Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Stock Market vs. the Bond Market

It's hard to say that one is better than the other. Should you invest in the stock market or should you invest in the bond market? If you're looking to make more money, generally stocks learning more. Of course this depends on so many factors start to say that for sure.

If you're going to invest in bonds and just buy and hold until maturity, unless they are junk bonds, you probably would make more money and stock market. On the other hand, if you are buying and selling bonds, you could also make a lot of money.

So what should you invest in? There is a lot more information to learn about the stock market and there is the bond market. When you think of investing, you probably think of stocks, even though bonds are just as easily investment. It's really just a matter of preference.

If you want taking her father, there is still tons more investments out there such as derivatives, foreign currency, real estate, mutual funds, etc. You need to invest in what you think you can know the best and most from. Also you always need to keep risk in mind.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

What is a Stock Index?

When you watch the news and they start giving updated stock financial updates, you probably see a bunch of numbers you don't understand. When they tell you how the market is doing, they usually will give you figures of stock indexes.

An index of the stock market is a measurement of the stock market's performance. It will show you how the stock market is doing as a whole. For example, if an index increases in value, you can understand that the stock market has generally gone up.

There are many different indexes, but the two most common that you will see quoted are the Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) often referred to as "the Dow".

Each of these are calculated in different ways. They have varying weights from index to index. For example, the Dow is price-weighted. It includes 30 large corporations. Price-weighted means that the larger the price of the stock, the more weight that has in the calculated average of the index.

Other indexes include different numbers of stocks. For example, the S&P 500 includes 500 different stocks. Others are market-value weighted or capitalization-weighted.

Indexes are used to see how the markets are doing as a whole and are used to measure an individual stocks performance against. When you understand them, you can better research individual stocks.

What is a Stock Market Exchange?

You know what a market is. It is where goods and/or services are bought and sold. You know what the stock market is. It is where stock is bought and sold. Where exactly do you go to buy and sell stocks? Where does this all take place?

This is where stock exchanges come into place. An exchange is where the actual physical exchange happens. When you want to sell 100 shares of stock, you don't just ask around to find someone who's buying. You have to go to an exchange.

Of course, you don't physically go to the exchange yourself. You must use a brokerage firm and a stock broker will go and buy and sell for you.

There are many different stock exchanges all over the world. You may have heard of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), but there are others as well including the London Stock Exchange, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange, and the NASDAQ, which is an electronic exchange. There are many more.

Stock Exchanges are critical for the stock market to run smoothly. They allow buyers and sellers to trade stocks all over the world.

Not every company is listed on every exchange. Each corporation will be listed on one exchange, depending on where it is located. For example, a Japanese company will not be listed on the NYSE, it will probably be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

What is a Market?

You can't truly understand the stock market if you first don't know what a market in general is. There are markets all over the place and there are so many different kinds. You probably use markets every week.

A market is where goods and/or services are bought and sold. For example, a supermarket is a type of market. It is where food and other goods are bought by you and sold by the store. This is a simple example, but it is exactly the same with any other market.

When it comes to investing, there are several markets as well. There is the stock market, bond market, and foreign exchange market. These are the most common markets and the foreign exchange market is the biggest market where foreign currencies are traded.

When you invest in the stock market, you are buying and selling corporate stocks with other buyers and sellers. If you want to buy a few shares of Johnson & Johnson, you will need to buy them on the market. If you want to sell them, you will need to sell them on the market.

It's just that simple!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

What is a stock?

Stocks are not as hard to understand as you think. Once you understand stocks, you will understand how the stock market works. First, you need to know a little about corporations. When a company wants to issue stock, they must first become public. This allows them to sell stock and become listed on a stock exchange.

When a company needs money to run their business or grow their business, they may issue stock to help them raise money. This is called equity.

They may decide to issue 100,000 shares of stock for $5 a share. If they sell all the shares, they will have raised $500,000.

Whoever buys these shares of stock become shareholders. Shareholders are part owners in the company and have voting rights in the company. For example, even if you own only one share, you are considered an owner of the company.

Once stocks have been issued and sold, they can continue to be bought and sold. You could buy stock for $10 and sell it later on for $15 and you would make a profit. This is how you make money with stocks.

Start Investing in the Stock Market

Do you know what a stock is? Do the markets perplex you? Do you want to learn more?

There are several different stock markets and exchanges. If you want to start investing in the stock market, no matter what exchange, you will need to learn a little about what you are doing first.

Either way, because you have decided you want to start investing, you have made your first big step towards accumulating more wealth. You could spend your entire life saving every penny and put it into a safe banking earning next to nothing in interest, or you could invest it and make it grow exponentially.

Before you begin investing, you will need to learn whatever you can about it. You have come to the right place. Here is where you can start to learn everything you need to know about stocks and investing and even using stock analysis software and other research tools.

We will discuss more about how to get started, what stocks are, and what more you can learn. Before you start investing, you need to learn. If you invest knowing nothing about stocks, you might end up losing a lot of money.

Avoid these mistakes and keep yourself safe by learning today.