Stock Trader or a stock investor is an individual or firm who buys and sells financial instruments (such as stocks or bonds) in the financial markets.
The difference between stock traders and stock investors is that stock investors tend generally to buy great companies (blue chips). They tend to invest for the long-term and count upon compounded business growth to provide their returns. Stock traders, on the other hand, usually try to profit from short-term price volatility. Sometimes they try to rely upon the psychology of other investors.
Individuals or firms trading as their principal capacity are called stock traders or simply traders. The stock trader is usually a professional. Many people across the world can call themselves stock traders/investors or part-time stock traders/investors, despite having another profession in parallel with their regular trading activities in the financial markets. When a stock trader/investor has clients, and acts as a money manager or adviser with the intention of adding value to his clients finances, he is also called a financial adviser or manager. In this case, the financial manager could be an independent professional or a large bank corporation employee. This may include managers dealing with investment funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, and pension funds, or other professionals in equity investment and fund management. A very active stock trader who holds positions for a very short time and makes several trades each day is a day trader. Other broad or specific designations for different kinds of stock traders include the terms: speculator, hedger, arbitrageur and market maker.
