Stock trading involves buying or selling a share of ownership in an individual company listed on an exchange such as the ASX or NASDAQ. Stocks are typically traded without leverage and through a stock exchange. Stock CFDs however can be traded using leverage and are done so over-the-counter (OTC). Participants are able to access stocks of individual companies, building positions in an individual company or in a specified sector of the economy.

Participants often build strategies with diversification in mind to diversify away unsystematic risk across a number of companies or a range of sectors. Investors may choose to build positions in defensives if they are predicting volatility. Similarly, investors may decide to build a portfolio around a growth strategy consisting of small to mid-cap technology stocks.