• INVESTING IN THE STOCK MARKET IS GAMBLING :

It’s surprising that many finance graduates view the stock market as a gambling platform. However, this perception couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, the stock market is a regulated marketplace where individuals buy and sell shares of publicly traded companies. Transactions are facilitated through licensed and government-regulated brokers. When you invest in stocks, you’re making informed decisions based on research, company fundamentals, and market trends. You analyze financial statements, consider growth prospects, and assess risk. Your goal is to build wealth over the long term. It’s like planting a tree—you patiently nurture it, and over time, it grows.

Unlike gambling, where outcomes are uncertain and motivated by the chance of winning more money. Well, that’s the wild spin of a roulette wheel—no analysis, just adrenaline and often driven by chance or luck. In gambling, you’re not investing; you’re speculating. Trading in stocks involves buying and selling company shares with the goal of generating profits. While some financial instruments, such as Futures and Options, offer hedging opportunities (similar to insurance) for investors, many newcomers mistakenly use these tools without understanding their mechanisms, leading to financial losses.

• INVESTING IS ONLY FOR RICH PEOPLE :

Some people believe you need to be wealthy to invest in stocks. This is not true. Many people start investing with only small sum of money. Besides, a few people believe that stock market is rigged and that making money in trading for a common person is impossible. This is definitely not the case. With proper research and strategizing, anyone can make profitable trades in stock market. Like in any other field, there might be malpractices in the stock market. But if you follow the index and major stocks, you can stay profitable in this field.

There are many ways to start your journey with small capital. You can do monthly systematic investment plan (SIP) on mutual funds, invest a little money every month on index funds, manually invest some money in the selected stocks, or manually invest some money every week on the pre-designed baskets of stocks (for example, small in India).

• HGH RISK = HIGH RETURN IN STOCK MARKET :

Many people believe high risk gives high returns in stock market trading. Indeed, high and quick returns always carry high risk, but that doesn’t mean all the high-risk trades bring high profits. In reality, high-risk trade opportunities carry more chances of losing as compared to winning. It requires tremendous skill, patience, and research to find high-risk trade opportunities, where you can place your faith and finances. While it’s true that you can make a lot of money by taking on more risk in a trade, you can also lose a lot of money just as quickly. So always start small, make some profits, and then increase the trading capital. If you can’t make profits using Rs. 1,00,000, you will definitely be unable to make profits on Rs. 10,00,000.

• ONE NEEDS MULTIPLE SYSTEMS AND SCREENS TO MAKE PROFIT :

It is a common misconception that traders need multiple screens and systems to make profits in the stock market (major credit goes to videos shown by the traders on Instagram). While it is true that having multiple screens can give traders an edge by feeding more information, it is certainly not a requirement. Many successful traders only use a single screen or system to trade profitably. Multiple screens help professional traders (scalpers, arbitrage traders, and active day traders). However, it is not a mandatory requirement to achieve success in trading.

• ONE HAS TO SIT INFRONT OF THE SCREEN FROM MORNING TO EVENING :

One of the biggest myths about trading is that you must sit in front of the screen all day to make profits. This is not true, you can trade for a few hours (or even minutes) a day and still be successful. Technology drives the current world, and we can use it to manage our trading. Suppose you have a profitable system and need to watch the chart until it satisfies the entry criteria. We can easily avoid this by setting an alert on most of the charting platforms. A dedicated person can also set up an algorithm trading system to manage the trades. The algorithm systems will handle the entry, exit, stop-loss, position sizing, and all other activities related to trading if designed and coded correctly.