Investing In The US Stock Market
US online share trading is about investing in US-based companies. Participants in the US stock exchange markets place orders (to buy or sell) which are executed by a broker. Since we are discussing 'online' share trading we have to point out that this is done via the Internet using the web-based interface of the broker or a client-based version of the trading platform.
NYSE stands for New York Stock Exchange and this is the physical location of the market, where the actual trades are taking place. Only stocks listed by NYSE can be exchanged. Eventually, whether you are using a website or buying shares over the phone, it all goes down the pipeline to a single specialist who goes down to the floor trading post himself to trade stock as you have ordered. Once the actual trade is made, a report is send to the broker company containing all the details of the transaction. The NYSE is the largest stock exchange market ins the world by dollar volume and has the most securities of all stock exchanges with its 2,764 officially listed securities. Since January 24, 2007, all New York Stock Exchange stocks can be traded using the electronic version called Hybrid Market. Only a small group of very high priced stocks can't be traded there. Down on the floor, NYSE works as one big auction on which investors bid for a given share. There is physical contact which differentiates NYSE from fully electronic markets. The Exchange is dedicated to protecting the interests of all investors, large and small.
The main thing to know is that the way US online share trading works. The goal is to make profit. You make profit by buying shares at lower price only to sell them when they reach a higher value. The price of an individual stock is determined by supply and demand. The supply of stock is based on the number of shares a company has issued. The demand is created by people who want to buy those shares from investors who already own them. The more that people desire to own a stock, the more they are willing to pay for it. Before buying the shares of a given company, you must examine it's financial stability. If it seems that the company is about to loose money, then it's more than likely that it shares will go down (in terms of value). Examining the past of a given company is important but shouldn't be the main criteria. The fact that it has done well in the past doesn't mean it will be profiting in the future. The opposite is also true. That's why you should consider the trends in the given industry as a whole. National or world events can affect stock prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is used as a sign to show how stable the US economy is. It's a performance meter measuring the performance of the industrial component of America's stock markets. Nowadays, as pointed out in wikipedia.org, the Dow average consists of 30 of the largest and most widely held public companies in the United States, including 3M, Coca Cola, At&t, General Electric, American Express, Boeing, Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Walt Disney, Wal-Mart, McDonald's. The Dow Industrial average is calculated by dividing the sum of all 30 stocks by a special divisor. Since Dow Jones is listed on the NYSE, you can buy Dow shares. NASDAQ stands for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations and it's the largest electronic screen-based equity securities trading market in the US. Nasdaq shares are traded more per day than any other U.S. market. Nyse shares jumped 11% to $71.32 from the opening price of $67 on heavy volumes of 6.3 million shares.
Online Share Trading >> Privacy Policy >> Legal Disclaimer
|
