Stock Trading Computer: What You Need to Succeed
Investing in stocks is a great way to solidify your financial independence. Regardless of the ups and downs of the stock market, historically stocks have consistently earned investors more money than bonds and other securities. Investing your money allows your money to work for you, because simply saving your paycheck week to week won’t increase your chances of financial independence. The richest people in the world reached their financial goals by making their money do the work. They invest in a vast range of things, but mostly they invest in the stock market and so should you.
If you make the decision to try and make some real money, you need to look into a dedicated computer that will give you be the best chance for success. Regular trading itself isn’t too resource intensive, particularly at the beginning when you’re learning the ropes. A lot of traders start out buying and selling stocks and then wait out the market hoping stocks rise with the goal of solidifying financial goals.
Traders with higher risk tolerance and looking for swifter results are more likely to be involved in day trading and binary options. Day trading, as the term implies, is simply buying and selling stocks within the same trading day. Stocks sought by day traders are more volatile than regular long-term stocks. Binary options are similar in that they too are traded short-term; the difference lies in that rather than hoping the stock rises, options traders make money by successfully predicting the direction of the market price. Click here to visit binary trading company 24Option for more information about binary trading.
Day and binary options traders are much more active traders and not just any computer will do. As a day trader, you are basically running your own business and as a business owner, you need to ensure that you use the best equipment you can afford. As a day trader, your most important piece of equipment is your computer setup.
Processor
Failure or success in the stock market comes downs to seconds. With some trades, you buy into a stock for only a few seconds and need to be able to move fast. And chances are you are looking at multiple trades at one time, meaning you have numerous windows and charts open. Your computer needs to able to run with multiple windows open without slowing down your computer. A computer with a quad-core processor—or even an 8-core processor if you do more than trade, like say manage a blog—is the bare minimum for keeping your computer running smoothly.
Memory
As a trader, most of the applications you will use are not very large, but to ensure they don’t get bogged down they are saved in the memory (RAM) of your computer. 8GB memory modules are more than adequate for trading computers. Unless you also run a side business and a graphic designer and video editor, you don’t need more than that.
Video Cards
Trading applications are not exceedingly graphic intensive, so a basic video card will do. Again, unless your computer is also being used for video editing (and if you do, you should be using a different computer anyway) a solid video card rated for business will do the job just fine.
Hard Drive
If you are looking for increased speed and performance, you should consider a solid state drive (SSD). Traditional HDD drives may have more storage space, but SSDs make up for that supposed weakness in speed. SSD have no moving parts, which means they are more durable and they can load programs and move data faster. In stock trading, higher speed can make or break a trade.
Cases
You need to locate a case that will fit all your computer’s components, including the power supply. If you are buying a pre-built computer, you will relinquish some control over this aspect, but it isn’t hard to find a basic case that will suit your needs. For people looking for something different, check out our article about five awesome PC cases.
Operating System
When if comes to what operating system (OS) you should be using, it’s really about your comfort level. If you love MAC OS, by all means use it, the only caveat being your hands are tied somewhat when trying to customize MAC OS. If you’re pressing for a recommendation, though, choose an OS that gives you more options for customization, such as Windows or Linux.
Keeping it Running
Regardless of the quality of your computer’s components, you need to ensure they are properly maintained so they are always running in tiptop shape (let PC Tech Mag teach help you keep your computer happy!). A high-quality trading computer is useless if it breaks down on you in the middle of a trade.
