose an Electronic Trading Platform
There are many electronic trading platforms to choose from. They are all similar in many ways, with general ease of use: Signing up and getting started can take less than an hour, with perhaps a few days of wait time involved for identity or “know your customer” verification.
Among the various platforms, there are slightly different features or different options as far as the user experience is concerned. Not too long ago, most platforms charged a commission fee for each buy or sell order executed, and there was a minimum amount of money needed to create a new account.
Recently, many brokerages have eliminated trading fees, and few still require account minimums, although there may be other costs associated with your investments. It’s important to understand what you’re being charged, because even small amounts add up over time and can reduce investment returns.
💡 Quick Tip: How do you decide if a certain trading platform or app is right for you? Ideally, the investment platform you choose offers the features that you need for your investment goals or strategy, e.g., an easy-to-use interface, data analysis, educational tools.
Research Stocks or ETFs
There are thousands upon thousands of securities to choose from, and many different types of markets and exchanges. When first starting out, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the choices.
Thankfully, online brokerages offer tools to help investors get started. There is also an abundance of free information online about investing.
Sources like Zacks, Motley Fool, Yahoo Finance, Seeking Alpha, SoFi, and many others provide new articles on a daily basis that help investors learn about new market opportunities.
Recommended: Investing Guide 101
Determine Which Type of Order to Use
It might be common to assume there are only two types of orders — a buy order and a sell order. In actuality, there are many different types of orders.
The type of order that likely comes to mind for most new investors is known as a market order. This is simply an order to buy or sell a security at whatever price it’s trading at right now.
Another type of buy order is a limit order. This is an order to buy at or below a specific price. The order can remain on the books for a day, sixty days, or until canceled, and will be filled whenever the security falls to the specified price.
This can help investors wait to buy a security at a cheaper price without having to monitor things. Limit orders also help protect against sudden spikes in price. If a market order is used just before a large price increase, an investor could pay more for a security than expected.
A stop-loss order can help traders limit losses. Like a limit order, a stop-loss gets triggered when a security falls to a specific price. But as you might have guessed, unlike a limit buy order, a stop-loss order will initiate a sell when triggered.
The topic of order types is one that new investors ought to consider researching on their own.
Recommended: What Is the Average Stock Market Return?
Consider Tax Implications
Buying securities usually doesn’t invoke any tax liability. Selling at a gain often requires an investor to pay capital gains tax, while selling at a loss could result in a capital loss, which investors can sometimes use to reduce their taxable income.
The subject of taxes and investing is long and involved. New investors might want to consider researching the tax implications of buying and selling securities on their own and consult with a tax professional.
💡 Quick Tip: Did you know that investment losses aren’t necessarily bad news? Some losses can be used to offset gains, potentially reducing how much tax you owe. Learn more about investment taxes.
The Risks of Online Trading
In addition to the convenience that electronic trading offers investors, it does come with some risks. The chief caveat of online trading is that it gives investors the opportunity to try new strategies (like options trading) or explore new types of investments without the benefit of expert guidance.
All investments come with the risk of loss, meaning you can lose all the money you’ve invested — or more, in some cases. It’s important to balance the opportunities with the downsides when electing to explore new investments.
The Takeaway
The era of online or electronic trading is here to stay, thanks to its lower cost structure as well as the overall convenience and ease-of-use that online platforms provide for investors.
Now investors can set up and manage a wide range of portfolios — from day trading to retirement — right from their own computers.
Electronic trading does have its limitations, though. Things move quickly, fees can add up, and sometimes there are investment options available that require more time and expertise — which may not be available through an online platform.
Ready to invest in your goals? It’s easy to get started when you open an investment account with SoFi Invest. You can invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, alternative funds, and more. SoFi doesn’t charge commissions, but other fees apply (full fee disclosure here).
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