
Companies issue stocks to raise capital for expansion, equipment and other projects. Stocks have been a very popular form of investment for years. Each share of a stock a person owns represents a small ownership of the company.
Stock values fluctuate based on the fortunes of the company. When the company is doing well the stock price will increase, at this time the investor can sell their stock to capture the profit or they can continue to hold it in hopes of greater profits in the future. Some companies will pay dividends on stocks; dividends are a small share of the profit per each share of stock.
To buy and sell stocks you must use a broker and go through one of the stock exchanges. In the US there are two exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (NASDAQ). Some very large companies may have stocks on multiple exchanges but most companies will sell their stocks on one or the other.
Until recently the stock market was seen as a long-term investment strategy. Most portfolios would have a large number of "Blue Chip" stocks. These are stocks that have proven their value over a long period of time. With the addition of internet trading we are seeing what is typically known as day trading. Day traders attempt to take advantage of the daily fluctuations in the market by making multiple trades during the day. This is a fairly high-risk method of investment and is further hindered by the large number of commissions charged for each transaction.
In some cases stocks can be bought on margin. In the stock exchange your margin rates are usually about 50%, which means you need half the cost of the stock to be able to buy it.
FOREX
The FOREX exchange is significantly different than the stock exchange. On the FOREX exchange almost all trades are short-term trades, in
fact a trader may only hold a currency for a few minutes before moving it again. Since there are no brokers fees in the FOREX exchange you can make numerous trades in one day without racking up large commission fees.
With over $1.5 trillion in trades every day the FOREX exchange is the largest financial market in the world. To put this in perspective all of the American stock markets combined only handle about $100 billion worth of trades a day. This huge volume causes the FOREX exchange to be the most fluid market in the world. Because so much of the world economy is dependent on moving currency from country to country there is always a buyer and a seller for every currency combination. The stock market on the other hand is not nearly as liquid, you may not always find a buyer for the stock you want to sell or a seller for the stock you want to buy.
The FOREX market is not located in a single place but is worldwide. Due to time zone changes the FOREX market is open 24 hours a day 5 days a week.
Stock exchanges are normally only open for 7 hours a day, you can not buy or sell a stock if the exchange that it is listed on is closed at the time.
FOREX is more predictable than the stock market as well. It follows well-defined patterns, you can also leverage better in FOREX than the stock market. Margin accounts in FOREX run as high as 100:1 which means you only need $1 to buy $100 worth of currency.
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![]() RTT News | WORLD FOREX: Dollar Weakens Slightly On Euro After Trade Data Wall Street Journal NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The dollar weakened slightly against the euro Thursday, after US data painted a mixed picture ... Forex Trading in 2010: Like the Equities Market in 2003? US Dollar Forecast Turns Bearish Against Euro, Canadian Dollar US dollar mildly lower as markets eye retail data |
![]() Reuters | FOREX-Dollar little changed vs majors in volatile trade Reuters ... market analyst at Easy Forex in Chicago. "If anything, traders appear to have a preference to sell the euro on rallies." The dollar JPY= was little ... FOREX-Dollar falls vs yen and euro after trade data |
![]() AFP | FOREX-Euro steadies vs dollar, yen; SNB awaited Reuters LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - The euro steadied against the dollar and yen in quiet trade on Thursday, recovering from earlier falls ... WORLD FOREX: Dollar, Euro Gain On Yen; UK Pound Slumps Forex trends: recovering vs dollar and yen, euro drops vs pound WORLD FOREX: Euro,Dlr Down Vs Yen On China Tightening Worries |
WORLD FOREX:Dollar Lower As Positive Risk Sentiment Persists Wall Street Journal TORONTO (Dow Jones)--The dollar is modestly lower against most of its major rivals Monday morning as investors remain ... Dollar Rises After Forex Traders Flock to Safer Assets FOREX-Euro, sterling pressured by fiscal concerns FOREX-Yen firm, euro and pound hurt by fiscal worries |
Forex: Dollar dips on weaker than expected jobless claims NASDAQ FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The Dollar has been damaged by a weaker than expected decline on weekly claims, and the Greenback has ticked down against its ... Forex: USD/JPY peaks at 90.70 and pares gains after claims data Forex: USD/JPY rebound from 90.20 approaches 90.80 resistance Forex: USD/JPY, capped at 90.80, eases to 90.00 area |
![]() Forex District | Forex - Dollar soars vs. kiwi on US data, hitting 2-day high Forex Pros Forex Pros – The US dollar soared against its New Zealand counterpart on Thursday, hitting a 2-day high in the wake of mixed economic data from the United ... Daily Forex News Forex Trends for Today 11/03/2010 Forex - Kiwi hits 3-week high vs. greenback on China data |
![]() Forex Hound | Daily Forex Outlook - S&P 500 at fresh 15 month Highs Easy-Forex US Dollar Trading (USD) was strong in Asia on fears that China may start to tighten momentary policy soon as inflation picks up. US data was positive with ... Forex: US Dollar mostly lower today as EUR/USD hovers near 1.3600 Forex - Euro rises vs. dollar, hitting daily high at 1.3625 Daily Forex Forecast Mar 11 |
![]() Earthtimes (press release) | WORLD FOREX: Dollar At 2-Week High Vs Yen On Asia Stock Rises MarketWatch TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar rose to a two-week-high against the yen Monday in Asia, as higher regional shares bolstered ... FOREX-Yen down on concern ahead of BOJ, pound slips FOREX-Euro gives up gains, yen steadies after fall Forex Daily Analysis |
US dollar flat on Taipei FOREX Focus Taiwan News Channel Taipei, March 11 (CNA) The US dollar traded flat, ending the day at the previous close of NT$31.847 Thursday on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, apparently as a ... TWD pares gain as intervention seen |
![]() Globe and Mail | FOREX-Dollar rises vs yen as US jobs data boosts optimism Reuters NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) - The dollar soared against the yen on Friday after a government report showed US employers cut fewer jobs ... WORLD FOREX: Dollar Ends Broadly Lower; Canada, Australia Lead WORLD FOREX: Euro Falls Vs Dollar After RBA Says Europe A Risk FOREX-Dollar rises vs yen after US jobs report |