Millennials take up trading stocks in coronavirus quarantine
‘I think too many people think they're going to get in and just become rich overnight’
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Coronavirus quarantining has inspired millennials to take up new hobbies and skills -- including trading on the stock market.
At least, that’s what RagingBull -- a trading education platform -- has seen over the past two months, founder Jeff Bishop said.
“People are home. I think they've got more time than they ever had before,” Bishop told FOX Business. “A lot of people are probably rethinking their next step and what they're going to do. Maybe they don't have a job to go back to or if they're at home and they have a job to go back to, but they don't like their job, maybe they're thinking about other things they could do. Maybe they just lost a lot of money in the market and they're thinking about ways that they could've avoided that in the future.”
RagingBull co-founders Jason Bond (right) and Jeff Bishop (left) are pictured. (RagingBull)
RagingBull co-founder Jason Bond said people could also be interested in having more freedom.
“My guess is some [people] are probably thinking ‘wow this freedom is awesome,’” Bond told FOX Business. “Is there something else that I can do from home so I can continue to binge on Netflix, etc., whatever it is this stay-at-home order has brought them.”
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Bishop and Bond created RagingBull when they combined several of their newsletter products under one name.
“There wasn’t a good educational platform where people could see how real traders were trading their real money,” Bishop said. “What we saw a lot of was a basic stock market education on how to buy a stock ... But when it came down to actually seeing what real traders were doing, most traders didn't want to share that with anybody because they're not very good.”
“So we decided that we'd pull back the curtain on everything and have a full level of transparency where you can see every trade we ever make and we would share with you why we're looking at certain stocks and then why we're getting in the trades when we're getting into them,” Bishop added. “We feel that's the best way that you can educate and teach someone about the market is by walking with them day to day and showing them what you're doing.”
Today, the platform has eight traders that teach people their strategies and educate people at all trading levels. According to Bishop, much of the RagingBull audience is made up of millennials who are trying to add some extra income.
“I always think that's one of the best ways people can trade is just not to look to make a ton of money, but just supplement your income a little bit,” Bishop said. Set a goal to try to make an extra $500 or $1,000 a month from trading and see if you can do that consistently. That is really what trading's all about. And if you can do that, you can move up to higher and higher amounts.”
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Bond said the stock market is a bit confusing right now, even to the expert traders.
“You would think that the market would be down trending and yet the dips are already getting rebought,” Bond told FOX Business. “And, you know, bad news is good news again, as a result of all the stimulus that's coming out of the government. So it's real tricky, right? I think especially for millennials, they see a crash, but then they're hearing, ‘oh, my goodness, it's had its best two-week bounce in 82 years.’ So ... right now it's very difficult to make sense of.”
For those who are interested in learning how to trade, Bishop, who frequently hears new traders say they’re overwhelmed with information, suggested starting small.
“One of the first things I tell them is … just focus on five different stocks,’ he said. “And to get that five, just go around your house. Look at the things that you already like, things you already use, love and you're familiar with.”
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For example, Bishop said, look at your computer, your shoes and what’s in your fridge.
“Go and look at their stock charts and you'll find that you will see patterns happen over and over in these stock charts if you just study them a little bit,” Bishop said. “Review them, go over time periods and look at that.”
He also recommended low-cost education to help people understand some of the basic principles, which they can then apply to the five stocks they chose to focus on -- all without being overwhelmed.
Bond suggested also paying attention to “catalyst” moments for those companies.
“Catalyst drives stocks forward,” Bond said.
For instance, he said, Netflix stock is going up because everyone is home and needs something to do with their free time, while Amazon stock is up because many people are ordering online.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFLX | NETFLIX INC. | 837.26 | +6.79 | +0.82% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 211.48 | -2.62 | -1.22% |
“Understanding why [a stock moves] is like the biggest part of trading,” Bond said. “If a beginner can realize that from the onset, I think they're really ahead of most people. A lot of people just buy a stock. But why would it go higher from here? What are the catalysts? Is that already priced in?”
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Just don’t follow “random stock tips” on social media platforms, Bishop warned.
“I see people just jump in with a small amount of money and buy cheap stocks all the time because they heard someone talk about it going higher,” Bishop said. “And that is never a good investment idea. In fact, those things usually blow up. And that's the kind of thing that really burns people to the market early on. So I would just encourage people to do a little more research, don't just jump blindly in with stock ideas that other people might hand you.”
New traders should ultimately have realistic goals, Bishop said.
“I think too many people think they're going to get in and just become rich overnight or they're going to double or triple their account really quick,” Bishop said. “And, you know, that could happen once in a while, but you really have to take a lot of risk to make that happen. So I always advise people, go slow.”
“The thing's a journey, it's not a sprint, so you don't have to go that fast,” he added.