What is trading?

Tell trading apart from investing, and read a price quote. Free lesson 1 of 13 in Tickfloor's course, no card needed.

Trading vs investing

Investing means buying something and holding it for years. You hope it grows in value, and it might pay you along the way.

Trading means buying and selling more often. You try to profit from price changes over a shorter time. That could be minutes. It could be months.

An exchange is the marketplace where buyers meet sellers, like the ASX in Australia or the NYSE in New York. A broker is the app or account you use to send your order to the exchange. The broker passes your order on. It does not set the price.

General information only. It doesn't consider your objectives, finances or needs.

Open the full interactive lesson (12 minutes), or see the whole free course.

More free lessons: Market, limit and stop orders, in plain English, What you can trade, and how, Long and short.