Everyone who trades on the stock market - and many who don’t - will be aware of the highs and lows experienced. When the price of shares is soaring everyone is happy, but when they start to tumble investors may start to get a little panicky and want to get out of that particular investment. Online investing is a bit like riding in the Tour de France - there are many ups and downs, but if you stick with it through the hard times, you’ll come out a winner in the end.

Even eventual winner Carlos Sastre knows that he will not win every stage of the Tour de France. He makes allowances for that and fixes his sight firmly on the end result. Sure, getting to wear that yellow jersey before crossing over the finish line might feel good. But it is not the most important part of the whole picture. Sastre trained hard and learned the correct strategies to come out winner in the long run. That’s what investors need to do when share trading.

Think of share trading as the course Carlos Sastre rides in the Tour de France. Some days there are steep mountains to ride up and other days the terrain flattens out to level - good, easy riding. So in share trading there will be the good times with shares soaring to new heights and hard times when things plunge steeply. Then there will be those times when trading levels out and there are no steep plunges. When Carlos gets to the top of his mountain, he expects the course to flatten out a bit before going down the other side. He doesn’t have a panic attack and stop riding when the going gets tough.

So with online trading there will ascents, levels and plunges over the course. If you have a financial goal, don’t start to panic when the plunge starts. Share trading will always have its ups and downs, but overall, the steady investor comes out on top.