While the mining industry has been around for ages, that doesn’t mean your method of buying and selling stocks has to be archaic as well. Thanks to cutting-edge digitization technologies, you have multiple options when it comes to online brokerage.

When looking to hire the best brokers, keep in mind that what works for you may not be ideal for others. For example, virtually all online brokerage firms advertise commission-free transactions. However, not all platforms offer comprehensive educational material.

You may prefer an always accessible customer service interface or have the option of consulting a financial advisor. In these cases, the convenience of mobile trading apps may not be worth the myriad of services offered by traditional brokers.

Only you can decide which platform best suits your needs. See a list of your possible choices here:

Although the learning curve required to initiate your first order of actions is shallow, you must first familiarize yourself with the basic concepts. Importantly, market transactions are done via the number of stocks you want to buy (or sell), not the dollar amount.

To convert dollars to stocks for a stock acquisition, simply divide the dollar amount you want to buy divided by the market price of the target stock. For example, if you want to buy $ 1,000 of GOLD shares at its current market price of $ 22.33, you will be able to buy 44 whole shares ($ 1,000 / $ 22.33 = 44.78).

Some brokerage firms allow you to buy fractional shares, which means you can buy $ 1,000 of GOLD shares instead of $ 982.52 (44 x $ 22.33 = $ 982.52) . However, since this is not a standardized feature, not all brokerage firms facilitate fractional share ownership.

Because a stock typically fluctuates in value during a market session, you can’t just buy stocks at a fixed price. Instead, you have different types of orders, which along with basic investing terminology are explained below.

Offer: Supply is the highest price a buyer will pay for a stock and is always lower than demand.
Ask: In contrast, demand is the minimum price that a seller will accept and is always higher than supply.
Disseminate: The spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price. You make money by speculating or believing that the target stock’s value will increase. Market makers make their money by the difference between the purchase price of their shares and the price at which they sell the shares to you.
Limited order: A limit order is a specific price at which you want to buy or sell a stock. The transaction will only take place below your fixed price, which is an advantage of transparency. However, the downside is that there is no guarantee that the stock will reach this price.
Market order: A market order is a request to buy or sell a stock at the next available price. If you place a market order during normal session hours, it will be executed. On the other hand, your buy order will occur at the ask price (and your sell order at the bid price), making those requests less favorable for you.
Stop-loss order: If you think your target stock is going to fall in value, you can set a specific price to get out of your holdings. This way you get something out of your investment instead of losing money. However, if the stock price drops between sessions, you may end up selling your holdings for a much lower price than you want.
Stop-limit order: This can avoid the unpleasant surprises that the gap-down session can generate on stop-loss orders. Rather than selling directly when a stock falls below a specified price, a stop-limit order will only execute at the specified price and never below it. If a mini rally occurs as a result of a steep gap-down session, a stop-limit order may be triggered if the rally rally hits your price threshold. Of course, the downside is that the stock may never reach your specified price, making the stop loss order the more favorable choice.

To buy GOLD stocks at the best rate, use a limit order. It will run at the price you want and give you maximum transparency.

However, the risk is that if the session progresses quickly, you may want to place a market order. You will not receive the cheapest price, but it does ensure that you will acquire stock as the order is placed within normal session hours.