Put simply, a share trading system is a strategy; it is a set of rules that you base all actions on regardless of how the market is performing.

The real advantage to using a quality share trading system is that it forces you to make stock market decisions based on proven market patterns, and not on emotions.

In a sense, having a system is about taking the guesswork out of trading and using history and rules to advantage.

There are five elements to a normal share trading system.Style – this is where you define your share trading objective.

Entry – these are the conditions that must be present for you to trade a certain stock.

Risk – these are the rules that you have in place to limit any losses.

Exit – your strategy for getting out of a stock.

Testing – checking that your strategy works before using real money on it.

Here is a brief share trading guide to some commonly used terms.

Bull Market – a market in which prices are on an upward trend.

Bear Market – a market in which prices are on a downward trend.

Close – the endpoint of a trading day. This term is also used when talking about the last price a given stock sells for on a trading day.

High – the highest price paid for a stock in a particular time period (eg day, week, month). The high for the day may be $19, but the high for the month may be $24.

Margin (buying on) – a transaction for the which the buyer borrows money in order to buy extra shares, and uses the shares themselves as collateral for the deal.

Short Selling – borrowing a security from a broker and selling it, in the hope that when you buy it back later you do so at a cheaper price. The risk is that if the stock improves, you will have to pay extra to cover your short position.

Stop Order – an instruction issued to your broker to sell when a stock hits a certain low point. Designed to limit your losses.

Put simply, the real time share price is the latest market price for a stock.

Every stock exchange will have real time share price data available, and the online trading platform you use should also display real time data.

Some services will charge extra in order to provide the most detailed and useful real time market data, but it is almost always worth the extra investment for serious day traders.

Once you organise a real time share price data feed in your trading platform software, it should update automatically to keep you notified of the latest market happenings.

A good feature of several modern share trading software packages is the ability to ‘watch’ designated stocks and monitor their performance.

You can even trigger alerts with some software, so that you are informed when the stocks you are watching hit a certain high or low price.

It is worth finding out how ‘real’ the real time data of your software package is, because the greater the lag time the less useful the data is to you.

If you are unsure about the best way to consistently access the most up to date share price data, it is a good idea to speak to experienced traders for some advice.

Experienced investors will tell you a common mistake of new investors is looking to sell well performing shares in order to obtain a short-term cash boost.

Instead, they say, it is a far better strategy to hold on to shares that perform well and pay dividends. If you are in need of a cash injection, look to sell your worst performing shares.But judging which stocks are performing the worst (and which are the best to sell) is not as simple as glancing at the share price and offloading those on a downward trend.

Rather, the best approach is to look at the overall health of the company. Ask yourself why you invested in that company in the first place, and what has changed to make you lose faith in it.

If the company has fundamentally changed, it may be a good option to sell.

A good indicator when you are weighing up whether to sell a stock is to ask yourself the following question: would you buy the stock at its current price?

If the answer is no, then you should almost certainly sell.Remember that you can always buy back into a stock, possibly at a lower price. So try not to beat yourself up over a loss!

Tip #1: Entry Strategy

This is important for maximising profits and reducing risk. Knowing if you are going to buy will give you an advantage so you can time it to the right conditions.

Tip #2: Exit Strategy

Without an exit strategy you can expect losses. This involves having a strategy for either minimising loss or taking profits.

Tip #3: Cutting Losses

This is essential for success on the share market. Minimising losses allows you to ensure you to sustain financial damage to your porfolio.

Tip #4: Key Indicators

These are the tools that enable you to make good trading decisions. Knowing how to recognise some reliable key indicators is crucial for successful trading.

Tip #5: Basic Patterns

Some basic patterns such as the double bottom or the inverted head and shoulders are a reliable way or judging formations in the trending market.

Tip # 6: Small Caps

This refers to those good value trades that can be made on stocks that have a greater chance for growth but an equally greater risk.