對於抱有傳統的買入並持有策略並只進行多倉操作的投資者，股票因為一些原因仍然是個顯而易見的選擇。股票有一個長期積極回報記錄，投資者可以定期收到股息收入，紅利和資本收益能享受稅率優惠等等。但是涉及到交易的時候，他們還是喜歡股票多一點，但是外匯交易也有許多有點。這裡有10個在你決定交易股票還是外匯時需要考慮的因素。
技術或者基本面分析：外匯交易嚴重側重技術分析，而許多股票交易員認為這只是他們投資中的一個因素，他們還需要檢查市場和股票基本面。但是如果你決定内在價值和相對估值是你交易策略的中心，你應該堅持股票。但是如果你側重分析圖表和技術模式，在交易外匯時你會比普通的初學者擁有更好的運氣。
槓桿：當涉及到槓桿的時候外匯完全是另一片天地。你能掌控相比股票交易中只有2：1而外匯交易中高達50：1的槓桿嗎？過度槓桿可以在你交易獲利時增加你的利潤但是也能在瞬間徹底摧毀你的交易本金。如果你對自己掌控槓桿的能力不確定，請遠離外匯交易。
紀律：你有交易紀律來減少損失（相反的，讓盈利持續）嗎？例如，當一個交易寸頭嚴重錯誤你會立即採取行動嗎？你能在一個糟糕的交易日後淡定離開並且不嘗試用一個小時的瘋狂交易挽回損失嗎？（更多請見：《交易心理和紀律的重要性》）交易紀律是外匯交易的核心因為槓桿可能會增加損失。在股票交易中，你的損失通常限制在你交易的數量之内。即使你的損失比你原始投資多，是因為你付的保證金多，這個損失不太可能達到你原始投資的50倍，但是在付保證金的外匯交易卻可能。考慮到大量的散戶交易者在2015年1月15日瑞士法郎飙升後做空而遭受巨大損失。
看跌下註：外匯交易使對貨幣看空下註變得非常簡單。如果你認為日元兌美元將走低，你要做的就是在外匯市場做空美元/日元。做空單一股票要複雜的多，雖然在相反交易基金做空股指要容易的多。
倉位數量：外匯交易涉及有效數目的貨幣。根據國際清算銀行的2013年外匯調查，四大交易貨幣占每日交易額5.3萬億美元的75%以上。加上其他三個主要貨幣，澳元、瑞士法郎和加元，一個外匯交易員只需要觀察少於10種主要貨幣對。（更多請見：《七個新興市場貨幣挑戰外匯的層次結構》）相比之下，一個股票交易員僅在美國就要從超過3000支股票中選擇。
交易點差：外匯交易點差由於外匯市場的深度往往比股票交易的更小。豐富的流動性和微小的點差使外匯交易更容易快速的進出。而對股票交易來說，流動性更受限制，點差更大。
交易時間：你的主要交易時間是在白天還是晚上？對那些白天有工作的人來說，在常規的工作時間交易是不可能的。因此如果你的確有交易的欲望，外匯可以24小時交易，這是一個極具吸引力的選擇。
新聞影響：你傾向於關註大局和分析宏觀經濟新聞，還是更喜歡挖掘單一公司或版塊？外匯比單一股票受宏觀經濟新聞和經濟數據的影響更直接。
風險承受能力：你的風險承受能力在你決定交易股票還是外匯時是一個主要考慮因素。簡而言之，如果你的風險承受能力低，請不要選擇外匯交易。交易股票也有風險，但是至少你能通過那些最具流動性的藍籌股緩和風險。
下行風險管理：下行風險管理通常在外匯交易中比在股票交易中重要。你需要交易系統可以執行的各種訂單並應該能夠實行對沖策略。
總結
如果你有豐富的技術分析、穩固的交易紀律、強大的風險承受能力、能夠掌控高槓桿和足夠了解市場實現對沖策略，你將能很好的適應外匯交易。如果你覺得這些不是你的強項，你應該把你的投資集中在更安全的股票世界。
Forex or Stock Trading: Which Is Right For You?
By Elvis Picardo, CFA | August 18, 2015
For traditional buy-and-hold, "long only" investors, stocks remain an obvious choice for a number of reasons. Stocks have a long-term record of positive returns; investors can receive regular income from dividends; dividends and capital gains have favorable taxation, and so on. But when it comes to trading, even though the odds are still stacked in favor of stocks, forex trading has a number of advantages to offer. Here are 10 factors that you should consider when deciding whether to trade forex or stocks.
•Technical or fundamental analysis: Forex trading is heavily geared towards technical analysis, which many stock traders consider to be only one factor in their investments, as they also need to examine market and stock fundamentals. If determining intrinsic value and using relative valuations are central to your trading strategy, you should probably stick with stocks. But if your strengths include charting and analyzing technical patterns, you could have better luck with forex trading than the average neophyte.
•Leverage: Forex is another world when it comes to leverage. Can you handle leverage of as much as 50:1 levels, which are available for forex trading, compared with only 2:1 for trading stocks? Excessive leverage can magnify returns when your trades are working out but it also could wipe out your trading capital in minutes. If you're unsure about your ability to handle leverage, do yourself a favor and eschew forex trading.
•Discipline: Do you have the trading discipline to cut your losses (and conversely, let your winners run)? For example, do you take prompt action when a trading position is going horribly wrong? Are you able to walk away after a bad trading day and not try to make back your losses in an hour of frenetic trading? (For more, see: The Importance of Trading Psychology and Discipline.) Trading discipline is essential to forex trading because of the potential for magnified losses through leverage. In stock trading, your losses are generally restricted to the amount you invested. Even if you lose more than your initial investment because you're heavily margined, such losses are unlikely to ever be 50 times your original investment, a fate theoretically possible in margined forex trading. Consider the thousands of retail investors saddled with huge losses on their short Swiss franc positions following that currency's surge on January 15, 2015.
•Bearish bets: Forex trading makes it simple to take a bearish bet on a currency. If you think the Japanese yen is headed lower against the dollar, all you have to do is sell JPY vs. USD in the forex market. Shorting individual stocks is a bit more complicated, although it's easier to take a short position on equity indices through inverse exchange-traded funds.
•Number of positions: Forex trading involves a limited number of currencies. According to the Bank for International Settlements' 2013 forex survey, the top four most-traded currencies (the U.S. dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound) accounted for over 75% of the average daily forex trading turnover of US$5.3 trillion per day. Add in three other major currencies – the Australian dollar, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar – and a forex trader only has to watch less than 10 major currency pairs. (For more, see: Seven Emerging Currencies Challenging the Forex Hierarchy.) By contrast, a stock trader has a choice of more than 3,000 stocks (using the Russell 3000 as the investable universe) in the U.S. Alone.
•Trading spreads: Forex trading spreads tend to be tighter than those of stocks because of the forex market's depth. The abundant liquidity and tight spreads makes it easy to get in and out of forex trades quickly. Compare that to stock trades, where liquidity may be a constraint and bid-ask spreads are wider.
•Trading window: Is your primary trading window during the day or evening? For those who have a day job, trading during regular business hours isn't feasible. So if you really have a desire to trade, forex trading is an appealing alternative because it's open virtually 24 hours a day.
•News impact: Do you tend to concentrate on the big picture and analyze macroeconomic news, or do you prefer digging into individual companies and sectors? Currencies react more directly to macroeconomic news and economic data than individual stocks.
•Risk tolerance: Your risk tolerance is a huge consideration when deciding whether to trade forex or stocks. Simply put: if you have a low risk tolerance, steer clear of forex trading. Trading stocks has its share of risks but at least you can mitigate risk in that sector by sticking to the biggest and most liquid blue-chips. (Consider reading: What Is Your Risk Tolerance?)
•Managing downside risk: Managing downside risk is often more important in forex trading than in stock trading. You will need to understand the various types of orders that can be put through the trading system and also should be able to implement hedging strategies.
The Bottom Line
You could be well suited for forex trading if you have a yen (pun intended) for technical analysis, a solid trading discipline, a strong stomach for risk tolerance and for handling a high degree of leverage and if you're market-savvy enough to implement hedging strategies. If you don't feel these attributes are your strong suits, you should concentrate your investments in the safer world of stock trading.
本文翻譯由兄弟財經提供
文章來源：http://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/081815/forex-or-stock-trading-which-right-you.asp