| |
| |
|
Stocks & Mutual Funds Information |
|
|
|
Stock Market Investing Odds
The greatest stock market myth is the idea that investing in stocks is a form of gambling! The financial markets are often compared to a casino. Put some money on X stock and you might as well be playing craps! If that's your impression, and it's keeping you out of the markets, consider this:If investing is organized gambling, it's one of the rare kinds where the odds are stacked in your favor! Why is that? Corporate profits are the key to understanding the investor's edge. By buying a share of stock gives its holder an ownership claim on that company's earnings. If those earnings go up, then the stock price will usually rise as well. Makes sense, doesn't it? Ownership of a company that has higher earnings should be worth more than ownership of a company that earns less. An investment in the stock market comes down to this: It's a "bet" that corporate profits will rise! Based on the historical evidence, it's a pretty good wager! Not a guarantee by any means, but one where you hold house odds. Still not convinced? Maybe you're saying to yourself that just because corporate earnings rise in most years doesn't mean there aren't years in which they fall. True enough. But over the last 200 years, business profits have increased in far more years than they have decreased. And that's because the economies in the developed countries have expanded at a fairly steady pace with only several occasional setbacks from recessions. And that means stockholders with a good mix of companies are more likely than not to make money! Gambling just transfers money from a loser to a winner because it produces nothing ... excluding the severe doses of adrenaline! On the other hand, investing increases overall wealth because the capital invested in stocks provides the initial funding for firms, which exist for the purpose to producing goods and services. Copyright © 2005 I.E.C. Haramis Ioannis - Evangelos C. Haramis was born in Greece and he studied in Greece, USA and in Belgium. He has been active in the stock markets since 1972. Since 2002 he is New Business Development Managing Director at an Investment Bank.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Invest, Be Wrong, and Make Money in the Stock Market I have been trading for several decadesand was an exchange member and floor trader for 17years. You learn fast there or you go broke in ahurry. Dividends When is a dividend not a dividend?The latest thing "conservative" brokers are preaching these days is to buy stocks that pay dividends. Everyone likes dividends. The Great Stock Market Secret When the stock market is going up and all your stocks and mutual funds are making money you feel like a genius. It is too bad that some folks don't remember what happened in 2000. Stock Chart Reading As an investor you will want to checkout any equity before you buy it. Many investorsgo to Morningstar which is one of the largestproviders of mutual fund information in the world. The Top 10 Reasons to Invest in Mutual Funds Everyone who follows the financial news has heard of mutual funds and knows the stock market has generally risen (with various ups-and-downs) for over 200 years. In fact, by most measures, the stock market has made more money for more people, and done it more reliably, than any other investment over the past 100 years! If you want to accumulate substantial wealth, you must include stocks in your investments!But, most people who "invest" don't study the market. The Cub; II We keep hearing about this bear market and that the bottom is "in" or "very close" so we should be invested in these bargain basement prices to take advantage of the next bull so we won't lose out on the expected huge profits.This is not a big bear market - yet. Overvalued & Underbought With all the bad news that has been dumped upon the economy for some reason the stock market is going up. Why?The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has just set up new guidelines for core earnings. Bad News is Good News For weeks, no, months we have been bombarded with nothing but negative news about the economy in general and thousands of individual companies. The stock market has dropped thousands of points and more than $8 trillion in paper assets have disappeared. Investing in Dividend Paying Stocks I was recently interviewed for a press release through a financial question and answer format. One of the questions asked of me in the interview was:Where do you think the stock market is headed over the next five years?My Answer!Charles M. Investing in Trash Company Stocks Refuse is a serious issue in any society, about as serious as cleaning the water and air, even more so to some degree, especially if you study your history with regards to the plague. This is why it is considered one of the better long-term hold stocks to have in one's portfolio. Low Expense Ratio One of the big advertising kicks today from mutual funds is to tell how low their expense ratio is and that you will make a great deal more money if you buy and hold with them. Partly true, but that is not the whole story. Will the Stock Market be Lower in October? The stock market often closes a week in the middle of a "perceived primary-trend range." SPX closed at about 1,234 Fri, which is between a multi-year Fibonacci level at 1,253 (i. Dividend Reinvestment Plans: Investing on Automatic Pilot If you're like many investors who squander those small dividend checks from your stock portfolio, a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP) might be just what you need. Just as its name implies, a Dividend Reinvestment Plan allows you to reinvest some or all of those dividends into more stock of the issuing company. What Does it Take to be a Stock Trader? It takes a total mental commitment to the task. It becomes a complete way of life. The Secret Art of Backtesting If you have not back tested your trading system, you might as well trade with your eyes close. In fact, whatever technical analysis criterion you use to trade with, be it moving averages, candle sticks, volatility breakouts, fibonacci retracements or any other trading system you have devised you're going to need to back test your trading system thoroughly and objectively in order to remove any possible doubt about it's capability. Historical Briefing: Stocks, Finance and Money The World Bank claims that some two billion of the world'scitizens live on $1 per day or less! That fact absolutelyshocked me. With this statistic in mind it becomes important tofocus on all of the things that have served as money over thehistory of civilization. How Covered Calls Turned a Trader Around Sidney felt sick as she looked at her latest OptionsXpress trading statement. In just 8 months, she had managed to turn her $120,000 account balance into less than $70,000. Risk Control Everything you invest in has risk so you want to do your research before you put your money on the line.For example, when McDonald's opens a new restaurant (please, don't call it a hamburger joint) they will investigate as many of the relevant facts as possible. Shorting Stocks - The Basics, Part I of II What does it mean to short a stock?This means that you borrow the stock from your broker to sell to a third party. The idea is to buy back the stock at a lower price, returning the shares to your broker while leaving the remaining cash in your account as a profit. Mutual Funds are Dead You may have wondered why your mutual funds have been going down for the past 2 years. The answer is very simple, but not one you will hear from Wall Street as they want you to send money.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |