40 Things To Know Before Entering The Stock Market

2. Shares

Shares are the basis of a stock. Someone who owns a percentage of a company’s share has a part of the ownership that is proportional to the size of their share. The total amount of shares a company is comprised of is announced at the time a business is created. Existing shareholders do have the option of authorizing additional shares to be issued by their company due to their roles within the company.

Businesses can decide different types or classes of shares that come with distinct share values, rules, and privileges within the company. A company will issue a stock certificate by declaring ownership of shares. This legal document details the number of shares a shareholder owns, as well as their value.

3. Common Stock

Common stock is the most widely known type of stock. They can also be referred to as an ordinary or voting share. The term common stock is mostly used in the United States. In the United Kingdom, they’re known as equity shares.

Those with common stock shares have the right to share in company profits and vote on a company’s corporate policy as well as the members of the board of directors. In a company that offers both common and preferred stocks, shareholders who have preferred stock will be paid out entirely before shareholders who only own common stock thanks to their ‘preferred’ status.

4. Risk and Reward

Common stockholders may end up being paid alongside preferred stock shareholders. It’s typical for common stock investors not to receive any money after a company files for bankruptcy. Creditors, bondholders, and preferred stockholders are paid first. Common stock dividends can be paid out in cash or additional stock because of a shareholder’s stake in a company’s ownership.

Because of the risk associated with investing in common stock, they may, therefore, be a wise investment. Common shares tend to perform better than preferred bonds over time because of their increased investment risk. This is referred to as capital appreciation.

5. Preferred Stock

Preferred stock is different from common stock. It’s more exclusive and therefore carries a higher status. This type of stock combines aspects of shares that are not featured in common stock. Preferred stock has properties of a debt and equity instrument, leading to it being known as a hybrid instrument as a result.

Preferred stocks rank above common stock but are below bonds in the amount of claim they have in a company’s assets. In the payment of dividends upon liquidation, preferred stocks have priority over common stock because of that increased priority. These types of stocks are rated by the top credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investor Services, and Fitch Group.

6. Preference in Dividends

Preferred stock ranks above common stock in terms of dividend payments. Although they have a dividend preference over common stock, that doesn’t guarantee payment because of status alone. It means that a company must pay out dividends to preferred stockholders before they pay common stockholders.

There are two options for preferred stock: cumulative and noncumulative. A cumulative preferred stock requires a company that fails to pay a dividend to make up for it at a later date eventually. A dividend that is not paid on time has passed. Noncumulative preferred stocks do not require a dividend that has passed to be paid at all.

7. Other Features of Preferred Stock

Occasionally, preferred stock may be assigned a fixed liquidation value. This refers to the amount of capital given to a corporation when the shares were initially issued. Preferred stock claims liquidation proceeds of a company that is equal to its liquid value.

Nearly all preferred shares are assigned a negotiated, fixed-dividend amount. This dividend will be specified as a percentage of the company’s value or as a fixed amount. Some preferred shares will be given special voting rights due to occasional events like an acquisition of a company or the issuing of new shares. These rights will be assigned when a company first becomes incorporated, therefore creating a unique situation.

8. Types of Preferred Stock

There are several different types of preferred stock in addition to straight preferred stock. Prior preferred stock is the type of stock that is assigned the highest priority because of its status. These shareholders are always paid first. They have less of a credit risk than most preferred stocks as well as a lower yield.

The next type of preferred stock is preference stock. The issues preferred in this type of stock are ranked by seniority. Stocks with the highest-ranked problems are dealt with first. Another kind of stock is convertible preferred stock. These issues can be exchanged for a decided number of a company’s common stock shares. This type of exchange can happen whenever an investor chooses. It doesn’t matter what the market price of common stock is.

9. Usage of Preferred Stock

A company can use preferred stock as an alternative type of financing. This can occur through pension-led funding and other options. Companies can defer their dividends by going into arrears. They will be able to do this while incurring few penalties. The risk to its credit rating is also limited as a result.

Preferred stock can also be used to prevent a company from experiencing a hostile takeover. This type of stock can also be used in the event a corporation files for bankruptcy. If a company doesn’t have enough money to pay some preferred shareholders, they may be issued new shares with updated seniority provisions.

10. Users

Preferred stock is most common in private or pre-public companies. It helps to differentiate between the economic interest and control of a company. The issuing of publicly traded preferred shares can be positively or negatively impacted by government regulations and the rules of stock exchanges.

A company can choose to issue various classes of preferred stock. Companies just starting may go through several rounds of raising Venture capital. Each round may be assigned separate rights as a result. These rounds may be separated into different series. For example, “A Preferred,” “B Preferred,” and “C Preferred,” due to each stock grouping. Usually, a company’s founders and employees receive common stock while venture capital investors are given preferred shares.

11. Stock Derivatives

Also known as an equity derivative, a stock derivative is a financial instrument which has an underlying asset that’s the price of an equity. The two main types of contracts found on stock derivatives are futures and options. Examples of underlying security include an individual firm’s stock or a stock index.

A buyer who is purchasing a long contract is better off buying a future. These types of stock derivatives are delivered via cash settlement. When it comes to stock options, a call option gives the buyer the right to purchase stock at a fixed price in the future. With this method, most stock options are transferable.

12. History

The stock market dates back to the Ancient Roman Republic. During this time, the state leased out many its services to private corporations. Government contractors were referred to as publicani. The publicani were similar to modern-day joint-stock companies.

When it comes to stocks in the modern world, the earliest joint-stock company was the East India Company started in England in the year 1600. Joint-stock ownership was instrumental in the substantial growth of Europe’s economy after the Middle Ages. This allowed expensive projects like the building of a merchant ship was available to more than just the government or wealthy families and individuals.

13. Shareholder

An individual or company who owns at least one share of stock in a joint-stock company is known as a shareholder. Shareholders are found in private and public companies. Based on the stock class, shareholders are given special privileges.

These privileges include the right to vote on the board of directors meetings, the right to share in a company’s distribution income, and access to a company’s assets during liquidation. The rights a shareholder has will always be below the seniority of the rights of a company’s creditors.

Anyone who has a direct or indirect equity interest in a business is considered a shareholder. Most of the time, the largest shareholders in a company will be mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. A company’s officers and directors are required to act in their shareholders’ best interests. But shareholders are not forced to behave the same way toward each other.

14. Application

For a company, stocks can be used for a wide variety of reasons. They can help add extra capital to a corporation to create new projects for investing. Additionally, stocks make it possible for companies to slightly reduce their holding and free up capital for private use.

To free up capital in a company, owners can sell shares in the company to the general public through the stock exchange. This process is known as an IPO or initial public offering. By doing this, part or all of a company is distributed to several owners. By purchasing just one share, a shareholder would be entitled to a portion of ownership of a company, part of the power to make decisions, and possibly a piece of the company’s profits.

15. Financing

As corporations grow, they need to obtain additional capital. They can do this one of two ways: equity or debt. When a company sells its stock to finance its operations, it’s known as equity financing. In exchange for their investments, shareholders get a portion of ownership interests in the company.

Debt financing involves issuing bonds to keep from relinquishing ownership shares of the company. Another unofficial way of financing a company is through trade financing. This works for both international and domestic trade transactions. Banks and financial institutions have the funding to facilitate these types of trade transactions.

16. Trading

Shares of a company are often transferred to other parties by sales by shareholders. There are numerous laws and regulations to govern these types of transfers. This is especially true if the company issuing a trade is a public company.

Because the desire for stockholders to trade shares has grown exponentially since stocks were established, stock exchanges were invented. These organizations provide a marketplace for trading shares as well as additional derivatives and financial items. A stockbroker represents stock traders. A stockbroker buys and sells shares of a wide variety of companies for their clients.

17. Arbitrage Trading

Another form of trading is called arbitrage. This process involves a shareholder buying and selling an asset to profit from a price imbalance. This type of trade will exploit price differences of similar financial instruments located in different markets.

Arbitrage is made possible because of market inefficiencies. If the stock market were perfectly balanced, arbitrage wouldn’t work. In arbitrage, the stock is bought in one market and immediately sold in a different market for a higher price. This results in the seller earning a risk-free profit. Most traders use automated trading systems to track fluctuations in the stock market.

18. Buying

A stockholder can purchase and finance stocks in a variety of ways due to current technology. The most common way is with the help of a stockbroker. A stockbroker works in a brokerage firm where they help to facilitate the transfer of stocks from sellers to buyers. These trades are typically performed by stockbrokers that are listed with a stock exchange.

Shareholders can choose from full-service brokers, discount brokers, and other types of brokerage firms. Full-service brokers tend to charge more per trade, but investors can get solid investment advice. Discount brokers charge less for trading but will not offer much help for investing.

19. Selling

The process of selling a stock is quite similar to the methods for buying stock. Investors prefer to buy stocks for low prices and sell stocks at higher rates. Some situations may result in an investor selling at a more economical rate than the ideal price in order to avoid any further loss.

A stockbroker will charge a shareholder a transaction fee when they arrange a transfer of stock between a buyer and a seller. Depending on which type of brokerage firm an investor chooses to use, the transaction fee will be high or low. A seller will be entitled to the money earned from a sale after the transaction is complete.

20. Price Fluctuations

The theory of supply and demand will affect the prices of stock. Demand is the main reason for the price fluctuations of stock.

Researchers in the technical and fundamental analysis fields analyze data to identify the reasons why the stock market changes and causes the prices of stocks to go up or down. Experts have found that customer satisfaction is a significant factor in a stock’s market value. Pump and dump scams, as well as analysts’ business forecasts for a company’s market, can cause stock prices to fluctuate.

21. Price Determination

Supply and demand significantly affect the price of equity. The supply is most known as afloat. The number of shares that investors desire to purchase at the same time is the demand.

Stock prices move to create a harmonious equilibrium in the stock market. When the number of buyers overtakes the number of sellers, the cost of stocks rises. Equilibrium is achieved once again when buyers leave, or sellers who are attracted to high stock prices enter the market. The time when the number of sellers outweighs the number of buyers is when the cost of stocks falls.

22. Investment Strategy

An investment strategy is used by an investor to design an active investment portfolio. The rules, procedures, and behaviors in an investment strategy are used by stockbrokers to create an individualized plan for their clients. Choices made by these investors include those that run the gamut from risk to return.

Many investors attempt to maintain a balance of risk and return. There is a payoff when a stockbroker takes a more significant risk and receives a higher return. The stock market is a tricky field to navigate, so having an investment strategy is imperative. A stockbroker will help you find an ideal investment strategy.

23. No Strategy

The riskiest investment strategy to use is to have no strategy due to obvious reasons. Some stockbrokers go this route. But it’s highly unadvised because of potential volatility. Those who don’t have a focused trading strategy are known as sheep.

Sheep perform trades based on emotion. This can be dangerous thanks to many reasons. Having no investment strategy can lead to an investor having low confidence in their investing decisions. Sheep are followers who need the help of others for guidance and tend to base their investment choices on what stocks are the most popular.

24. Momentum Trading

For those that choose a momentum trading strategy, they select investments based on their past performances. Financial experts have pros and cons for this type of investment strategy because it goes both ways. Many see it as being a knee-jerk reacting to information shared about the stock market.

With momentum trading, investors sell losing stock to buy winning stock. “Buying high and selling higher” is the philosophy. This method takes advantage of the volatility of the stock market because it coerces investors to sell stocks as soon as they start to go down. Then an investor can move their capital elsewhere.

25. Buy and Hold

It’s quite apparent from its name, but this investment strategy involves an investor buying shares from a company and holding onto it. This long term investment strategy is sound because long-run equity markets give a reasonable return rate even when the market is volatile.

Buy and hold is a passive type of investment strategy due to its long-term focus. With this strategy, investors can choose investments without having to keep an eye on short-term price movements. Legendary investors like Jack Bogle and Warren Buffett are fans of this method and deem it ideal due to its long-term returns.

26. Active vs. Passive

Momentum trading is known as an active investment strategy. With proactive strategy, investors are working to outperform benchmark indexes. Most active investors are confident that they have above-average trading skills. Active investors are incredibly hands-on and must work with someone who acts as a portfolio manager.

Strategies like buy and hold are known as passive. These types of procedures are employed to minimize the costs of transactions. Those that use passive investment strategies are convinced that it is impossible to time the stock market. Passive investing tends to be the more popular type of investing strategy.

27. Long Short Strategy

In a long-short strategy, an investor chooses several equities and ranks them according to their combined return power. Investors take long positions in stocks that will most likely appreciate. Then they short positions in stocks on the decline. With this strategy, investors aim to minimize market exposure due to volatility.

Investors use this method to profit from long stock gains as well as short price declines. Most of the time, the long-short strategy earns a profit. This type of approach is most popular with hedge funds. Hedge funds tend to use a market-neutral plan that has both long and short positions.

28. Pairs Trading

When investors chose pairs trading as their trading strategy, they find similar pairs of stocks and combine their prices linearly. This strategy is neutral, allowing investors to profit from pretty much all market conditions, including sideways, uptrend, and downtrend movements.

Investors have used pair trading since the 1980s where it was pioneered at Morgan Stanley. This strategy requires market timing, strong decision-making skills, and good position sizing. There isn’t much of a downside to pairs trading, but opportunities are scarce due to the dynamics involved. For success, a trader must be quick and one of the first to capitalize on a movement.

29. Value vs. Growth

Value stocks provide an excellent return because they trade below their actual worth. They appeal to value investors through lower prices compared to a stock’s sales, dividends, or earnings. Through the inefficiencies in the stock market, investors can earn a nice profit.

Growth stocks have an above-average growth rate for the current market. This type of stock does not pay dividends so companies can reinvest earnings to accelerate their rate of growth. Unlike value stocks, investing in growth stocks is quite risky, mostly because of the lack of dividends.

30. Indexing

When an investor purchases a small number of shares in a market index like the S&P 500 or an index mutual fund, it’s called indexing. This type of investment strategy is passive if held for a long period. It can be active if a trader uses an index to enter and exit the market fast. Indexes are used in the stock market to represent specific market segments.

The top market indexes in the United States are the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The S&P 500 is weighted to give greater weight to stocks in this index. In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stocks in the index that have a higher price are given greater weight.

31. Finding a Broker

When an investor feels ready to invest in the stock market, they’re ready to select a stockbroker. First, decide whether to work with a full-service or discount broker. Full-service brokers provide advice and recommendations but charge higher fees. Discount brokers let their clients make their own decisions.

Most experts would recommend that a newcomer to the world of stock market investing should choose a full-service broker. If it’s not in their budget, investors can find a viable discount broker online. Typically brokers require a minimum balance to get started. Online brokers will ask for between $500 and $1,000.

32. Picking Stocks

After hiring a stockbroker, it’s time to choose some stocks. The first thing to do is research several companies. There’s much information out there. Keep the investment goals simple and look for the companies that are appealing.

Read over a company’s annual report. You can also read a company’s annual letter to their shareholders to get a feel for their goals as a result. Other information needed like SEC filings and quarterly earnings reports, can be found through a broker.

33. How Much Should I Invest?

Next, investors will need to determine how much money to invest. Contrary to what some may think, investors don’t need a ton of cash to make investments. Commissions on stock trading have reduced significantly in the past few years. It’s possible to buy the first stock for only a few hundred dollars due to that fact.

There are quite a few brokers who will have a list of exchange-traded funds that are commission-free. That allows beginning investors to start investing for the cost of a single share. When investors think about a budget for investing, section it into segments: $100 a month, $500 a month, or $1,000 a month. Choose whichever amount of money works best for an individual’s budget.

34. Pay Off High-Interest Debt

Before taking the plunge into stock investing, it’s vital to handle a few financial matters. One of the most important things to do is to pay off any high-interest that an investor may have. If the interest is 10 percent or higher, aim to pay it off as soon as possible.

The most common type of debt that has an interest rate higher than 10 percent is credit card debt. Having debt can take away from the money that could be earned through investing in the stock market. If someone has $10,000 in credit card debt with 10 percent interest, by the time they’re 70 years old, it could become $1,000,000! Please get rid of any credit card debt fast by transferring the debt to a low APR credit card or getting a personal loan to pay it off.

35. How Many Shares Should I Buy?

There’s no rhyme or reason to the number of shares an investor should buy. It all depends on what feels right for an investor and their finances. Investors can choose to buy a small number of shares or fill up an entire portfolio right off the bat. It’s wise to start small so they can get comfortable with being an individual stock owner.

If an investor can make it through rough patches without going too crazy, then they can advance to a fuller portfolio. Nothing says that it’s required to buy a huge chunk of stock on the first meeting with a stockbroker. Buy as many shares as feels comfortable with and how many fit within an investing budget.

36. Market Orders

Market orders are used to order stocks. These have information on them, indicating that an investor is willing to buy or sell a share at the top current market price. It’s possible that the amount that is paid or received is not the same price that was quoted, even if the quote happened seconds or minutes before a market order is received.

That is because the bid and ask prices continuously fluctuate. Because of this, it’s best to use a market order when buying stocks that are steady and won’t experience huge price swings. Market orders work well for buy and hold investors that are focused on fully executing a worthwhile trade.

37. Limit Orders

Limit orders are useful because they give investors a bit more control over the final price at which a trade is completed. Investors can set a specific number for a stock with their stockbroker that is in line with how they value a company. With a limit order, investors let their stockbroker know that they can only execute the order when the stock price falls to their set number.

Investors who buy and sell company stocks for smaller companies benefit significantly from limit orders. These types of orders work well during short periods of stock market volatility. They also are beneficial when stock prices become more essential than order fulfillment.

38. Making Money with Stocks

There are two ways to make money with stocks. The first method is to buy stocks at a specific price and later sell them for a higher amount. Identify the price of shares at a particular company and how much money an investor has in the investment budget to determine how many shares to purchase.

Another way to earn money with stocks is to hold onto any shares while collecting dividends. Dividends are a piece of a company’s earnings that gets distributed to its shareholders. Dividends get paid out quarterly, even though companies are not at all required to pay them. Additionally, there are more complicated options like shorting shares to make money through stock investing.

39. Learn the Terminology

Once an investor has decided it’s time to invest in the stock market, they’re almost ready to go. A good idea before contacting a stockbroker is to become familiar with the lingo. We’ve provided a head start with this article, but there are a few more terms that are essential to know.

The most important terms to know are ‘ask’ and ‘bid.’ Ask is the price that sellers will take for a stock. The bid is the price that buyers are good with paying for a stock. The spread is the difference between a stock’s highest bid price and the lowest ask price. Knowing about the market, limit, and stop-loss orders are also imperative.

40. Start Buying Stocks

Now that we’ve outlined all that there is to know about the stock market and buying and selling stock, it’s time to start investing! Next, decide which types of companies are ideal for investing. Maybe an investor is a fan of electronics, cell phones, retail stores, or cosmetics brands.

Start small and invest in one or two companies. If an investor likes how their stocks look, they can add on a few more investments. Find a stockbroker that is likable and trustworthy enough to help with investing hard-earned money. Get ready for financial success investing in the stock market!