Stock Markets 101

Understanding what type of investor you are is crucial to working out the type of investment that will help you reach your goals. Outside forces, including inflation, market fluctuation, and the overall economic environment can also dictate investment styles. There are three types of investors: Passive/low-maintenance investorActive investorHands-off investor/automatic investor Passive…

Many people venture into the world of investments, but many investors don’t get the chance to accrue the profits they hoped to land. Why is it that many investors fail? Surprisingly, it’s not lack of industry or technical knowledge. The most common reason is that investors often let their emotions…

Options contracts are financial derivatives that act as agreements between two parties, designed to facilitate transactions of underlying assets. Often an agreement between a buyer and seller, options contracts give purchasers a right to buy or sell agreed-upon assets at a preset price, often referred to as the strike price.

What is a futures contract? A futures contract is a binding agreement between two parties, where they both agree to buy and sell an underlying security at a predetermined price at a specified date in the future. The buyer signs an agreement and takes the obligation of buying an underlying…

Trading stocks as a contract for difference (CFD) is a popular way of gaining exposure to the broader stock market. CFDs differ from the traditional way of buying stocks and rose to prominence in the UK through the increase in CFD brokers. A CFD is a financial derivative that…

Gone are the days when buying physical stock was a complicated affair and the domain of only a few people who held connections in the financial markets. While in the past people had to hold face-to-face meetings to buy stocks and attain certificates, nowadays you can do everything you…

It is common for traders to use the ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ buttons provided by trading software to open or close trades. However, simply clicking buy or sell can lead to inefficient results in a highly volatile, fast-moving market. As such, traders need to understand how to make use of more…

The stock market operates more or less like an auction. Buyers forward bids for a certain number of shares at a certain unit price while sellers offer a certain number of shares at a certain unit price. These are known as ‘bid price’ and ‘ask price’. This article explains the…

Stock trading can be a lucrative venture when trades move in the direction you expect. But what happens when a stock’s price moves in the opposite direction? You could lose any profits made, and much of the capital that you have invested too. As such, there is a need for…

This lesson focuses on short selling, where you bet on a stock to go down in price. In the last lesson, we looked at stop-loss orders. Stop-loss orders can be a valuable tool if you’re planning to get involved in short selling. An Introduction to Short Selling Short selling…

Companies have various options at their disposal that they can use to raise capital. Initial public offerings (IPOs) and follow-on public offerings (FPOs) are some of the options that they use to meet their monetary needs. IPOs and FPOs differ a great deal in the way they are carried out…

Volatility is synonymous with the financial markets that have made and broken many investment careers. A double-edged sword, volatility makes it possible for investors to squeeze in profits over short periods in the financial markets. Conversely, even a slight mistake in times of high volatility can prove costly. What Is…

Technical and fundamental analysis are research techniques undertaken by traders and investors while looking for opportunities in the capital markets. While both of them are geared towards forecasting market trends, they differ a great deal. Deciding which technique you want to follow will greatly impact how you develop as a…

The stock market brings together traders interested in buying and selling shares. Brokers play the key (and profitable) role of matching the demand side traders with the supply side traders. This guide discusses the role of the stockbrokers and explains why they are significant for the stock market to function.

The stock market involves many twists and turns, and can become complex very quickly. In addition to stock exchanges, stockbrokers play a significant role. Traders depend on brokers to make their investing life both possible and bearable. Read on this learning stock guide to understand what exactly a brokerage…

The stock market brings together traders who buy and sell shares. Brokers facilitate trades by linking up the two sides of the market and by executing orders. That said, it’s worthwhile to dig deeper. What are trade executions, and what options do brokers have when executing trades? This guide provides…

Brokers make up a crucial part of the securities market. They give millions of investors access to the massive profit potential of stocks. However, what happens when your broker goes bust? This guide helps to explain more about the likelihood of that happening, and what to do if it does.

Stock trading is an excellent avenue for investors to grow their income. Investors can buy and sell stock and capitalize on high performance by companies. In the process of stock trading, investors encounter many middle parties, including stockbrokers, investment banks, and dealers. This article discusses the role and significance of…

Congratulations! You’ve now mastered all of the key introductory concepts in stock investing. You understand how the stock market operates. You get what different brokerage platforms look like. You can grasp why the prices of stocks rise and fall. You’re now hip to the many different methods you can use…