Introduction: The Allure of Stock Trading for New Investors in 2025

The stock market has become more accessible for beginners due to technology and trading apps. With a basic education available for free and easy global market access, people from various walks of life are exploring the market. There are myriad opportunities whether you are a student, a side hustler or a full time dreamer, learning how to trade stocks is the perfect first step towards achieving financial freedom.

What Is Stock Trading?

The buying and selling of publicly listed companies' shares are traded on the stock market. You purchase a stock with the expectation that its value will rise in the market in the future. When it does, you can hawk it for a profit.

Why Do People Trade Stocks?

More people are switching to stock trading for the following reasons:

• The snap of a finger: Almost everyone has access to the latest technology like smartphones which makes trading easy.
  Volatility = Opportunity: Daily price changes are potential profit.

   

• Data & Tools: A variety of free resources, including stock charts, stock screeners, and market insights are accessible.
  Wealth Creation: Investing in stocks over a long-period is consistently one of the best means of creating wealth.

Types of Stock Traders

Stock traders are often grouped according to their specific trading strategies and timelines goals. These include scalpers, day traders, swing traders, position traders. Each have different levels of risk tolerance, duration for holding their investments, and strategies.

What You Need to Start Trading Stocks

Indexes or Brokerage Accounts:
In India, open an account with a SEBI-registered broker, or a SEC-recognized one outside India.

Capital to Invest:

• It's easier to commit around ₹5,000-₹20,000 to start.

A Strategy:

• Avoid making blind guesses. Use a company’s trends and charts or analyze their fundamentals before deciding.

A Platform to Trade On:

• For those trading in India, Zerodha and Upstox are friendly for beginners, while Webull and Robinhood cater to US customers.

Education & Support:

• For updated and beginner-friendly guides, tips, and blog, The Trusted Prop is indeed a trusted source.

Step-by-Step: How to Start Stock Trading

Step 1: Understand the Fundamentals Learn the appropriate vocabulary before your venture into trading:

• Stocks: Portion of ownership of a company.
• Stock Brokers: Service providers that facilitate trading of stocks
• Stock Market: Places where shares are bought and sold (Eg: NSE, BSE, NYSE)
• Brokerage: Fees paid to a stock broker
• Trading Volume: The total number of shares traded during a given time period

The Movement of stock price over a period of time Price Action The measurement of how much a stock swings, increasing or decreasing in value Volatility

Step 2: Register With A Stock Broker To Make the Most Out of the Different Existing Brokers, Compare's:

• Usability of Their App
• Fee per Trade
• Compliance with Authorities
• Analyzing and Graphing Options
• Simple Withdrawals and Deposits

Leading Stock Brokers in 2025:

• ICICI Direct
• Zerodha
• Interactive Brokers
• Angel One
• Upstox
• Groww
• Robinhood (USA)
• Webull

Step 3: Buy Shares of a Listed Company To Lower the Risks That Comes With Penny Stocks and Small-caps, Begin with:

• Blue Chip stocks of companies with recognized reputation: Like Reliance, HDFC, Apple's official Holding Company, Google

Step 4: Select Your Trading Strategy

• Ask yourself this:
• Am I interested in long term trades, or do I prefer daily trades?
• How much time can I put into the trading?
• How comfortable am I with volatility and risk?

Step 5: Market Evaluation

• Tackle two types of analysis:
• Fundamental Analysis
• Examine the company’s:
• Revenue & profit growth
• Debt levels
• Future growth prospects
• Management & industry trends

Technical Analysis

• Use charts and patterns such as:

Moving averages

• RSI (Relative Strength Index)
• MACD
• Candlestick formations

Most Common Stock Trading Mistakes (and how to avoid them)

• Mistake 1: Trading without a plan
  Solution: From the outset, outline the entry point, target, and stop-loss.

   

• Mistake 2: Emotional trading (FOMO & panic selling)
  Solution: Dismiss emotions and adhere strictly to rules.

   

• Mistake 3: Overtrading
  Solution: Shift focus from quantity to high-quality setups.

   

• Mistake 4: Weak risk management
  Solution: Avoid risking more than 1-2% of trading capital per trade.

   

• Mistake 5: Following social media trends
  Avoid blindly following social media as tips. Make sure to conduct trade-level research.
  Solution: Be sure to conduct personal research prior to making any trade.

Best Stock Trading Tools for Beginners

• Charting: TradingView, Chartink (both offer advanced and simple layouts)
• News: Moneycontrol, Bloomberg, Investing.com
• Stock screener: Screener.in and Finviz for India and the US respectively
• Community: r/IndianStreetBets, Stocktwits, The Trusted Prop blog

• Portfolio Tracking: TickerTape, Zerodha Console

   

Taxation on Stock Trading in India (2025)

In India, profits from stock trading are taxed based on the type of trading - short-term trading is taxed at a 15% commission, while long-term capital gains are taxed at 10% above ₹1,00,000 without indexation. Moreover, intraday and frequent trading may be classified and taxed as business income so there is scope to benefit from other lower tax slabs and residential domiciles.

Can you trade stocks on a prop firm?

Definitely!
Many prop trading firms allow for stock and equity index trading, beyond forex or futures.

Why This is Optimal For Beginners:

• No personal capital is needed.
• Get funded for more than ₹80 lakhs ($100,000+).
• Learn with discipline.
• Some prop firms allow actual equity index trading (NASDAQ, S&P 500, and others).

How Long Does It Take To Become Profitable?

Becoming a consistently profitable trader isn't a race it is a process shaped by learning, discipline, and experience. For some, it might take months; for others, years of trial, error, and market study.

Stock Trading Vs Futures Vs Crypto Trading: Where Should A Newbie Begin?

Stepping into the trading world can feel like walking into a maze stocks, futures, crypto... where do you even start? Each market has its own rhythm, risks, and rewards, and choosing the right one depends on your goals, risk appetite, and learning curve.

How Do I Spot Good Stocks As A Beginner?

• Steady growth in earnings
• Strong support from promoters
• Minor debt compared to equity
• Positive media exposure or growth in the industry
• Trading volume is higher than the average

Bonus Section: Real-life Beginner Trade Walkthrough

Grasping concepts is great, but actual application is where the real learning begins. Let's take a look at a swing trading example using Infosys (INFY) shares with an initial share capital of ₹10,000.

Trader Setup

• Available Capital: ₹10,000
• Selected Strategy: Swing Trading
• Selected Stock: Infosys (INFY)
• Selection Reason: Bullish RSI crossover + Positive earnings announcement

Trade Plan

A trade plan isn’t just a checklist it’s your personal roadmap for navigating the markets with clarity and control. Without one, you’re not really trading you’re just guessing.

Risk-Reward Calculation

• Risk: ₹1,450 - ₹1,400 = ₹50
• Reward: ₹1,550 - ₹1,450 = ₹100
• Risk-to-Reward Ratio: 1:2 (Excellent for beginners)
  
  Position Size example
• If wanting to risk only ₹100 total and ₹50 per share:
• Max Shares to Buy = ₹100 (total risk) / ₹50 (risk per share) = 2 shares
• Total Investment = 2 × ₹1,450 = ₹2,900
• Remaining Capital = ₹10,000 - ₹2,900 = ₹7,100 (still safe and untouched)

      Outcome Scenarios

• If the trade hits the target:
• Profit = 2 × ₹100 = ₹200
• ROI on capital deployed = ~6.9%
• If the trade hits stop-loss:
• Loss: 2 × ₹50 = ₹100
• Loss kept under 1% of overall capital

Key Learnings for Beginners

Define entry, target, and stop-loss before executing the trade

Stick to a risk percentage guideline (ex: 1–2% per trade) Prioritize the risk-reward ratio over potential profit. Emotional control is more important than perfect analysis.

The Impact of Stock Trading Psychology on Beginners 

Trading involves more than just charts and numbers. It’s a mental game as well. For novice traders, emotions can get in the way of decision-making. Here’s an outline of the primary psychological pitfalls, their potential danger, and the most straightforward ways to counteract them.

Stock Trading Basics: Important Principles for First-Time Traders Recognizing how stocks are traded is important before venturing into the markets.

What Are Shares and How Do They Work?

Shares are a form of partial ownership of a company. When you acquire a share, you become a shareholder and stand to earn profits in two primary ways:

• Capital Gains – Profit made when the share is sold for more than the purchase price
• Dividends – Profit distributions made by the company to shareholders at predetermined intervals.

Example: By purchasing 10 shares of Infosys, you own a small piece of the company and stand to benefit from its growth.

How Does the Stock Market Work?

The stock market functions as an enormous auction market in which shares are traded through exchanges.
How it works:
Using a stock brokerage, a buy/sell order can be placed.

• The order is sent to an exchange (like the NSE/BSE, NYSE, or NASDAQ) to be paired with a buyer/seller.
• The trade will be executed after the order has been matched.
• They are supervised by authorities such as SEBI in India and SEC in the US stock markets to maintain fairness and transparency.

Intraday Trading vs Delivery Trading:

What Moves Stock Prices?

Stock prices change due to many internal and external factors:

• Performance Forecasts: Earnings reports will easily shape citizeqn’s sentiment about a company.
• Supply & Demand: Prices goes high when demand is in excess or low when there is overselling.
• News: Changes in leadership, mergers or even new government policies impacts stock prices.
• Capitalistic: inflation numbers, oil prices and military force of the concerned country.
• Volume increase by Merger & Acquisition Algorithms trading, big corporations and algorithms.

Best Stocks For beginners in Indian markets in 2025:

Initial investors can turn their attention towards large-cap stocks as they are designed for first time investors due to their association with established companies with strong fundamentals.

Popular Stock Market Indices

Stock market indices are used to track the performance of a group of companies. They help investors understand marketing trends and compare regions’ finances. Here are some of the most followed indices around the world:

Key Global Stock Indices

When traders talk about the pulse of the global economy, they’re often watching key stock indices. From Wall Street’s S&P 500 to Asia’s Nikkei 225, these benchmarks reflect the performance of the world’s biggest markets and companies.

Why These Indices Matter

• Benchmarking: Evaluation of mutual funds and ETF performance against set benchmarks.
• Market Sentiment: Express the performance of the economy as a whole.
• Diversification Tool: Investing in index funds allows for risk spread over sectors.
• Global Comparison: Aid investors in tracking international market trends.

Stock Trading Final Thoughts: Start Small, Learn Fast, Stay Consistent

At first glance, stock trading might appear daunting, but every accomplished trader started somewhere. The most important thing is starting small and continuously educating yourself and building a strategy that is disciplined, not emotional.

With the right mindset, along with appropriate risk control and tools, stock trading can be a fruitful journey towards building wealth in the long run. Always remember:

Always remember: The Trusted Prop is here to guide you with beginner-friendly stock trading blogs, expert tips, and trusted prop firm reviews so you can start smarter, not just harder.

Focus on the concepts, not the profits learn before you leap.
Your psychology is just as important as the strategy itself patience and discipline win over FOMO and panic.
Losing is a fact when it comes to playing the market treat it as a lesson rather than considering yourself a failure.

Measurable outcomes over period of time consistency is greater than luck, and gradual gains over time yield optimal results.