In the financial market, volatility is the tendency of prices to change quickly, sometimes unpredictably. Leveraging it can be a profitable strategy for capitalizing on the price fluctuations that arise from a volatile market.
As with other trading strategies, there is a downside since these markets have a higher-than-average risk. This necessitates careful consideration of your investment goals and risk tolerance before using this one. That said, there are still ways to take advantage of significant price fluctuations in volatile markets.
Consider Day Trading
Investors have been using day trading since they realized they could use it to take advantage of small price fluctuations throughout a day’s trading session. A common strategy used in day trading in volatile markets is scalping. It involves making numerous trades to profit from small price changes.
These smaller trades can combine to give significant returns, and traders can benefit massively if one has a huge upswing. You should only use scalping as a short-term strategy and when targeting short-term gains.
Leverage Intraday Momentum Strategies
Another strategy is intraday momentum trading. In trading, trends tend to continue until there is a reversal. If different factors cause the price of a stock to start rising, you can take advantage of this by entering a contract when the trend begins.
One thing to watch out for is higher-than-normal trade volumes. This trend means the market has many buyers and sellers whose activity is causing increased volatility. It is crucial to use stop-loss levels if you use this strategy to exit a trade as soon as there is a reversal to avoid potential losses.
Options Trading
Buying put and call options allows you to profit from price fluctuations. But what are put and call options? Call options give you the right to buy a security, a stock in this case, at a predetermined price on a predetermined date, while a put option allows you to sell one under the same conditions.
However, the seller or buyer is not obligated to do this because they can let the contract expire if they think the trade will be unprofitable.
Investors buy call options in a bullish market – markets where stock prices are more likely to rise. The reason is that they profit from the difference between the security’s price and the strike price. They buy put options in a bearish market where they think the opposite will happen.
With prices fluctuating in a volatile market, traders can use call options to make profits and put options to protect them and cover any losses. There are additional strategies for leveraging these fluctuations when trading options for stocks that can lead to excellent results, such as buying two calls and put options at the same time.
Go with Contrarian Investing
There are instances where you think the market has overreacted and that the price of a stock should not be as low as it is. In such a case, you can engage in contrarian investing, buying these stocks low, waiting for them to rebound, and then selling high.
A volatile market can look scary for investors because they do not know which investments to make and whether they will be profitable. However, such volatility presents opportunities for those who know how to take advantage of them. Since doing so is risky, you should understand the market well, be willing to learn, and only use strategies you know well.
