Stock investing comes in a wide variety of styles. They can range from long term to very short term, risky to somewhat less risky. There are different styles of investing as well as what you can use to invest. Though many will say that when it comes to investing their way is the right way, there really is no right or wrong. As long as you sell for a higher price than what you paid, you won.

Overall there are two general types of investing--growth and value investing. There are a variety of different trading strategies but we will discuss them in a little while. Growth investing is very straight forward, investing in companies with fast earnings and revenue growth. "Growth" stocks tend to be faster moving and are often considered high priced, though the latter is debatable. Value investing is trying to find a business whose share price is "undervalued" according to earnings, assets, cash, and a variety of other factors. "Value" stocks tend to be slower moving and are usually trading near the bottom of their historic trading range.

There are a wide variety of trading strategies that a person can choose to adopt. Your personality, investment goals, risk tolerance, and passion for the market will determine which strategy is right for you. Most people are "buy and hold" investors, which is buying a stock and holding it no matter what happens to the share price. On the other hand there are day traders, those who buy and sell a stock in the same day. Swing trading is right in the middle--swing traders can hold a stock for days or weeks on end.

Tools Available for Stock Investing

The most widespread tool used by individual investors is the Mutual Fund. A Mutual Fund is a collection of capital that is invested into a selection of stocks. Anybody with a retirement plan has at least one Mutual Fund. If you don't want a Mutual Fund you can buy shares of an individual company. This increases your risk as there is no guarantee that a stock will rise. For those who really know what they are doing they can utilize options contracts. An options contract is a tool used by traders who want to have increased leverage with relatively small investments. Options are very volatile and risky, a 50 percent loss is not uncommon, but a 100 percent return is achievable as well.