The Beginner’s Guide To Stock Market Investing

The Beginner’s Guide To Stock Market Investing

Have you ever heard people talking about stock market investing and wish you knew better what exactly it was that they were getting at? You may have even pretended to know more than you really do about what they were speaking of. It is okay if you have found yourself in that position before, it is something that virtually all of us have done at some point. In this article we hope to bring you a bit more up to speed with some of the terminology and help you understand what they are talking about.

What Is The Stock Market?

The stock market does not necessarily refer to a physical place but rather the collection of all publicly traded companies in the United States or abroad. It is the short-hand to refer to all of the thousands of stocks that are listed on various trading floors.

What Happens When A Person Invests In Stocks?

Investing in stocks literally means purchasing a small portion of a company.

Let’s look at Apple stocks for example. When someone says that they are investing in Apple’s stock they are saying that they have put up the funds necessary to purchase shares of the company. There is a constant market of buyers and sellers trading the shares of Apple and all other public companies back and forth during market hours. Thus, it is fairly easy in normal conditions to buy or sell any particular stock that you are interested in.

Does it make sense to purchase Apple stocks now?

Before we dive into this question it is important to note that there are never any one-size-fits-all blanket answers when it comes to investing. What is proper for one type of investor to do may be completely wrong for another to do. Also, there is always risk involved in investing and there is a potential to lose money. You should always consult a financial adviser before making investing decisions.

All of that being out of the way, Apple does look like an appealing stock to purchase at this moment in time. The company is among the largest in the history of the world (along with the likes of Amazon), and they continue to crank out innovative products and ideas that customers still keep on buying.

A few of the analysts who following the stock closely have put price tags as high as $350 per share (around PHP 18,000) on this stock in recent days. That is important because it is a lot higher than where the price is right now. It is something that we should sit up and pay attention to.

There are other reasons to be bullish on this stock as well. The company could make some strategic acquisitions such as purchasing other tech giants like Netflix or Hulu. On the other hand they could decide to just continue to go there own way and build up rival services or simply provide some of their trademark products at reasonable prices to consumers. Either way, this stock could turn out to be a winner.

How Can You Start Investing?

The way that most people are investing and trading these days is through an online brokerage account at one of the major companies that provide these. Think of the companies that you see advertise heavily on television. Those are the kind of platforms that a lot of newer investors are getting started on.

Check each platform to see what kind of requirements they may have such as account minimums. Also make sure to look at a schedule of fees and commissions that the platform may charge you for your trading. You never want to pay more than necessary to have access to the markets. Online platforms tend to be the lowest cost way to invest, but you may want to seek out an actual stockbroker if you feel that you would like more personalized advice and guidance.

Controlling Your Emotions

To be a good trader one must learn to control their emotions. This means that they need to have the mindset that they only invest in things that they are comfortable holding if they fall by a certain percentage. Risk tolerance is just part of the name of the game when it comes to stock market investing. Every trader takes some losses at some point in time. How you react to those losses is a big factor in how well or poorly you will do as a trader in general. Therefore, make sure that you have the stomach to handle investing before you start and never invest more than you can afford to lose.

This article gives you some of the basic information required to be a little more competent the next time you approach a conversation about investing. Hopefully it will help you figure out a little better what people are talking about when the stock market talk comes up the next time.