|
Below, you'll find extensive information on leading
margin articles and products to help you on your way
to success.
Stock Markets Of The World
By Ron King, Thu Dec 8th
"Stock Market" is a term that is used to refer both to thephysical location for buying and selling stocks, and to theoverall activity of the market within a certain country. Whenyou hear "The stock market was down today," it refers to thecombined activity of many stock exchanges. The major exchanges in the US are the New York Stock Exchange(NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (Amex), and NASDAQ. The correct term for the physical location for trading stocks isthe "Stock Exchange." A country may have many different stockexchanges. Usually a particular company's stocks are traded ononly 1 exchange, although large corporations may be listed inseveral. (Article continued below)
Investing Around The World There are stock exchanges located throughout the world, and itis possible to buy or sell stocks on any of them. The onlyrestriction is the oparating hours of each exchange. Both theNYSE and NASDAQ, for example, operate from 9:30 am to 4:00 pmEastern Time, Monday through Friday. Other exchanges have similar opening hours based on their localtime. When you trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, your orderwill be executed sometime between 9:30 pm and 4:00 am New Yorktime. The locations of the major stock exchanges of the world are: Japan (Tokyo Stock Exchange) India (Bombay Stock Exchange)Europe (London Stock Exchange, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, SWXSwiss Exchange) the People's Republic of China (Shanghai StockExchange) United States. Stock Market Fluctuations The economic health of a country will strongly influence itsstock market. When the economy is doing well the market isbullish. Bull markets occur during times of high economicproduction, low unemployment and low inflation. Bear markets, onthe other hand, follow downturns in the economy. When inflationand unemployment are rising, stock prices are usually falling. Stock
price fluctuations are also driven by supply and demand,which in turn are dependent to a great degree on investorpsychology. Seeing a stock price rise rapidly can causeinvestors to jump on the bandwagon, and this rush to buy drivesthe price up even faster. A falling price can have a similareffect in the other direction. These are short-termfluctuations. Stock prices tend to normalize after such runs. The stock exchange is only 1 of many opportunities for people toinvest. Other popular markets include the Foreign ExchangeMarket (FOREX), the Futures Market, and the Options Market. FOREX: World's Largest Market The FOREX is the biggest (in terms of value) investment marketin the world. FOREX traders buy 1 currency against another andcan profit from small changes in currency value. Most FOREXtrades are entered and exited in 1 24-hour span, and tradershave to keep a close watch on the market in order to makeprofitable trades. The Futures Market The Futures Market is a market of contracts to buy and sellcertain goods at specified prices and times. It exists becausebuyers and sellers of goods wish to lock in prices for futuredelivery, but market conditions can make the actual futurescontract fluctuate considerably in value. Most investors in the futures market are not interested in theactual goods -- only in the profit that can be realized fromtrading the contracts. The Options Market The Options Market is similar to the Futures Market in that anoption is a contract that gives you the right (but not theobligation) to trade a stock at a certain price before aspecified date. These options can be traded on their own orpurchased as a form of insurance against price fluctuationswithin a certain time frame. Stocks: Low Risk, Long-Term All 3 of these markets are considered quite risky withoutconsiderable knowledge and experience. They also require closemonitoring of market movements. Stocks, on the other hand, areless risky because movements of the market are usually moregradual. Although short-term investment strategies are possible,most people view stocks as long-term investments.
About the author:Visit Stock Trade to learn more. Ron King is a full-timeresearcher, writer, and web developer. Copyright 2005 Ron King.This article may be reprinted if the resource box is leftintact. | 
