How to buy Nike (NKE) stock

• Ready to pick up some Nike stock?
• See how brokers differentiate their product offerings.
• Learn how different order types can impact your portfolio.

Nike (NYSE: NKE) is one of the leading sportswear brands in the world. The company has a legacy of designing and manufacturing top-quality footwear for athletics and sports. The company initially started as "Blue Ribbon Sports" in 1964, changing its branding to the globally recognized Nike brand in 1971.

Trading NKE stock offers you plenty of opportunities throughout the year to profit from the brand. This guide tells you everything you need to know about trading Nike stock.

Company overview

Founded by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman in 1964, with headquarters in Eugene, OR, Nike generated $37.4 billion in revenues in 2020. NKE listed on the New York Stock Exchange in December 1980 with an initial share price of $10.50.

Step 1: Pick a broker

To trade NKE stock, you'll need to open a cash or margin account with a broker. Here are the key features to look for in a prospective broker.

Commission-free trading

With platforms like Robinhood and WeBull offering commission-free trading, you get to save on the expenses of growing a small account. Many large brokers like TD Ameritrade also offer commission-free trades.

Fractional share trading

A single share of NKE is nearly $150. As a result, buying a full share with a $300 account puts around half of your account at risk. Fractional shares allow you to gain exposure to the price action in NKE without purchasing a full share.

Intuitive trading platform

Your broker account comes with access to a free trading platform sponsored by your broker. Some brokers let you integrate aftermarket platforms like Sterling Pro.

Low account fees

Compare fee schedules between brokers before signing up for an account. Brokers compete for your business and some offer you more affordable fees than others.

Margin trading

Some brokers allow you to open a cash or margin account for trading. The cash account means you can only trade the money in your account. Using a margin account lets you "leverage" your account balance by 3:1 or 6:1, depending on the stock.

With 3:1 leverage, even if you have $300 in your account, you can buy up to $900 of stock. As a result, you can buy more stock than you have money in your account by borrowing the balance on margin. The downside of margin is that if the price of the stock falls, you may have to deposit extra funds, known as “maintenance margin,” to cover the difference.

Since margin trading, even on a stock like Nike, is not without risk, it typically has to be applied for. Investors will typically be required to maintain a certain amount of capital in their account as security.

Real-time data and charts

Broker trading platforms come with charts, but they don't give you live market quotes. If you want instant quotes, you'll have to pay an extra fee for real-time data.

Step 2: Fund your account

Your broker will allow deposits using a debit card, but often not with a credit card. You also have the option of funding your account using a bank wire transfer. Start small, and look at brokers offering minimum account deposits you can afford. Many offshore brokers will let you fund an account with as little as $300.

Whatever you do, don't take a second mortgage on your home or use your kid's college savings to fund your trading account. Losing that money on a bad trade will put you in serious financial trouble.

Step 3: Decide how much you want to invest

When you're getting ready to trade, you'll need to decide how much risk you are comfortable taking on. Dumping your entire trading account into a single stock trade is a risky move. What happens if the trade starts moving against you? You could end up losing out.

Only risk money you can afford to lose, and adopt a risk management strategy that suits your risk tolerance and trading style.

Step 4: Choose between shares of stock or ETFs

You have the choice of buying NKE stock directly or purchasing an ETF holding NKE stock. ETFs are financial vehicles containing a weighted basket of stocks in the same sector or index.

If you're uncomfortable risking your trade on a single stock, an ETF offers you a viable alternative to trade. The iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF (IYK) or the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) are excellent examples of ETFs that give you exposure to the price action in NKE stock.

Step 5: Set up your order

After settling on the right asset for your trade, you'll use one of the following order types to get in and out of the market.

Market order

The market order gets you into NKE stock at the next price quoted by the market. However, you might click the buy button at $150 but get your order filled at $152. As a result, you may end up wrecking your trade plan.

Limit order

The limit order prevents you from paying too much for NKE stock. For instance, you set up your limit order for $150 and click the buy button. The broker will only fill you at $150, with no slippage. However, the price may move too fast for the order to fill, resulting in a partial or no fill on your order.

Stop limit

This order type lets you execute a sell order automatically. It's the better option for swing traders that don't want to watch a chart all day. If you enter NKE at $150 and want to sell at $160, you can set a stop limit order, which will liquidate the position when the target price is achieved.

Stop loss

The stop loss prevents your trading account from taking a financial hit where you can't recover from the loss. If you're entering NKE stock at $150, you'll set your stop loss at a lower price where you would want to get out of the trade, for example, 5% below this price, or $142.50. If the price action starts to reverse and hits this stop loss level, it triggers a sell order, liquidating your position in NKE.

Step 6: Place the order

After selecting your order type, open your trading platform and complete the order form by entering the ticker symbol, share size, and order type.

Set your limit order price, and press the buy button when you're ready to enter NKE stock. When you achieve your price target, click the sell button, and the broker will liquidate your stock.

Step 7: Track performance

As a leading sportswear and footwear manufacturing brand, NKE price action moves on earnings announcements, acquisitions of other brands, and movements in the textile industry. Keep a close eye on earnings reports, newsletters, and press releases for the best trading opportunities.

NKE doesn't have the same level of volatility as tech stocks or other fast-movers. However, it has been caught up in the controversy around Chinese forced labour camps in Xinjiang and, to an extent, the culture wars.