How to Play Stocks for Beginners

How to play stocks safely must be understood by novice investors or those who are just getting into the world of stock investing. The goal is that this high-risk investment can generate cash or profit in the future.

Before discussing further about stocks, it’s a good idea to first straighten your understanding of playing stocks. The reason is, many people misunderstand investment by calling it playing stocks.

Some call it a safe way to play stocks, but of course we still have to take it seriously. It’s nothing, without a thorough understanding, stock investment can be considered as a mere trial and error.

Without the right understanding, placing funds in stocks can make you stagnate or lose. Don’t forget, our money is invested here, so if it is not based on a strong commitment, the results will not be optimal.

Choose securities with small transaction fees

Before we discuss how to play stocks or the correct term for investing in stocks, first know that there are many securities companies or stock brokers.

Transaction fees charged to investors also vary from one security to another.

Wait, what do you mean by transaction fees in how to play stocks?

In stock investment, we are required to open securities accounts (customer funds accounts) which are facilitated by these securities companies.

After the account is created, we must top-up our money to a securities account. The money in the securities account will function like e-money. With that money you can buy the stocks you want online.

Well, the transaction costs in question are the costs of buying and selling shares. This fee will be a source of income for the brokerage company concerned.

For example, there are securities that apply a fee of 0.19 percent for purchases and 0.29 percent for sales. There are also 0.15 percent of purchases and 0.20 of sales, and so on.

If the cost is getting smaller, then investors will also benefit, right? But that doesn’t mean the ones that cost a lot are not worth choosing. It could be that their service to customers is even better and the application is also good.

After you know which securities you are going to, all you have to do is prepare the related documents to open an account.

Don’t be stingy, but don’t go too far

After your securities account is ready and the trading application is available on your laptop, of course the next task is to top up or transfer funds to the securities account.

How to play the stock can actually be started. For those of you who are worried about being expensive, you can actually start investing for only Rp. 100 thousand.

Well, in stock transactions, we know the lot unit, where one lot consists of 100 shares. If the price per share is only Rp. 1,000, the price for one lot is just multiplied by 100 to become Rp. 100 thousand.

But is it true that with a small budget you can profit until you become crazy rich? Of course it can, but it can’t be instant. In investing, it takes time.

Don’t hesitate to start investing. However, make sure you don’t spend all your money up front.

Just apply a wise stock investment method by using 10 percent of the total cash in your account. With a note, it does not come from an emergency fund. Every month, top up 10 percent of your monthly income to buy shares.

By putting a large amount of money, the money must be big too. But when the stock price drops again, the losses you experience are also large.

It can’t be helped, the patience level of beginner investors is certainly not as good as big-name investors. Experiencing a loss in stock investment is normal, but don’t mean that the loss will make you poor in the future. For those of us who are learning how to play stocks, it is very important to understand this.

Choose stocks in the LQ45 or IDX30 index

In how to play stocks, the stock index issued by the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) can be a benchmark.

On the IDX there are approximately 22 indices. So that you don’t get confused, just choose stocks that are included in the LQ45 or IDX30 index.

The stocks in the index have very high liquidity. In addition, the company’s fundamentals are also considered good. Stocks that are included in these indices are often referred to as blue chips.

Of course, choosing stocks in these two indices can be the safest way to play stocks, right? Well, the tips for learning how to play stocks for beginners that can be taken here are that instead of you being bothered by listening to input here and there, it’s better to get acquainted with the rows of stocks in these two indexes.

Buy banking shares or consumer goods

After being familiar with the stocks in the IDX30 or LQ45 index, then this is the right time to buy banking stocks or consumer goods.

Why do these two companies need to be bought when we are learning how to play stocks? Do you think the benefits of investing in our shares will be even greater if you buy this company at the beginning?

That’s not what it means. Making the shares of banks and large companies in the consumer goods sector as the first shares, of course, can be a point for us to learn about the wisest way to invest in stocks for beginners. Why?

Because this company is a company with a simple business. In addition, their products are also used by the community, automatically in a year they always make a significant profit.

Discipline in making stop-losses

If it turns out that the price of the stock you bought has decreased, you need to calm down and don’t panic.

His name is also stock investment, the loss must be there. The only key is to be patient when we are learning how to play stocks. Because the price of the stock you buy will definitely go up again as long as it is a stock that has bright business prospects.

When you see our portfolio is red, then do a careful review of the issuer concerned. If the decline is due to financial fundamentals, don’t hesitate to stop loss.

“If you don’t stop-loss and the issuer ends up going bankrupt, the losses will be even greater than if you were disciplined to stop-loss from the start,” said Poltak Hotradero, a Capital Market Expert and Researcher at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).