Trader 

Trader - a trader engaged in the purchase and sale of valuable assets and speculating on the difference in prices.

At its core, a trader is a financial specialist who speculates on price differences. A trader works on the platform that the exchange provides, or on the platforms of the OTC market. The basis of their work is the exchange of one specific asset for another asset, at the best price.

Types of valuable assets that traders work with:

• • Currencies (national and foreign)
• • Cryptocurrencies
• • Securities (stocks, bills, bonds, certificates)
• • Futures
• • Options
• • Spot metals (precious metals)
• • Financial Indices

The trader chooses the asset with which it is more convenient for him to work. As a rule, it depends on the experience of the trader, because you not only need to choose an asset, you need to be able to work with it, know about the demand for it, predict the rates, price volatility and market sentiment. At the same time, the trader should be able to analyze the market situation, both for short and long terms.

Often traders do not work for themselves but get a job in the government or in specific organizations. When hiring, they pass a strenuous test.

A professional trader should have the following skills:

• • Higher specialized education (economic, technical).
• • Work experience (usually from a year).
• • The presence of a document confirming the qualification of a specialist or the right to work with valuable assets. It can be different certificates, etc.
• • Compliance with age restrictions (depending on the company, but, as a rule, from 20 years old).
• • Acceptability of its trading strategies and techniques. Often, strategies depend on selected market assets. It is precisely on the trading methods of the trader that his profit often depends.
• • Necessary analytical skills and high stress resistance.
• • Mathematical mindset, intuition and ability to make quick decisions.

Many often confuse a trader and a broker. The difference between them is quite large.

Differences between traders and brokers:

• • A broker is a company that provides traders with access to a trading platform with which they can buy and sell foreign currency.
• • Unlike traders, brokers often assemble a group of their own analysts to make forecasts of the price volatility.
• • Brokers have their own platforms and trading tools. Traders use third party tools.
• • The broker receives a special commission for trading on his platform and with his tools. A trader makes a profit by speculating on the difference in asset prices. Earnings for brokers are stable. Earnings of a trader depends on the skills of the trader.
• Self-employed traders and traders working for financial companies differ from each other. First of all, it concerns the methods of their trading. The former often prefer short-term deals, the latter more often prefer long-term deals designed for large profits.

Pros and cons of the trader

Pros:

• • There is no limit to profit. The more experience a trader has, the higher his profit.
• • Round-the-clock operation. A trader can work at any time convenient for him, except weekends.
• • There is no reference to the place of work. A trader can easily work anywhere there is Internet.

Minuses:

• • No stability. There is no guarantee of profit in financial markets. There is always a risk of losing money.
• • Ambiguous attitude. In a number of countries, the work of traders is either controlled by government or prohibited.

Traders make various financial transactions. Moreover, depending on the type of financial transaction, the traders themselves also differ.

Financial transactions vary:

1. The form of ownership. They differ in operations performed by companies whose staff includes traders and operations performed by traders who work for themselves.

2. The duration of transactions. Such operations are divided into:

• • Short-term (scalping) - fast trades that take place in a short period of time.
• • Transactions intraday. Another type of short-term transactions that open and close within the same trading day.
• • Medium term. Transactions open for a period of several days to several weeks
• • Long term. Transactions are opened for a period of more than one year.

3. The objectives of the transaction. The objectives of financial transactions often differ from each other. There can be many variations. As a rule, the goal of any financial transaction is the same - to make a profit. But how this is achieved is different. Some people prefer to speculate on price volatility, others trade with maximum risk hedging. Some use financial markets to invest.

In general, we can say that for a trader, trading in financial markets is not just a job, but a way of life. It is necessary to devote a lot of time to this, have great patience and constantly adapt to the changing financial market.