Tuesday 2 February 2010

Stock Trading: Basic Principles

Learning the basic principles of the stock market can be a daunting task when not given the tools in order to properly learn about the stock market. Once you know about the vast amount of tools available to you, the lay investor, and the less pressure you will feel as you embark on the stock trading journey.

As an investor, you must analyze the essentials of investing in stocks by examining the following questions that determine the fundamentals of any given stock for a certain company.

* How much have other investors paid for one stock?
* How much are investors likely to pay for one stock in the future?
* What details will change the investors’ perspective about the stock?

Through proper inquiry of these questions, you, the investor, will have the tools to make an educated decision about the stock you are planning to purchase.

As an investor, be prepared to rank the return expectations on the stocks that you are planning to buy. For example, if you are planning on buying three different stocks from three different companies, you must estimate how much money you feel that you would earn from each. After you have your estimation, you need to determine if it is logical to purchase these stocks. Pending that you will earn at least 20% more than you invested, it is probably a good investment, therefore, you should consider buying stock in that company.

Once you have efficiently analyzed all of the stock options that interest you, it is time to choose the stocks that best meet your needs for a secure financial future. This is most easily done by keeping a running record of each stock that you feel is a good, virtually risk-free investment. Then, when you are ready to invest, you will have notes to compare in order to decide what option is best for your situation at that time.

Now that you have purchased some stocks that you feel will help to advance your financial future, you need to learn about stock trading. If you feel that your stock is not exactly producing the return you had hoped for, then you may want to consider trading in your stock. Stock trading is great because if you purchase a stock that you are dissatisfied with, then you may want to consider trading it for a stock that you will be more satisfying to your financial needs. In order to simplify the explanation of stock trading, it is simply trading in your current stock for another stock that will produce a higher return rate.

There are two ways in which stock trading can occur. The first method is on the exchange floor, which constitutes images of movies and television portraying how the stock market works with thousands of people rushing around and yelling in an environment of total chaos. Although the chaos occurs, at the end of the day, all trading options are worked out and the employees must get ready for the next day. More simplistically, what takes place is you want to buy 100 shares from Company X so your broker, the person who makes your stock purchases for you, sends your order to their floor clerk, the person that processes your stock order, on Wall Street. The floor clerk communicates with one of Company X's floor clerks to determine who would like to sell 100 shares of Company X.

Once determined, Company X's floor clerk and the floor clerk of the person wanting to sell 100 shares to you set a price for the shares. This price is communicated back to your broker who finally notifies you with the final price for 100 shares of Company X. Once you tell your broker that the final price is acceptable, the shares of Company X will be purchased and you will receive confirmation in the mail in about two weeks.

The second method is much less complicated because it is done electronically through computer systems which are much faster as well as more efficient. The buyer must still obtain a broker because the public does not have access to Wall Street's investment programs, however, once purchased, the buyer usually receives instant confirmation of bought shares via email and the transaction is complete.

No matter how you intend to purchase shares of any particular company, the most important task you, as an investor has, is choosing the right stock that will fulfill your future financial goals.

Monday 7 December 2009

Guide to 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.

Stock Market for Beginners

There are markets all over the world where the stock of thousands of corporations are traded regularly. It is a place where many people risk their money with hopes of making a high return on their cash. It is a huge market where a lot of money can be made. A lot of money is made by all sorts of stock traders, but a lot of money is also lost and not always because of unlucky stock picks. Learning the stock market for beginners is a step in the right direction.

Why do People Lose Money in Stocks?

There are several reasons why people lose a lot of money in the stock market. It is often due to a falling market or poor corporations, but a lot of times, it is largely due to uneducated investors. The stock market for beginners and inexperienced investors is much different than for experienced and knowledgeable stock investors. There is a certain amount of guessing to succeed with stocks, but that should be far from your excuse for doing poorly. There are steps you can take to be successful as a beginner or intermediate investor.

Learn the Basics of Stocks

In order to get started on the right foot, you need to learn about stocks for beginners. The first thing you need to do is read and study. This is a very important step. Do not pass it by. For many beginner investors, the knowledge of stocks and how they work just isn't there. You need to get lots of books and read all you can to learn. There is a lot of information out there available to you.

Whether you are trading stocks or you plan to buy and hold, the education part is the most important. Even if you have other people choose your investments for you, you should be familiar with the process so that you know they are choosing wisely for you.

Practice with Stocks Risk Free

The second step is to practice and get hands-on experience. This is very important and extremely beneficial. This is when you will take all that you learned and put it into use. This is how you will practice with the stock market for beginners. A great way to practice in the stock market is by using a simulation game. A simulation or fantasy game will let you invest in the real stock market with fantasy money. You won't lose anything, but you won't gain any money. You will, however, gain experience and knowledge.

As you are taking this all in and doing everything you are supposed to, soon you should start investing real money in the real markets. This is how you will actually start earning money. If you want to make money in the stock market for beginners, you need to follow these steps carefully and develop your own investing strategy. With a solid investing strategy and lots of experience, you can start making stock picks that earn you the highest return possible.