The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has not only killed thousands of people, but also sparked panic that has sent a chill through the global economy.

As of this writing, the fast-spreading virus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has already claimed more than 37,500 lives and infected over 800,000 across at least 177 countries and territories.

Authorities across the globe including here in the United States are issuing travel bans and quarantine orders in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. This means you will be forced to stay at home for the next several weeks – or longer.

Millions of Americans have already lost their jobs because of the virus and economists predict that the worst of the damage is yet to come.

According to a recent analysis of how bad things could get, economists at the Federal Reserve’s St. Louis district project coronavirus job losses may reach 47 million, whereas unemployment rate could hit 32.1%.

Numbers released recently by the U.S. Labor Department also provide a pretty good snapshot of how the virus has brought the American economy to a near-halt.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment claims surged to a record 3.283 million for the week ended March 21 versus expectations of 1.64 million claims.

Lets look at a few different ways on how you can make money from home.

How To Make Money Online From Home While Quarantined

If you’re among the millions of people staying at home to help stop spread of the coronavirus but are worried about the ability to meet your financial obligations and goals, here are a few great ideas to make some cash on the side in the stock market.

Day Trading

One of the most popular ways to make extra income while in quarantine is by day trading various securities.

Day trading is the buying and selling of various financial instruments, such as stocks, futures, options, and currencies, on the same day or even within the same hour or minute with the goal of profiting from the difference between the buying price and the selling price.

For example, a day trader might buy stock for $10 per share and sell it a few minutes later for $11 per share, at a profit of $1 per share. If the price of the stock drops back to $10 later in the day, the day trader might purchase more shares hoping that the price will go up again.

A day trader can buy and sell the same stock several times in the same day.

Check out our Day Trading Guide for an in-depth look on everything you’ll need to get started day trading.

Swing Trading

Swing trading is another great way to get extra income to help you reach financial freedom during these turbulent times.

Sometimes called momentum trading, this trading technique focuses on profiting off upswings and downswings in prices of stocks (or any financial security) over a period of a few days to several weeks.

Swing traders find trading opportunities using a variety of technical indicators and strategies to spot potential short-term changes in trend, patterns, and trend direction.

Suppose James is an experienced swing trader who trades a portfolio of stocks and uses momentum trading strategy to follow their trading patterns. One of the stocks that he follows moves drastically upward on high trading volumes.

He believes that the price of this stock will most likely rise in the short-term.

Therefore, he decides to enter a trade to follow the stock’s upward trend to the point that its price stops going up. To make a profit, James exits the trade before the price of the stock begins swinging downwards.

In short, swing traders buy securities that they think are undervalued and then sell them as they increase in value.

Check out our Swing Trading Guide for an in-depth look on everything you’ll need to get started swing trading.

Selling Options For Income

Another way to enhance, and even create, an income stream for yourself during this pandemic is by selling options.

In the stock market, an option is a contract that allows (but doesn’t obligate) a trader to buy or sell an underlying financial instrument like a stock or exchange-traded funds at a specified price over a certain period of time.

Buying an option that allows you to sell shares at a later time is called a “put option,” while buying an option that allows you to buy shares at a later time is called a “call option.”

Selling options is definitely not a get rich quick way of trading, but at the same time it has a much higher win rate compared to swing trading and day trading. If you own a 100 shares of a stock then you can sell a call against it and collect that premium. As long as the stock price trades below the strike price through expiration you will get to keep the premium!

If you want to buy a stock but think it is overpriced then you could sell a put with a strike price lower than current prices. Say stock XYZ is trading at $20 per share but you want to buy it at $15, you could sell a put with a strike price at $15.

If the stock trades below that price through expiration then you will buy the stock at a cheaper price than you would have earlier and if it doesn’t trade below then you get to keep the premium! It’s a win/win situation.

Check out our Options Income Guide for more info!

Bottom Line

The US is experiencing an unprecedented surge in unemployment as companies and industries grind to a halt. Economists say job losses are likely to spike as the virus continues to take its toll.

According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, close to 67 million Americans have jobs in production, sales, food preparation and other fields that are at high risk of layoffs because of social distancing measures.

Most people are not able to leave the house right now as they embrace safety and caution with who and what they come in contact with. Some are looking for ways to make money by taking advantage of price fluctuations in the stock market including trying the aforementioned trading styles.

However, if you are a beginner trader, you will want to start with some risk-free practice and sit in on webinars to watch professional traders and apply their strategies and techniques to your own portfolio.

It is also important to note that no matter which trading style you choose, you will have to open a brokerage account before getting started.

Want to learn more? Make sure to sign up for our free online class!