If you're new to the world of trading and wondering whether it’s really worth getting started, you're in the right place.

In this video, we’re kicking off a free 6-part mini course designed specifically for complete beginners. Guiding you step by step is our founder, Andrea Unger—the only trader in the world to have won the World Cup Trading Championships® four times.

In this first episode, we’ll help you get clarity on some essential questions:
• Why trading makes sense today—when approached with the right method
• How to get started on the right foot, even if you know nothing about the markets
• The most common mistakes beginners make—and how to avoid them from day one

The goal of this course isn’t to sell you dreams or make empty promises.

Instead, we want to give you a clear, practical introduction to systematic trading, and help you take your first real steps in the right direction.

Enjoy the video!

Transcription

Introduction: Why choose trading?

Hi, this is Andrea Unger. If you're here, it's because in some way you've become curious or interested in trading.

So, a good question to ask yourself—one that we all should ask ourselves—is: Why trading? What’s the point, let’s say, of trading or even just getting interested in trading?

Well, on one hand, the starting point is often the fascination that trading holds. That fascination we’ve seen in all sorts of movies, or the idea of somehow becoming the master of our own finances.

And unfortunately—I'll say this right away to avoid any misunderstandings—many people end up creating false expectations. They imagine that trading is something extraordinary or that it can produce impossible results.

What trading really is (vs investing)

But what is trading, really? The way we see trading—and of course, others may interpret it more broadly—but the way I define trading is: operating in the financial markets over relatively short time horizons.

And this is exactly where the difference lies between trading and investing, which I’ll explain more in detail in a moment. These are really just differences in terminology, but to clarify: trading is about buying and selling assets, that is, financial instruments or securities, and doing so within relatively short periods of time, from just a few hours—notice I said “a few hours,” not “a few seconds,” because that’s a whole different world of trading, high-frequency trading, which we don’t deal with at all. So from a few hours up to a few days—maybe 4, 5, 6 days. Of course, trades can be shorter or longer, but in general, that’s what I mean when I say trading.

The emotional and financial motivations behind trading

Now, there are emotional reasons that push people toward trading. Mainly the dream of controlling their own money. And maybe even multiplying it—which is hard. It is possible, but let’s be honest—it’s no walk in the park.

Then there’s also the desire not to let your money lose value. We all know that inflation has been out of control in recent years, and having a way to make your capital grow—even just enough to keep pace with inflation—is definitely an advantage. Because purchasing power drops, and if your capital can grow enough to counteract that drop, then it's as if you’re not losing money at all.

So, sometimes it's also wise to think about money not with the goal of becoming the next millionaire, but simply to avoid losing the value it already has. Then, of course, if becoming a millionaire happens for you, fantastic—I truly hope things go well and that you're able to reach important milestones.

The key difference between trading and long-term investing

Now, as I was saying earlier, the main difference between trading and investing lies in the time frame of each operation.

When it comes to investing—let's call it investing in general—the focus is on a medium- to long-term time horizon. Take Warren Buffett, for example, the king of investing. He buys stocks that he believes will grow in value over the long term.

How does he believe that? Well, of course, he's skilled—but he believes in those stocks because, according to his analysis, they have strong fundamentals. In other words, he studies the companies, their financial statements, the industries they operate in, and he believes they'll increase in value because they're doing what they do well. And so, the stock will rise in the future.

So generally speaking, investing means putting your money into something you believe will appreciate. It will appreciate because you believe in the value that is inherently present in that stock or asset.
In trading, the concept of value is secondary. It still matters, yes—because obviously, you don’t want to be trading something that could crash five minutes later—but overall, trading is more about analyzing short-term movements that can occur in a given stock.

So the goal is to ride, let’s say, those short-term or medium-term waves to try and gain an advantage from them.

The role of traders in the markets: Are we useful or just opportunists?

Now, you might say that this is a practice that is, I wouldn’t say immoral, but maybe not particularly useful to society—because in a way, we traders are a bit like vultures, so to speak, swooping in and picking up what others have left behind.

But that’s not exactly the case. It’s true, of course, that we’re not investing in the commercial world in the traditional sense—we’re not giving money to help a business grow. We’re only putting in money hoping that it grows in the short term.

However, it’s also true that we—as traders—add liquidity to the market. We add weight to it. Every trading transaction we make is an injection of capital into the market we’re operating in. And that injection helps the market. Because the more participants a market has, the harder it becomes to manipulate. And manipulating the market—now that is what’s truly immoral. In fact, some people do it. It’s illegal, but it still happens.

Obviously, moving a crate with just a few items inside is easy. But moving a crate full of blocks of lead? That becomes a lot harder. So we are like the little lead weights that fill the market, and in a way, we make it more difficult for the sharks—the big players, the ones who maybe don’t know everything, but sure know how to manage their money—to completely dominate and control the game.

I’m not saying we stop them entirely, but we definitely make their job much more complicated. And by doing that, we help the market reflect more authentic movements, rather than being constantly at the mercy of someone who manipulates things to their own advantage.

So no, we’re not exactly philanthropists, but we’re also not just opportunists taking advantage of nothing. That’s what trading is.

Real advantages of trading for those with limited capital

Now, what’s the advantage, if we look closely, between trading and investing?

First of all, it’s undeniable that trading offers greater earning potential—of course, I’m talking about trading done well, compared to investing done well. The percentage gains you can aim for through trading are much more favorable, especially for those who don’t have a lot of capital to begin with.

If someone enters the markets with 10 million dollars, maybe they’re not even looking for massive profits. It’s enough for them to get a decent return and preserve their capital effectively.

But if you only have, say, 10,000 dollars, and I tell you that you can earn 1% a year, it’s pretty clear that you won’t be thrilled with that. I mean, do the math—1% of 10,000 dollars isn’t exactly life-changing.

That’s why trading, with its potential for higher returns, naturally becomes the go-to solution for people with smaller portfolios. And when I say “smaller,” I don’t mean small in absolute terms—I mean smaller compared to the giants out there, the big institutional investors, the banks.

So yes, that’s one opportunity. But there are others, too.

Trading is extremely flexible. If we look at how markets behave and how we can operate, we see that trading allows us to go both long and short. That means we can take advantage of upward movements—just like in traditional investing by simply buying—but we can also benefit from downward movements.

If I believe a stock is about to drop in value, I can sell it even if I don’t own it. That’s called short selling. I can go short on the market, and then if I’m right, I’ll buy it back at a lower price.

Now, I used the wrong word—“if I’m right.” Let’s say, if things go well for me, I’ll buy it back for less. So I sell high, buy low—and I’ve made a profit.

That flexibility in choosing which direction to take in the market is a big plus. It’s not something you get with investing. I mean, it doesn’t make sense to go short on a stock for three years. That’s just not how investing works.

So that’s another way trading gives us more opportunities.

How to get started today: accessibility and available tools

Also, access to the markets today is easier than ever. And this applies to investing too, of course. Even through your basic bank account, you can go into the investment section and buy securities—government bonds, for instance, or even US stocks.

But with trading, we now have a wide range of platforms offered by different brokers. And brokers are just the intermediaries that allow us to access the markets. Thanks to them, we can enter the markets with great ease—and that ease of access is definitely a major advantage.

Stay tuned for the next video in this mini course, where we'll take a detailed look at what trading truly involves and exactly what these markets are that I've been talking about!

And if you want to learn more about trading, don’t miss our Complete Guide to Trading for Beginners! If you’d like to get the PDF version of the guide for free, just comment below with the word ‘TRADING’ and we’ll send it straight to you!

Happy trading, everyone—and see you soon in our next video!

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