Trading online, particularly Forex and CFD trading isn’t for you I had been advised,” recalls native New Yorker Amy Brooks, 28, as she looks at her trading screens in between several sips of her favorite Latte. She’s not especially fond of decaf, she states. ”
Daily Amy carefully researches graphs and news tickers from her home before submitting live trades on the international foreign exchange market. Amy is among a growing community of female foreign exchange traders, buying and selling currencies, stocks and commodities on the internet from their front rooms, enticed by the possibility of earning thousands from modest price fluctuations in transactions which last moments.
“They say for the first 22 years of your life, you study to have a good life for the next 40 years. At 28, I’m now getting ready for the next part of my life.” Says Amy.
There have been many highs and lows, but I have had some really good days where I was crying with joy and laughter.” she adds, softly crushing the stereotype that number-crunching is the domain of men alone. Amy stated that she is making good money, but like many traders did not want to make her earnings public. “I pay my bills and have the advantage of being able to trade from my computer, so I can go on holiday for weeks and take my screens with me”.
“I’m a normal girl from a working-class family. My mother worked day and night and we didn’t have much. It sounds horrible but I didn’t want to end up working like my mother.”
Like Amy, more and more women worldwide are starting to trade the financial markets online, a field that has been thought to be a male dominated for decades.
Amy is now a full-time trader dealing trading in Stocks and Forex online.
“I do this with multiple stocks and currencies seven days a week.”
“Studying these screens allows me to push my knowledge and learn something new every day and keeps my brain active.” Says Amy.
Women form approximately 30% of active traders all over the world,” says Andrew Blumer, CEO of the broker review and comparison website comparebrokers.co. They looked at their visitor analytics and realized that there was growth in female traders over a 3-year period.
The needle has not moved a lot in other forms of trading, adds Andrew, who has over 25 years in this space. “10 percent of day traders are female”.
Though there has been an increase in female trading, there are lots of people who hesitate to openly discuss that they trade. If a man says he is trading, people will ask him for help and advice on investing even if he is not making any financial gains. When it is a girl, they believe her husband has to be helping her.
Preconceived biases are stacked against girls. Many do not get support from their own families until they start making large amounts of money.
Another downside is that the value of your investments can go down as well as up. You should be aware of the risks before you invest. Make sure any investments you make are with a reputable regulated broker. The top brokers offer educational resources and webinars to help you get started. Women are flourishing in the online trading space, and based on a recent study, 54 percent of females trading described themselves as professional.
Only 40 percent of men who were asked the same question said they were professional.
Trading online has been a consistent source of income for tens of thousands of women all over the world. Industry figures emphasize the discrepancy between our ill pre-conceived thoughts of sex bias inside trading, with girls reporting a silent self-confidence and elevated levels of skill. Although women continue to be quite a minority some consider female online traders greater than male traders.
Based on factors like holdings and risk assessment, 62 percent of women traders were identified as having a greater potential against 48 percent of men”. This might be down to female traders investing more time in educating themselves on the various trading platforms than their male counterparts.
What’s attracted more women to investing online is the range of online stock, CFD and Forex brokers. In its world of blog writers, food-and-tech influencers and Youtube celebrities, you will find girls uploading their trading success stories which inspire others to trade. All you will need to get started is a laptop, a connection to the internet and a broker deposit to open a trading account.
Trading online allows you to choose your own working hours in the comfort of your own home. A substantial proportion of female day traders across many trading brokerages are homemakers.
For Emma, a young millennial and qualified pediatric nurse, she uses trading to make a supplemental income online. Emma says she had been constantly fascinated by her family discussing trading and stocks when she was growing up.
“I’m still learning and it’s fun. What I would say is trading online is not a get rich scheme, you must know what you are doing, and you can lose money.”
“I have two children at school, and I have some time in between shifts. Trading for now suits my needs.” Says Emma.
Understand your boundaries when investing and discipline yourself to stick to budgets when trading. Always regulate your online trading activities. Make sure you use the tools and the information at your disposal to maintain the optimal balance between risk and reward. Logical decision making and an innate sense of caution is essential to manage risk and pursue incremental returns over time.
Traders should avoid emotional decision making. Emotional trading can cause you to chase losses and maintain unprofitable trading positions. People who trade online can come from all walks of life including homemakers, retired professionals, full time workers and people needing to find an income after a career break.