Online stock trading means buying and selling shares of companies publicly traded on a stock exchange.

The price of a particular stock is determined by the total number of shares a company has created, usually measured in the currency of the stock market it is listed on, for example, pence (in the UK), euro (in Europe), yen (in Japan) and US dollars (in the US).

In line with the law of supply and demand, when there are more traders who want to buy a company than sell it, its stock price typically rises. Conversely, when there are more traders who want to sell a company than buy it, the stock price tends to decrease.

CFD trading on shares is a form of trading that enables you to speculate on prices of publicly-listed companies traded on exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and Tokyo Stock Exchange, without the need to own the underlying stocks.

Another unique feature of stock CFD trading is the ability to increase your market exposure through leverage (or margin). This means you only need a fraction of the total trade value.

The five main differences between trading shares and Forex are:

• Trading volume – the Forex market has a larger trading volume than the stock market.

• Instrument diversity – there are thousands of stocks to choose from, as opposed to several dozen currency pairs.

• Price effect – stocks’ prices are mainly affected by 'internal factors’, such as financial reports and other corporate events (dividends, stock splits, etc.), whereas Forex pairs are mostly influenced by 'external factors', such as positive or negative political and economic developments between countries/regions.

• Market volatility – stock prices can fluctuate wildly from one day to the next, and their fluctuations are generally sharper than the ones found in Forex markets.

Please note that when trading Forex or shares CFDs you do not actually own the underlying instrument, but are rather trading on their anticipated price change.

Stock trading has the potential to generate additional wealth, but it is not a guaranteed or quick path to riches. The stock market fluctuates based on a variety of factors, such as economic conditions, company performance, market sentiment, and global events. It is important to understand the risks involved and the possibility of incurring losses before engaging in trading.