Did you ever think, why you chose investing? I don’t mean the simple answer: money issue. This topic requires deeper reflection, and I think that the outcome of this reflection will be not only interesting but also useful and could bring the changes in our investing strategies.
The fastest and easiest way to begin our deliberations is to list the advantages of investing in financial instruments. It’s difficult to make a full list, because of wide differentiation of financial products on the market, but let me gather common features of most of them:
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Independency
- Flexibility
- Liquidity
- Progress
- Available tool
- Accessibility
- Equal access to information’s*
Independency
First of all, in today’s market, you don’t need to rely on a broker or analysts. Most information’s are available on internet, and could be accessed for free, or small fees (I choose the payable websites, because they help me save much time. But I write about it later).
Dependent on your expectations to the market and economics changes, you can choose from wide range of products, this with meet your expectations best. If you are sure, that expected scenario will happen you almost always can chose financial products, will allow you to make a profit, if you expectation will come true.
Flexibility
You can easily find a time for investing in your schedule (mostly markets are open 8 hours pd. in 5 days a week or even 24 hours per day in 5 days a week ). Of course if you investing in short term that will be more demanding than long term investment.
You don’t need to even have an access to computer to be able to make investment decisions. The numbers of mobile platforms for portfolio analysis, and investing is rapidly growing. Examples of solid platform with do not lags behind computer platforms are: Saxo Bank trader, TD Waterhouse Trading Account Plus, Halifax Share Dealing, XT- Brokers.
Liquidity
The popular markets, have big advantage here, compare to small and developing markets. In best exchanges or OCT’s you are able to almost always sell your assets immediately, and your stop-loss will close your positions almost always in the prescribed level.
Progress
There is very hard to find some other field than investing field, with have similar or greater number of publications, and available information’s. You can learn almost anything you want, fast and cheap. Thanks to this advantage, you can become an expert. But regardless of what do you know, your investing results should speak for you. In my life I meet many dodgers with were talking like mad! In reality no one would like to show they investing results on real account. In this case, be always careful. You can more likely loss, than learn anything from this kind of people.
Available tools
There is no other field with has so many useful tools. E.g. Trading Platforms, Technical Analysis, Fundamental Analysis, Expert Advisors, Indicators, Signals subscriptions, daily analysis, alerts, hedging techniques etc. Most professionals say that you need to think more, than most of this “boosters”. Of course it’s almost impossible to make any analysis without even some of mentioned above tools, but we need to remember that sophistication has stopped many victories.
Accessibility
The lowest required amount to beginning investments, what I hear about is 20£. This give you access to Forex platform with leverage 100:1 and micro lots. Today everybody who want to invest is able to do it. Unfortunately many who shouldn’t has do it (I hope they have still some savings on they pension plan).
Equal access to information’s*
In era of “cheap trading”, not only lower requirements make investments available. In my opinion more important is access to information’s. We can easily find macro and micro data from many places around the world. I put the star* in that point, because there is many abnormalities in investment world. You can read about high frequency trading, predator trading, or insider trading, if you wondering what I would like to say here.
Because of the above facts, I personally believe that we, as an investors, have opportunities of whose colleagues in other industries can only dream. This obviously increases the competition, and we need to spend a lot of time, and go very deep to beat the market year after year. Most scientists say it is impossible to beat the market, and the exceptions prove the rule. But please remember that there are many markets available for you 
