Stock Market Guide For Beginners!

A great article for stock market newbies below. This article has some really good stock market investment strategies.

Beginner's Guide to Stock Market

First, they need people to take them by their hands and learn all about the risks and opportunities of stock market investment. They can do that by learning from their friends who are good at investment, reading investment books, attending investment seminars. Signing up, and playing for free, online simulation games is a great help to feel the pulse of the market movements.

Second, count their money to see whether they have surplus funds to invest. Investing surplus funds as opposed to putting their entire savings into the market will enable them to sleep well at night. However, if their surplus funds got stuck in their investment in an adverse market condition, they would still be able to live theirs lives as usual.

Third, choosing stocks with the potential for income and capital appreciation is important. Choose stock with long history of good dividend payouts and steady price appreciation would be a safer investment decision. Some " blue chips" stocks would fit in this category.

Fourth, knowing when to buy and when to sell is crucial when you put their money into the market. Buy low sell high would be the preferred investment strategy. Following the footstep of Warren Buffet, the guru of stock market investing, would produce positive results.

Fifth, start investing in small amount in "blue chip" stock, enjoy the dividend payout and capital appreciation. You will then become more confident in the stock market after experiencing from you small investment that there is money to be made in the stock market. Over time, increase their investments. If they stick to their " buy low and sell high " investment strategy, they would make a good start at stock market investment.

Chin M C is a Finance and Business Accountant who writes about how people earn, save, spend and invest their Money. BizCom Management

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Read The Stock Market

Some great stock market investment strategies below, this article shows you how to read the market!

Effective Guide on How to Read the Stock Market

Savvy investors know that a considerable knowledge on how to read the stock market is highly necessary to succeed in stock market business. Though the data in the stock chart is not very accurate, how the investors utilize their technical ability to analyze the data found in the chart can make or break their investments.

The stock market chart comprises the data of prices and values of stocks that have been recorded over some period of time. As you may notice in the chart, you can find the prices at the vertical axis while time is can be found at the horizontal part of the chart.

The time sequence is arranged accordingly from the past up to the present. Investors will find the stock, option, commodity with its respective prices over some period of time. With those mentioned data, you may form your own technical analysis and calculated conclusion as basis of your investment decision.

Three popular stock market charts today are the following: the Line Chart, the Bar Chart and the Candlestick Chart.

Firstly, the Line Chart represents the most basic form among the three. It simply displays the prices and its respective time when the stock price was closed. Traders use this kind of chart for closing point references as well as when the latest data is not yet available.

Secondly, the Bar Chart indicates the initial prices traded during the bar. That is the highest or the lowest price traded as well as the last price traded. The timeframe found in the bar chart can be set to the earliest up to the recent trading activities in the stock market.

Finally, the Candlestick Chart shows you the prices from the highest to the lowest that have been recorded over a period of time. You can easily notice the movement and differences during the trading activities as represented by a color system.

You certainly would want to invest on some business that does not need you to come to the office regularly and yet earn as much as you deserve. Actually, this is what is happening in the Stock Market. But it is important to understand and learn How To Read The Stock Market so you know where your money is going.

http://www.tradestocksamerica.com can give you a better view on this.

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Guide to Stock Market Depressions

10 Worst Stock Market Crashes

10th Worst Stock Market Crash (1932 – 1933): This crash required the longest recovery time of all the 10 crashes. The combination of the tech bubble bursting and the September 11th terrorist attack served a deadly blow to the stock market, but relative to markets past, this was a minor one. Date Started: 1/15/2000 Date Ended: 10/9/2002

Total Days: 999 Starting DJIA: 11,792.98 Ending DJIA: 7,286.27 Total Loss: -37.8%

9th Worst Stock Market Crash (1916 – 1917): This market suffered about a 40% loss. Date Started: 11/21/1916 Date Ended: 12/19/1917 Total Days: 393 Starting DJIA: 110.15 Ending DJIA: 65.95 Total Loss: -40.1%

8th Worst Stock Market Crash (1939 to 1942): It was one of the most grueling. It took nearly 3 years to recover from this crash! With the attack on Pearl Harbor, the markets had a very tough time. Date Started: 9/12/1939 Date Ended: 4/28/1942

Total Days: 959 Starting DJIA: 155.92 Ending DJIA: 92.92 Total Loss: -40.4%

7th Worst Stock Market Crash (1973-1974): Another long market crash -one that many people still remember (think Vietnam and the Watergate scandal). This crash lasted for 694 days before bottoming out. Date Started: 1/11/1973 Date Ended: 12/06/1974 Total Days: 694 Starting DJIA: 1051.70 Ending DJIA: 577.60 Total Loss: -45.1%

6th Worst Stock Market Crash (1901 – 1903): This is the oldest crash to make the list (DJIA records are not available before 1900). Date Started: 6/17/1901 Date Ended: 11/9/1903 Total Days: 875 Starting DJIA: 57.33 Ending DJIA: 30.88 Total Loss: -46.1%

The 5th worst stock market Crash (1919 – 1921): This crash followed a post war boom (Stock prices rose 51%). After the crash bottomed out in August of 1921, this decade saw tremendous growth in the stock market and the economy (often called the roaring twenties). Date Started: 11/3/1919 Date Ended: 8/24/1921

Total Days: 660 Starting DJIA: 119.62 Ending DJIA: 63.9 Total Loss: -46.6%

The 4th worst stock market crash in U.S. History Although this is the shortest market crash observed, it was a deadly one. Investors saw almost half their money disappear in just two months. This crash started the "Great Depression." Date Started: 9/3/1929 Date Ended: 11/13/1929

Total Days: 71 Starting DJIA: 381.17 Ending DJIA: 198.69 Total Loss: -47.9%

3rd Worst Stock Market Crash (1906 – 1907): This crash was called the "Panic of 1907." The U.S. Treasury department bought 36 million dollars worth of government bonds to offset the decline Date Started: 1/19/1906 Date Ended: 11/15/1907

Total Days: 665 Starting DJIA: 75.45 Ending DJIA: 38.83 Total Loss: -48.5%

2nd Worst Stock Market Crash (1937 – 1938): Just when investors thought the market was finally good again, following a recovery of almost half of the great depression losses, the market plunged again due to war scare and Wall street scandals. Date Started: 3/10/1937 Date Ended: 3/31/1938

Total Days: 386 Starting DJIA: 194.40 Ending DJIA: 98.95 Total Loss: -49.1%

Worst Stock Market Crash Ever: 1932 Stock Market Crash: Investors lost 86% of their money over this 813 day beast. This market crash combined with the 1929 crash, made up the great depression. The full recovery didn't take place until 1954. Date Started: 4/17/1930 Date Ended: 7/8/1932

Total Days: 813 Starting DJIA: 294.07 Ending DJIA: 41.22 Total Loss: -86.0%

Mansi aggarwal writes about stock market depressions. Learn more at http://www.stockdepression.com

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Guide to Investing in the Stock Market

Most of you with money to invest must decide either to "do it yourself" or hire someone else to decide where the money should go. This process of asset allocation always involves placing (usually) the majority of funds in stocks of companies worldwide. The "best" way to accomplish this is certainly subject to argument and controversy; however there is a significant body of academic and historical study that can help.

Here are a number of relatively well accepted facts:

1) Over long periods of time (10 years and more), stocks outperform bonds and cash.

2) Although there may be some actively managed mutual funds and stock pickers that can outperform the indexes that they invest in, it is doubtful that you or anyone else can identify them in advance. It is much more likely that owning a group of stocks in an index (index fund or equivalent) will outperform and cost less than paying someone to pick the "best ones."

3) Investment success is highly correlated with buying when others sell, and vice versa.

4) The above is very hard to do.

Given this information, what is the investor/advisor to do? The facts support so-called "passive" investing, in which funds are placed into low cost, diversified index funds and occasionally rebalanced. This sounds simple, but is misleading. Although investing in different market segments (American Stocks, Overseas stocks, Natural resources stocks, etc.) is probably done most efficiently with indexing-the investor must make the active choice of how much each asset class must be used at any given time.

For example, over the last two years-the Natural Resources and Commodities, and general Overseas market indexes have markedly outperformed the American stock market. How much of your portfolio should have been in the former categories two years ago? How about now? Of your American stock market investments-how much should be in a total market index instead of some other mixture of small vs. large companies?

The point I'm making is that the process of investing and asset allocation is never simple. One must carefully weigh historical valuations, investor risk tolerance, investor time horizons and have some "feel" for future trends to do a good job. This process is being performed by thousands, if not millions of full time professionals worldwide-and is not a process for amateurs. The financial press doesn't help with its myriad lists of "ten best stocks or funds to own now," as study after study has demonstrated that this type of trend following is doomed to failure.

Certainly, there are reasonable compromises that allow an investor to self invest and have probably decent long term returns. However, even these asset allocations require discipline, investigation and review. There is no short cut to investment success. Paying an expert is certainly reasonable, given that we all do so for help with medical, legal and accounting issues on a regular basis.

Summing up, investing in stock markets involves actively choosing an asset allocation, and then usually using a "passive" vehicle (like an index fund) to invest in each of the different asset classes chosen. Both the initial asset allocation and changes in the future require time, work, knowledge and continued learning.

best-way-2-invest.com provides free stock tips and investment advice. Learn the stock market investing basics to protect your money and investments.

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Learn Stock Market Trading

Learn Stock Market Trading - A Beginners Guide to Stock Market Trading

Many people want to get into the stock market, in hopes of gaining a more substantial income or a bigger retirement plan. For what ever the reasons are, most people don't have a clue of how to get started and that is why, if your reading this article, we are going to help you get started to learn stock market trading. The first thing you need to know is the stock market is not something you can jump into blindly and it's not something your going to learn over night. If you will follow some very basic information, you will be on your way to learning the stock market trade.

The first thing you need to learn is the lingo of investing topics. You have probably been to a few sites already and may have picked up on a few things. The best way to learn is by going to different sites and familiarizing yourself with the various topics and investment news they're telling you. Websites like "MarketWatch" are good places to start reading up on financial information. The Internet is the best place to learn stock market trading and the best thing of all, it's free. Unless you want to invest more in your financial education, many sites do offer classes for a fee. However, by searching financial websites and learning how to read the charts in the back of the financial section of the newspaper, you can keep your money where it belongs, with you.

The second thing to do is read, read and then read some more, it's the only way your going to learn stock market trading and be good at it. If you don't have the fortitude to do some serious reading, then go to Vegas and try your chances at the gaming tables because you're taking a gamble any other way. There are literally thousands of books about investing and personal finances and your local bookstore and library, (another free learning source by the way), are loaded with these "do-it-yourself" kinds of books. Magazines like "Fortune" and "Business Week" are two very good sources of learning information for starters. Take advantage of all the resources available to you literally at your fingertips.

Once you've found the books, websites, newspapers and magazines that you like the best, familiarize yourself with the information in them, then start looking for the news stories that have investing angles. Investing angles are stories that tell you more than the magazine and news stories tell you. They tell you why a company may or may not do something that could affect its stock price. Newspapers and magazines are good sources of up to date and breaking company news, so always keep your eyes open.

The third thing you need know when you start to learn the stock market is yourself. Take the time to get to know yourself and your relationship with money. No matter how old you are, or how much you've been through, it's a whole different ballgame when it comes to trading your money. Learn how comfortable you are at taking risks, if you don't have respect for your money you better get some quick or your going to find yourself broke before long. Do you know why you want to invest in stocks, bonds or options? Financial security is a great feeling and now you need to find out exactly what it means to You. Taking the time to learn the stock market trade with just these first few things for starters will take you a long and hopefully profitable way to investing in the stock market. Good Luck

Did you know that most of today's top stock traders made it big without prior trading experience? Ben Sterne has been trading stocks for over 17 years and has helped many rookie traders learn the ropes and find success in the stock market. To learn more about Ben's stock trading secrets, visit his personal website here: http://www.stocktradingcash.com

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Stock Market Guide For Investors

How to Start Investing in the Stock Market Guide

Many people want to start investing in the stock market but have no idea how to start investing in the stock market. They fear they will lose tons of money while learning how the stock market works. Well, with this guide, you will learn effectively how to start investing in the stock market!

The first thing you have to realize when learning how to start investing in the stock market is that you do not need a full time broker. The days of hiring a broker to buy and sell for you are over. With great and inexpensive services such as E trade and Scott trade, you can do all of the investing your self! This puts the control of your money in your hands and saves you a lot of money.

The next step in learning how to start investing in the stock market is using a budget. This is very important! Many people find a stock they think will do good and put far to much money into it. Start small and grow as you go. Start with investing maybe $25 or $50 in a stock at a time. This will save you a ton of money and help you gain valuable experience for future big investments. This is a very important step in learning how to start investing in the stock market so do not skip it...

Another important step in learning how to start investing in the stock market is to never jump in blindly. If you find a stock and have a gut feeling it is going to do good, do not rush into it! Take a little time and do some research. Many times a company may be days from releasing some news that may greatly drop your stock price. Makes sure your purchases are well thought out and planed.

The last step of learning how to start investing in the stock market is to know that sometimes things just will not go your way. The stock market is a game and sometimes you lose. With practice and patience you win much more than you lose but that is what it takes.

Learning how to start investing in the stock market is a fun adventure that will make you jump up and down joyously at times, and slap yourself in the forehead at other times. That is part of the journey and that is the really fun part!

While stock market investing can be difficult at times, it can be made much easier with the right resources. If you want to start making money as soon as possible, then please visit "Stock Market Investing" for a great resource to help you along your way!

Thank you for reading and good luck into your investing adventures!

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Stock Market Guide

Stock market is an inquisitive place for many. It is because the place has given birth to many millionaires and is also responsible for turning millionaires to locals. Thus the bulls and bears have always been charismatic. Now millions of people invest in the stock market to make good money. The aura of the place is such that it is swarming with people any hour of the day and any season of the year. But only few know that how the stock market came into existence or what actually are its origins.

A short encounter with the past

The oldest stock certificate was issued in favor of a Dutch company in 1606. The purpose of this company was to benefit from the spice trade between India and the Far East. During the 18th and the 19th centuries the trade of spices drifted to England when Napoleon reigned over the place. With the development of United States of America as a colony to British and Alexander Hamilton (the first US secretary of the Treasury) flourished the American Stock Exchange. Hamilton played a crucial role in encouraging the trading in the Wall Street and Broad Street in New York. The New York Stock and Exchange Board now popularly known as the New York Stock Exchange was organized by the traders of New York in 1817 when trade and commerce bloomed there.

A precise survey of the Western stock market

• The Wall Street- a place where the whole of 18th century trade and commerce took place, Wall Street is a recognized place across the globe. The street was termed as Wall Street since it ran alongside a wall that was taken as the northern boundary of New Amsterdam in 17th century.

The Wall Street is known for the J.P. Morgan’s million dollar merger that created US Steel Corporation, the ruinous crisis that resulted in Great Depression and the “Black Monday” of 1987.

• The NYSE or the New York Stock Exchange is perhaps the foremost and so the oldest stock exchange in United States that is believed to be born in 1792. The significant aspects related to NYSE include the Buttonwood Agreement when 24 stockbrokers and traders of New York signed this accord and established the New York Stock Exchange and Securities Board which is now recognized as the NYSE; the considerable swings that the NYSE saw during the 20th and 21st century; the hitting of the 100 and later even 1000 mark by the Dow around 1971 and the mark of 10,000 that the Dow scaled in 1999.

• NASDAQ is the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Questions. It is an apparent or virtual stock market where all trading is done through the electronic media. NASDAQ, the global and the largest electronic stock market today was first established in 1971 in United States at the time when computers were not as developed as they are today and it was very difficult to compute. The main exchange of NASDAQ is in United Sates while its branches can be found in Canada and Japan and it is also linked to markets of Hong Kong and Europe. NASDAQ functions by purchasing and selling the over- the- counter or OTC stocks.

• AMEX-was discovered in 1842. The putative father of the institution is Edward Mc Cormick (the commissioner of SEC) who endowed it with its current name. It started its journey as the New York Curb Exchange and its name is factual. The AMEX in contrast to the NYSE operates with the small and more dynamic companies some of which even make it to the NYSE board.

Mansi aggarwal writes about stock market. Learn more at http://www.stockmarketstory.com .

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Beginners Guide to the Stock Market

Are you tired of showing up for work, and you want to be a business owner who owns your time? And your imagined type of work is to sit back, watch the business grow and collect the profits at the end of the day? Or in a more complex scenario, you will be asked to constantly monitor the news and your call inside the business will be dependent upon economic news and market news? Others may probably think that these are what dreams are made of, but for others they know this is true. And if you are thinking about people who are involved in stocks and the stock market, then you are correct.

The trading of the stocks which are considered as financial instruments in the stock market is considered as one of the better ways to build income and this has been made by the past players of the stock market. Knowing what these financial instruments are is just the start, it is also important to understand what the market is- the stock market-and how this market operates.

The simplest definition calls the stock market as the public market where stocks and derivatives are traded at the set price. There are those securities that are listed on the stock exchange that are traded in private. Participants in the stock market are varied, some represents large financial institutions and some are considered as small and individual investors. Whatever orders that they initiate will end up with the professional that mans the stock exchange and the professional is the one who executes the order of the traders whether these are for "buy" or "sell".

Exchanges can be considered as physical locations and there is also the virtual exchange. In physical exchanges, trades are carried out on the trading floor and trades are done through open outcry. This way, traders cry out and enter their trades verbally. The other kind of stock exchange is the virtual kind, and this is linked by a network of computers and the trades are made electronically. The world's largest New York Stock Exchange is considered as a physical and a listed exchange where listed securities can be traded. The typical orders will start from traders going to the floor broker up to the floor trading post specialist that trades the order. This specialist matches any buy and sells orders, and when trades are made this is reported on the tape and sent to the brokerage firm. An example of a virtual exchange is your NASDAQ in the US where trading are done online. The process is similar; the only difference is that traders are matched electronically.

Simply put, it is the role of the stock market to serve as the meeting place for traders for trading, whether that's real or virtual. The stock market is considered as an important institution for the economy and in a way can serve as a barometer of how the economy performs. Right now, the world's stock market is estimated at $36.6 trillion USD as of October 2008. But if the derivatives market is to be estimated, then this market is tagged at $791 trillion.

Trying to find information on the stock market for beginners? Look no further, we cover everything you need to know about learning the stock market for beginners. Head to http://www.learn-how-to-invest.com/stock-market-for-beginners to get started today!

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A great article from Jeff, explaining basic stock market issues.

Stock Market Wokings - A Guide For Beginners!

How Does the Stock Market Work? A Guide For Beginners

If you are a beginner, you are probably wondering how does the stock market work? The answer is surprisingly simple: Companies go public and offer shares in their company to the public. The public buys the shares through what we know as the stock exchange. Investors can then use the stock exchange to buy and sell the stocks of the companies. Buying low and selling high can make people rich overnight. Of course you have to know what you are doing, and there are many factors involved. To gain a deeper understanding of how the stock market works, why don't we discuss a few of the most common terms.

Stock Prices: Stock prices are, to make it simple, the price that a specific stock sells for. This price is set by many market factors including the economy health, current trading trends, and technical and financial reports put out by the company (or independent third party).

Market Captialization: This is the actual value of the company or stock that is up for sale. Calculating the market capitalization of a stock is done by using the following formula -

Number of Outstanding Shares X Price of Stock = Market Capitalization of the Company

Once you have learned the basic premise of the stock exchange, you will want to learn how to buy and sell shares. To purchase stock you will need to create some type of investment account. Most times you can open up an account with a local stock broker. Thanks to the wonder of the internet, you can now make trades online on your own. It is as simple as setting up an account and funding it.

Hopefully now you have the answer to your question, how does the stock market work. The next step will be to learn how to successfully profit from trading. Good luck!

The Doubling Stock Robot is said to be the most sophisticated stock analyzing computer in existence, and has made it's members a literal fortune. Is the Doubling Stock Robot for real or a scam? Learn more here.

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Stock Market Investment Strategies

Stock market investment strategies are like opinions, but not everyone has one. To invest in stocks without any investment strategy is to invite frustration into your financial life. If you want to make money in stocks, start by defining how you intend to play the stock investing game. Consider these three investment strategies.

To put things into prospective let's consider the 10-year period from 1999 through October of 2009, and what happened to the stock market as measured by the most popular stock performance indicator in the world, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the DOW).

The DOW first hit 10,000 in 1999. In October of 2009 it was at 10,000 again. The stock market took investors for a wild ride that took them nowhere after 10 years. Stock investing was a losing proposition and was frustrating for most people.

If you want to invest in stocks and relax a little, its time to make a basic decision in terms of investment strategies. How are you going to play the stock market? You can play short term as a trader or speculator. At the other extreme you can just buy stocks and hold them. And then there's a third choice.

Few people really make money when they invest in stocks on a short-term basis. Traders have their good days, but few profit from market swings consistently. Besides, short term speculation is at least a part time job that requires time, effort and experience.

At the other extreme, buy-and-hold is a simple investment strategy and requires virtually no effort. This investment strategy has generated long term returns in the stock market of 10% a year, over the long term, for the past 50+ years. Not so in 1999 through 2009. For ten years stock investing the easy way produced little more than acid indigestion for investors.

I suggest you kick a field goal and split the uprights right down the middle. Don't try to make money in stocks with short-term speculation; or by just buying, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.

There have always been cyclical bull and bear markets, and markets have always gone to extremes from time to time. Recognize this, and pay attention to stock prices. By checking the DOW just once a week you can get a feel for what's happening in the world of stock investing.

When you see extreme price movements it's time to act. How can you spot extremes? Get familiar with historical stock market data. A good place to start: a long-term chart of the DOW.

For example, by the year 2000 it was obvious that stocks had gone too far too fast. The only thing keeping them going up was greed. Taking emotion out of the picture, any rational being could have seen that stock prices had gone to extremes. The rational thing to do was to take some money off the table.

Or, look at the stock investing scenario in early 2009 with the DOW having fallen 50% in a few months. Was this a time to step up and buy stocks, or was the world as we know it coming to an end?

Don't view the stock market as rocket science or some other complicated thing that you can't understand. Learn the basics and follow the market on at least a weekly or even quarterly basis. Your basic investment strategy: lighten up on stocks when it looks like they've gone up to extremes. Step in and buy when there's blood in the streets.

A retired financial planner, James Leitz has an MBA (finance) and 35 years of investing experience. For 20 years he advised individual investors, working directly with them helping them to reach their financial goals.

Jim is the author of a complete investor guide, Invest Informed, designed for average investors or would-be investors of all levels of financial background and experience. To learn more about investments and investing and his new financial guide go to http://www.investinformed.com

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A great article on stock market investment strategies, whether you are day trading or investing for the long term, you need good strategies to succeed.

World's Stock Markets

Stock Market is a public market for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; it includes the physical location for buying and selling stocks.

The major exchanges in the US are the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (Amex), and NASDAQ.

The correct term for the physical location for trading stocks is the "Stock Exchange." A country may have many different stock exchanges. Usually a particular company's stocks are traded on only 1 exchange, although large corporations may be listed in several.

Investing Around The World
There are stock exchanges located throughout the world, and it is possible to buy or sell stocks on any of them. The only restriction is the oparating hours of each exchange. Both the NYSE and NASDAQ, for example, operate from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

Other exchanges have similar opening hours based on their local time. When you trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, your order will be executed sometime between 9:30 pm and 4:00 am New York time.

The locations of the major stock exchanges of the world are:
Japan (Tokyo Stock Exchange) India (Bombay Stock Exchange) Europe (London Stock Exchange, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, SWX Swiss Exchange) the People's Republic of China (Shanghai Stock Exchange) United States.

Stock Market Fluctuations
The economic health of a country will strongly influence its stock market. When the economy is doing well the market is bullish. Bull markets occur during times of high economic production, low unemployment and low inflation. Bear markets, on the other hand, follow downturns in the economy. When inflation and unemployment are rising, stock prices are usually falling.
Stock price fluctuations are also driven by supply and demand, which in turn are dependent to a great degree on investor psychology. Seeing a stock price rise rapidly can cause investors to jump on the bandwagon, and this rush to buy drives the price up even faster. A falling price can have a similar effect in the other direction. These are short-term fluctuations. Stock prices tend to normalize after such runs.

The stock exchange is only 1 of many opportunities for people to invest. Other popular markets include the Foreign Exchange Market (FOREX), the Futures Market, and the Options Market.

FOREX: World's Largest Market
The FOREX is the biggest (in terms of value) investment market in the world. FOREX traders buy 1 currency against another and can profit from small changes in currency value. Most FOREX trades are entered and exited in 1 24-hour span, and traders have to keep a close watch on the market in order to make profitable trades.

The Futures Market
The Futures Market is a market of contracts to buy and sell certain goods at specified prices and times. It exists because buyers and sellers of goods wish to lock in prices for future delivery, but market conditions can make the actual futures contract fluctuate considerably in value.
Most investors in the futures market are not interested in the actual goods -- only in the profit that can be realized from trading the contracts.

The Options Market
The Options Market is similar to the Futures Market in that an option is a contract that gives you the right (but not the obligation) to trade a stock at a certain price before a specified date. These options can be traded on their own or purchased as a form of insurance against price fluctuations within a certain time frame.

Stocks: Low Risk, Long-Term
All 3 of these markets are considered quite risky without considerable knowledge and experience. They also require close monitoring of market movements. Stocks, on the other hand, are less risky because movements of the market are usually more gradual. Although short-term investment strategies are possible, most people view stocks as long-term investments.

Stock Market: Understanding Its Nature

Have you noticed the numbers rolling by on the bottom of your screen during a news cast? Those are very important to the people who steadfastly watch the stock markets for they make their fortune with stocks.

To understand the stock market you first need to understand what stocks are. Stocks are the capital raised by a company when they sell shares. Shares are offered through the stock market and the money taken in from those becomes the company’s stocks.

There are several major stock exchanges in the world where shares are traded. Company’s stocks are increased and decreased each day.

One of these stock markets is the NASDAQ. NASDAQ stands for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. The NASDAQ is a United States based stock market. It’s the world’s first electronic based stock market. It also trades more shares each day than any other stock market which means it has the most impact on stocks.

Another large stock market that is United States based is the Dow Jones Industrial Average. You might hear someone say that the Dow is up or down this is what they are referring to. Many stocks are introduced on the Dow.

Many other countries also have a great impact on stocks. In Europe almost each country has their own stock market this includes Portugal, Germany and Lisbon. The people living and working there follow invest in the stock market there and just like in North America the stocks rise and fall.

The people who handle the buying and trading are called stock brokers. Their job is to sell and trade the shares that their clients request. It’s a demanding and rewarding job being involved directly in stocks this way. Stock brokers can make a lucrative income and the ones that study the markets and understand all the ups and downs have a definite advantage.

For the everyday person to get involved in stocks they need to do a bit of research. It might be wise if a large amount of money is involved to talk to a stock broker. Their job is related to stocks and no one is better qualified to assist you.

Stock brokers are paid on commission and therefore their drive is to invest in shares that will ultimately turn a profit. Often a stock broker has extensive knowledge with just a few stocks and he concentrates on those. If you decide to invest in a share that a certain stock broker is very well versed in, it might be prudent to have him or her handle your dealings. They can offer the best advice as to when to buy and when to sell.

There are other avenues available for people interested in stocks and that’s the online stock trading companies. Many of these companies allow anyone to sign up and buy and trade their own shares. This can be a great way for someone to be introduced to the world of stocks and with some research and practice they can make themselves a profit.

There are also many people day trading for a living, making obscene amounts of money!

The Main Stock Markets

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and NASDAQ are the main markets that you often hear among the many different markets in the US.

The markets are basically where people and companies trade securities. The market is the arena in which the players gather to trade.

The New York Stock Exchange has been around since 1792. It is located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is the largest and best-known stock exchange in the country. It also has very stringent requirements for companies to join its listings. A company must be financially strong and show signs of being an industry leader to join the NYSE. Companies strive to belong to this market, and even pay annual fees for membership.

When a brokerage describes itself as a member of the NYSE it means that the firm has bought a seat on the floor of the NYSE. This means that there is actually a employee on the floor of the exchange buying and selling stock. This is an expensive investment for a firm, costing well over a million dollars.

The American Stock Exchange is similar to the NYSE in that it conducts its trading on a trading floor. The floor is filled with traders who buy and sell securities. The AMEX has been located in Manhattan since 1921. It is known as a major exchange for not only stocks, but also options. You will tend to find slightly riskier and smaller stocks listed on the AMEX, which operates under the NASDAQ-AMEX Market Group, a subsidiary of the National Association of Security Dealers. NASDAQ, or the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, is the youngest of the three major markets. It may also be the one you have heard the most about through the news. It lists just about every stock in the industry, but it is best known for listing technology companies. In fact, it is where you will find many major technology stocks, including Microsoft and Intel. It was launched in 1971 and was the first over-the-counter stock market. It links buyers and sellers via a computer network.

Brokers and dealers will market the stocks by maintaning an inventory in their own accounts. They will buy or sell when they receive an order from an investor. You will find that start up companies that are issuing stock in an initial public offering will often list on the NASDAQ.

When it comes to buying stock, knowing where to find certain types of stock is important. Each market often specializes in slightly different types of stocks.