| Investing | Trading | ||
| 1. | You are a shareholder of the company you bought it stocks | You do not own stock when you day trade | |
| 2. | You can earn dividend from dividend paying stocks | No dividend because you do not own the stock that you trade | |
| 3. | Passive income: You don’t need to participate actively to make money | Not passive: You must trade to make money | |
| 4. | Long term outlook, it pays to have at least a 5 years perspective when investing | Short terms – trade open can close the same day | |
| 5. | Lesser time to maintain, you might not need to check your portfolio for a month or more | Time consuming: most trader trade daily | |
| 6. | Lower risk, as you do not have to sell you stock even when there is a downturn in the market | Higher risk, due to volatility and you have to close your trade whether you are in profit or loss | |
| 7. | Less technicalities needed to be successful | lot of technicalities needed to be successful | |
| 8. | Stock price is needed for capital appreciation except dividend income | Market can be traded in both directions |