If you’ve paid any attention to the stock market over the last two years, then you probably know that things have changed.

Apps like Stash and Robinhood have brought millions of new people to investing that would have never been able to put their money in stocks without the new technology and lack of commission for making trades.

Cryptocurrencies have soared in popularity to the point that they represent a viable — if controversial — alternative to the stock market.

And industries that were virtually unknown or still in their infancy just a few years ago, like streaming services, virtual reality, and FinTech, have now become global forces receiving billions of dollars in investment.

As we look to 2022, the investing landscape is more complex than ever before, yet it’s simultaneously a year that could prove more advantageous to smart investors than any other in recent memory.

Or as Barron’s put it: “As these phenomena follow us into the new year, so too will an investment sector that has experienced continued innovation as new, and newly accessible, tech platforms and products transform the financial services landscape and contribute to positive change in how we invest—as well as who is investing.”

Here are some of the investing trends for 2022 that you need to know.

Metaverse

Facebook’s name and brand change to the Metaverse prompted millions of people to hop on Google and find out what that word actually means.

The idea of a fully-integrated virtual world has long been the stuff of science-fiction, like Stephen Spielberg’s adaptation of “Ready Player One” just a few years ago. While many video gamers have understood the concept for years, the rest of the public is more tentative in their understanding and support.

The reality is that the metaverse is still in its infancy, whether we’re talking about Facebook or the many other companies working to create their slice of the coming virtual world. But that’s also exactly why investors who invest now could see massive returns in the near future.

A lesser-known example would be AMPD Ventures, which received $6.94 million from Canadian company ThreeD Capital Inc. in November 2021 for its Metaverse initiatives.

“My feeling is that we are in the midst of a digital acceleration, and this way of life will be with us indefinitely,” Sheldon Inwentash, CEO of ThreeD Capital, said in an interview with Finsmes.com.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Another trend that skyrocketed in 2021 was DeFi, or decentralized finance. Long seen as a less-interesting trend compared to cryptocurrency, DeFi received a whopping $260 billion in investment during 2021, making it a serious new contender for investors looking for ground-floor opportunities.

The industry’s growth has primarily been driven by new DeFi applications, including apps aimed at derivatives, insurance, the lending and borrowing of virtual assets, as well as the management of crypto assets.

The industry’s growth has also relied on stablecoins, a form of crypto utilized mostly by liquidity pools trying to make trading more convenient. DeFi apps increasingly use stablecoins to address the volatility in crypto markets — a major selling point for investors.

Cannabis and Psychedelics

Despite the disappointment among cannabis investors that US President Joe Biden’s administration hasn’t made any moves on the federal legalization of cannabis, 36 states now have some form of legalized marijuana, despite Cannabis cyber liabilities.

Even without changes at the federal level, that means investors can expect the US cannabis industry to grow by double-digits for the foreseeable future.

Additionally, Canada has legalized some psychedelics, mainly psilocybin, and at least one US state, Oregon, has done the same. The medical potential of psychedelics is just beginning to be understood, but they have already shown major potential for treating alcoholism, depression and other mental health problems that currently have few effective treatments. It’s another industry with huge potential.

These are only a few examples of the many emerging investment trends of 2022. Keep doing your research! With enough homework, you should be able to find investments that go the distance.

Feeling frustrated with your investing? You’re not alone.

Hundreds of thousands of people decided to start investing in the last few years, and most of them have no idea what they’re doing beyond suggestions from anonymous users on Reddit.

The doors to investing have opened up to the world beyond Wall Street, and now many novice investors have yet to see any significant returns from their investing, making it clear that maybe those masters degrees in business were worth something after all.

That doesn’t mean you have to have an MBA to successfully trade on the stock market. It does mean that you have to do your homework and stop viewing trading as just “a hobby.” Taking a relaxed approach to trading is fine — as long as you don’t care about profits.

But if you’re trading to help build a brighter financial future for you and your family, then you have to view trading like a job. You have to put in the hours and you have to show up every single day.

So what does taking a serious approach to trading look like? So glad you asked. Here are three of the best ways you can level up your investing game — right now.

Make A Plan

Do you have a plan for how you are going to trade this month? No? Well, that’s a problem.

If your trades are made on random variables or daily mood swings, then the results of your trading will look the same: unpredictable and inconsistent.

By making a plan for each week and month, your progress can be tracked, allowing you to draw conclusions about what strategies are working and which ones are not working.

You want to explore relevant charts and choose specific entry points for your trading. Rinse and repeat until you have a long list of entry points for your strategy. Stock trading necessitates agility and timing. Keep practicing with these entries until they happen exactly when they are supposed to. You’ll get there eventually.

Embrace Structure

The financial ecosystem is complicated. It was made that way.

The only path toward expert understanding of how to navigate this system is through a structured approach to trading. That means showing up at the same time every day, like a “real job,” and embracing a disciplined approach to learning.

Matt Choi, who runs the trading education site Certus Trading, said a lack of structure sets up new traders for failure.

“After a while, I realized that the biggest reason why traders haven’t been successful is because they lacked structure in their trading,” Matt Choi said. “They’d be trading stocks today, and then jump to commodities tomorrow. They’d get distracted listening to financial news networks, which often contradicts their own analysis. They didn’t have a plan and if they did have one they weren’t disciplined enough to follow it.  And as a result there is a lot of analysis paralysis going on, and they just can’t move forward with their trading.”

Update Your Plans Regularly

Once you’ve made a plan and followed it for a month, you have enough hard data and experience to start making updates to how you trade. Then, you take those slight changes to your approach and practice those for another month.

This monthly approach avoids making decisions based on isolated incidents, like individual trades, and focuses on the macro results that give you a better picture of what strategies really perform.

As the Corporate Finance Institute wrote, it’s all about “discipline and patience.”

“Discipline and patience are two very closely related skills that every master trader needs – in abundance,” according to their article “Six Essential Skills of Master Traders.” As we mentioned above, staying in the game is important because it allows you to experience both the highs and the lows, learning from them and making the necessary adjustments to your trading. A master trader must be both patient and disciplined in order to stick with it, especially on days when profit is non-existent.

Smart traders tackle one problem at a time. Start each day with a simple goal and make sure you complete that goal. With that kind of mindset, you should find yourself improving your trading — and understanding why.

Cryptocurrency is something that is on the latest hot topic list. People are well aware of the craze around these coins. The recent hype is caused by the record value the coins have hit. This value is getting people even more interested in the coins right now. They are also hurrying to invest in cryptos before these goes really high once again. But the greatest question posed by this situation is whether it is okay to go for cryptos or not. While the recent high value says that it’s a good idea, the volatility of the coins is a matter of concern. While enthusiasts are all positive about the future of the currencies, analysts still warn about the unstable value of the currencies. 

Though there were really more doubt than acceptance around cryptos when these were launched, slowly they made it to the market. Not only enthusiasts but even businesses started to accept these currencies. Now it is possible to pay with Bitcoin & Crypto (จ่าย Bitcoin & Crypto, term in Thai) to buy various services and products. It is true that people have really earned a lot through cryptos, but it is not easy for everyone. Just jumping into buying some coins won’t help one to make some money. It is necessary to learn about the industry properly before investing in these coins.

Cryptos use a technology named blockchain which keeps efficiently keeps record of every coin and transaction. Bitcoin is the first crypto that was launched back in 2009. The reason for such a high price is increased awareness and trust among investors. Here are some good reasons that make cryptos worthy of investment. 

Fraud proof

Money laundering, fake notes- there are many issues around the real-world currencies we use. This very thing has been removed from the world of cryptos through technology. Though there are many reports of online frauds, blockchain technology efficiently make the coins fraud proof. All the details of confirmed transactions are stored in the public ledger. It ensures the legitimacy of record keeping by encrypting the identity of the coin owners. 

There is one to reduce the value

Inflation is a thing and it is definitely a matter of concern. Centralized banks control the money that is in the market and in the banks. These banks also have an ill reputation of causing inflation to reduce the value of money. But when it comes to digital currency, there is basically none to control the money. There is only the owner and the ledger with all the records. Many investors support cryptos due to this absence of centralized banks. 

No identity theft

The world of digital currency is safe because there is no basically none who can tamper with the coins and the identity of the owner. The ledger ensures accurate balance by keeping records of all transactions. The transactions are checked to make sure that the coins in use are owned by the spender. Transaction blockchain is another name of this public ledger. Smart contract and encryption make the coins virtually unhackable. 

When you know you’re meant to have money in your account soon, it’s natural to become antsy, which is why it’s totally acceptable to begin to question if a deposit is waiting, can you utilize the money. After all, you’ve undoubtedly got great plans for that money! As a result, not knowing when you’ll be able to utilize it might be a huge test of patience. Fortunately, we’ve done all of the research on that pending deposit you have, so we can answer any of your questions regarding what it means to have a pending direct deposit.

Can you utilize the money if a deposit is pending?

You cannot utilize the money while a deposit is pending since your bank is most likely validating the deposit. Once validated, the money will be added to your available balance and can be spent. This might be inconvenient if you need the money right now, but it is ultimately for your benefit. This is because if the deposit isn’t accepted but you’ve already used the funds, you risk overdrawing your account. You’d be on the hook for the amount you spent if you used money in advance that weren’t ultimately able to be transferred to your account.

What does it mean if you have a pending deposit?

If your account shows that a deposit is pending, it signifies that the money has been received but is being held, generally because your bank is validating the validity of the deposit. The reason your account will display that a deposit is pending is to let you know that the deposit has been received and is being processed. Otherwise, you won’t know whether or not the bank got it.

Is it possible to remove a pending direct deposit?

A pending direct deposit cannot be withdrawn because the deposit is still being validated by your bank. Once the deposit has been authorized, you will be able to use and withdraw the funds. This is to avoid the situation described above, in which you remove money that is not later credited to your account, perhaps resulting in overdraft costs. Instead, as inconvenient as it may be to be patient, waiting an extra day or so for the pending direct deposit to be cleared is preferable in the long run. And, while you’re waiting for that deposit, why not have it come into a bank account with a six-month interest rate and no extra costs?

Is your available balance affected by pending transactions?

Pending transactions do not count toward your available balance, but they do display your current balance. This is due to the fact that your available balance reveals how much money you have accessible to utilize, whilst your current balance reflects your whole financial picture. This is one reason why it’s critical to grasp the distinction between your available balance and your current balance, as only the latter may be spent or otherwise used. This is especially crucial for financial planning purposes, since if you’re ready to make a large financial commitment, remember that you can only count on having the amount of your accessible balance on hand.