Short term investment opportunities are available in all walks of life, ranging from very small capital outlays to very large business and investment opportunities. These opportunities can be divided into two categories, business and financial investments.
As short term investment opportunities go, those in the financial markets usually offer the most short term liquidity, with, currencies, shares and CFD’s (contracts for difference) giving you an option in which you can invest in the morning and sell the very same day. With modern technology now available, anyone with money to invest most probably has access to any of the world’s major stock exchanges as all you need is Internet access. Naturally day trading has most risk, but can also offer the highest, quick return. Don’t be fooled into thinking that day-trading is easy though; many people all over the world have done so and lost a lot of money trading.
The best way to start up is probably to do a “fantasy” investment challenge wherein you run a portfolio with real prices based on the stock market, but without using real money. This way you pick up how to trade, what to study in terms of fundamental and technical analysis and you also realise that it’s not as easy as some financial institutions make it out to be. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange and FNB run an investment challenge open to all students and scholars in South Africa which is a great way to get involved. There are also many ways for non-students to get involved in “fantasy” portfolios though. Check out www.jse.co.za for information on how to invest and what options are out there.
There are also short term opportunities in business investment, but not on a day-to-day basis, but many entrepreneurs and small business operators looking for seed or growth capital, some of whom will make repayments within weeks or months www.investmentnetwork.co.za is a great portal for connecting those looking for business capital with those looking for a way to find sensible business based long or short term investment opportunities in South Africa.