new comer for S&P500 trading

[s.b. 0]

HI there,

I'm a fair new trader in market, and I'm intereseted in trading S&P500, since I'm not very good at selecting which stock to trade.

So it seems trading index is a better idea.

Could anyone give some advices and suggestions on this?

 

Thank you for your replies.

[RichardV2 0]

All stock indexes, and many mutual funds (Called Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)) can be traded charted and treated just like any individual stock.

You can use ETFs to specialize in specific sectors of the market. For instance electronics has been really hot lately, so purchasing shares of an EFT specializing in electronics would be more than banks (which have been horrible lately). And of course the overall markets have been doing better than banks. ...anyway, trading indexes is a good way to start.

As you learn and grow, you will be able to use what you learned. For example, I often use this approach:

1. Pick the strongest market: DJIA, S&P500, AMEX, etc. You can invest in that index by itself, or...

2. From that market, pick a strong sector. For example, four of the many sectors in the S&P500 are Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials and Health Care. Let's say that you notice that Health Care is strong, then you can invest in a Health Care EFT, or...

3. Get a list of the Health Care companies listed in the S&P500, then look at those companies to find one or more candidates for an individual stock purchase. 

So, you can start at the top and work your way down (or not) and your questions will lead you to finding the answers that eventually become the experience to meet your goals.

Notice that 1, 2 and 3 above all require that you be able to pick out the strength in many possible choices. This will lead you to learning technical and fundamental ways to guide you forward.