Tag: brokers

  • How Does The Stock Market Work?

    How Does The Stock Market Work?


    How does the stock market work? In a nutshell, the stock market is a market place for business people. Goods are sold to the public in a public market. However, in the stock market, the public is sold share. Shares are the form in which company stock is sold. When a person purchases more shares in a company, they have a higher ownership in that company.

    In the stock market, there is the primary market and the secondary market. In the primary market, companies sell shares to investors to raise financing for their operating expenses. In the secondary market, investors buy and sell shares in companies to other investors. Constantly changing market conditions are the basis of those buy and sell decisions.

    A stock market operates much like an auction house, with a systematic way of buying and selling. The system in the stock market involves a great deal of bustling activity. Often there are people running around frantically, shouting and gesturing at one another.

    The purchase and sale of stock starts at various places. A broker is contacted if a person wants to buy stocks in a certain company. The broker will take the investor’s money to the stock exchange to coordinate with a floor broker.

    In most cases, the floor broker works for the company selling stock. Right on the stock exchange floor, brokers buy the desired stock for the investor. Once the deal is made, it is communicated to a broker and the investor then becomes a stockholder of that particular company.

    Investors may decide to sell their stock. Usually investors want to sell their stock when the price per share increases so they can realize a profit on their investment. For example, a person may purchase 100 shares at the price of $25 per share. When the price increases to $35 per share, the person can sell the 100 shares and make a profit of $1,000.

    The driving force behind the stock market is the basic economic principal of supply and demand. The number of stocks open to the public is the supply. The number of shares that investors what to purchase affects the demand of the stock in a certain company.

    The constant change in the cost of stock is a result of conditions in other markets. For example, if people feel that the economy is growing they are apt to purchase more stocks. However, when the economy is in a decline, the majority of investors tend to sell off their stocks. On the flip side, some investors use this time to buy because the stock prices are usually at a discount.

    There are quite a few business people who make long term investments in the stock market. In some situations, stocks go down in value and a stockholder loses money. There is no guaranteed profit when investing in the stock market. Thus, when a person is flexible and able to handle the constant changes of the stock exchange they are more likely to experience a profit.

    So this is how the stock market works. In the end, patience, education and experience usually equals greater long term success.

  • The Use of Stock Investment Tools

    The Use of Stock Investment Tools


    In days past, stock market information was limited and often buyers depended on stockbrokers to try to get the facts about investments. Today there are a variety of stock investment tools to assist modern investors and maximize the amount of information they can find about potential investments and trading activities.

    The widespread use of the Internet puts a wealth of information at your fingertips right away. The Internet has facts about many publicly listed companies in the United States. Certain websites provide free research information, which may be rather general in nature but still useful to beginners. Other companies publish in-depth research reports outlining the activities of listed companies. These detailed reports may only be offered through a subscription, which may be an expensive choice for retail based investors. Based on the quality of the research provided about the company, such detailed reports may wind up costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

    For simple background facts, stock investors can peruse news articles, analyst reviews and research reports intended to supply fundamental company information. This basic information can come from analyzing previously published financial reports or catching up on current news events regarding the company’s activities. This fundamental research can be a place to start to obtain more information so investors can adequately analyze the data to make educated investment decisions.

    Investors can also take advantage of a variety of stock investment tools that offer management or raw data including current stock quotes, index performances or historical price data. Such tools may be purchased from a software company and then installed in computers. These tools assist in gathering, processing and analyzing raw data so the information is more useful to the investor.

    For example, an investor can take raw data of the historical closing prices of certain companies and run it through investment software to find out additional information such as the volume of stocks traded on a particular company for a said period of time or the historical price trend of one company compared to an index of other companies. These stock investment tools generate reports that assist investors in developing more effective trading strategies from the raw data they originally had.

    Certain stock investment tools purchased from various software companies may cost hundreds of dollars. This type of pricey investment may not be practical for small scale investors looking to make a profit right away. Individual or beginning investors can take advantage of analysis tools on the Internet made available from stock market companies for free to their clients. These tools are also made available for free to online investment clients to help them develop their trading strategies to try to achieve profits.

    Efficient stock investment tools, research products and information are readily accessible on the Internet for your convenience. However, it still requires data gathering, interpretation of analysis and careful planning to ensure successful trading. By using some online tools and careful analysis of the data, investors can develop viable trades for long term investment growth.