Interesting Opportunities for Part-Time Traders
By Space Coast Daily // July 5, 2021
It’s a fact that most working people just don’t have the time to spend more than a couple of hours of the day following their investments. So, what’s the most efficient way to take advantage of modern trading opportunities? In addition to go-to favorites like forex and futures, potential part-time traders can look to instruments like penny stocks, and gold.
If you intend to trade on a part-time basis, which could be as few as five hours per week, consider the following approaches. Sometimes it’s difficult to decide among the offerings if you’ve not done much online investing. If that’s the case, don’t be afraid to experiment and spend a week or two on each method in order to discover which one best suits your personal preferences.
Forex
The beauty of forex is that just about anyone can learn the fundamentals of the process within a few days, account minimums are low or non-existent, and there are several excellent online brokers who specialize is this style of trading. Because forex markets are open 24-hours during weekdays, it’s possible to trade for as little as an hour per evening even if you hold a full-time day job. Unlike buying stocks and bonds, each forex trade can be entered for just a few dollars.
This ability to scale down the amount of each position, and to operate at any time of the day or night are two factors that bring a lot of people into the world of forex.
Low-Cost Stocks
Penny stocks can be an interesting, fun way to get involved in the stock market without spending a fortune or committing to hours of daily screen time. In fact, many working adults have been buying and selling these low-cost shares for decades. Trading in the pennies has skyrocketed in popularity over the years, and today represents one of the most active segments of the investing world, particularly among new, young, and specialty investing enthusiasts.
Index Mini Futures
The Dow and S&P indices both offer mini futures shares, meaning there’s no need to purchase an entire futures contract, which can cost thousands of dollars. Minis typically cost less than an average share of stock, fluctuate in price throughout the day, are represent an ideal way to play the entire market rather than try to predict the direction of individual securities.
Gold
Part-time jobs for people interested in precious metals, particularly gold, abound. For instance, with a small initial investment, anyone can become a gold bullion broker. Using the internet to locate local customers, many people operate part-time, buying gold at or close to spot prices and then selling it for a fixed percentage above spot to willing investors.
The advantage to this pursuit is that gold is so popular, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to find casual buyers who are happy to pay a premium for bullion rounds, bars, or coins. For better or worse, people who know little about the price of gold often seek out local bullion brokers just to buy one or two ounces as an inflation hedge.
