Stock Market Basics: What You Need to Know (2023)
Even with so many investment opportunities available, the stock market remains one of the most popular options.
Nevertheless, investing in the stock market is often a challenge to the beginner investor and many just don’t bother because they find it overwhelming. Well, gone are these fears as this detailed stock market guide will help you get started!
This guide will teach you the stock market basics so you’ll know how to begin your investing journey.
Here is our stock market 101 lesson.
How the Stock Market Works
It’s simple: when you buy stocks or shares of a company, you are the partial owner of the company along with several others who own stocks in that company.
This is no different than what Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger do when they invest in casino trực tuyến uy tín companies through Berkshire Hathaway. When you buy stocks in a company, you have to consider the company’s future.
That’s the first of the stock market tips you should know. When you decide to buy stocks in a company, you are investing in the long-term success of that business.
As a result, you want to only invest in companies that you feel have a bright future. This requires extensive research.
How to Research the Stock Market
One of the quickest ways to decide which companies to invest in is to consider stock picking services.
But even if you opt for these services, you want to do your research on different companies in which you can invest in the stock market. You must always do your own research and consult a financial advisor before making an investment.
It’s important never to invest in a company simply on the basis of liking the company. You might like Sears, for example, but investing your hard-earned money in such a company is a different story.
You also shouldn’t just copy what other successful investors are doing. While you can succeed with investing by buying shares in the very companies that Berkshire Hathaway owns, this might still not be the best option for you.
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What Makes a Great Stock?
There are no hard-and-fast rules on what makes a great stock, but there are certain trends you want to look into. For instance, keeping an eye on the performance and trajectory of specific stocks, such as SpaceX acciones, can provide valuable insights into market dynamics and investment opportunities. Understanding the factors influencing the stock’s movement, such as technological advancements, corporate developments, and market trends, is crucial in making informed investment decisions.
For example, let’s say you wish to invest in the US stock market. The US is a country that’s constantly moving. The population continues to grow, tourists are visiting each day, and it’s still the #1 destination for migration.
One industry that’s great for such a dynamic economy with a constant flow of people is hospitality. Investors have made fortunes in hotel companies and cruise lines, for example.
But what happened to those stocks in early 2020? The hospitality industry crashed and the stocks of those companies took a plummet due to the global lockdowns.
Naturally, many people who invested in those stocks lost a lot of money. However, this same incident also opened the door to many opportunities.
It’s precisely when these stocks fall that they become cheaper. In 2020, many people bought hospitality and tourism stocks for the first time, knowing that they’d eventually bounce back up after the lockdowns ended.
As you can see, it’s not as simple as it might seem. Even if a stock is declining, it might still be a great stock — even if you have to wait to reap the rewards.
Likewise, you might worry about an industry dying if there are major regulations against it. As gun control debates loom in the US, one wonders about the future of public companies such as Ruger and Smith & Wesson.
Yet, it’s precisely when it becomes harder to buy products that consumers buy those products in bulk before it’s too late.
Keep researching and eventually, you’ll figure out what makes a great stock!
How to Approach Investing In the Stock Market
Now that you have a basic idea of how to choose a great stock, you want to figure out a strategy for investing.
The simplest strategy for investing in the stock market is to buy and sell stocks. You want to buy these stocks at a low price and then sell them when it gets higher.
With this strategy, you need to keep an eye on the market to decide when’s the best time to sell your stocks. If you want to make serious profits, you can’t sell your stocks as soon as they go up.
You’ll make a quick profit but you might miss out on an even bigger profit. You need to study the trends for this particular stock to predict the future. While there’s no certainty, you want to have a strong idea of when the stock’s price might skyrocket.
For example, let’s return to the example of the stocks in the hospitality and tourism sector. If you own stocks in this sector, you might want to only sell them during busy seasons.
Most cruises happen in the summer and spring and that’s the best time to sell them as the profits for the companies will rise dramatically. Likewise, if you’re investing in a ski lodge in Colorado, wait until the winter to sell your stocks.
You’ll have to combine looking at the charts to see the trends of the stock and following the news. Make sure you familiarize yourself with each industry so you know what times are most profitable.
Risk and Reward
As you learn the stock market basics, you’ll soon realize that this is a gamble. You can earn a lucrative income but also you can lose a lot of money when investing in the stock market.
You have to have a strategy of placing limits on your wins and losses. This is something you can place with your stock trading software or with your broker.
When you start stock trading, you want to focus on small wins. Don’t be in a rush to make a huge fortune at first. Chances are,you’ll end up losing a lot at first.
You want to learn the skills of investing in the stock market and then increase your limits as you improve. For example, at first, you might want to set a limit to sell your stock once you make a profit of $100. You’ll also set a limit to cancel the order after you’ve lost $100.
Don’t be in a rush to increase the limits. Some investors will increase their limits every three months. Others might wait an entire year. You want to focus on mastering reading the charts and maximizing your wins first. Once you do, then you can increase your limits.
Diversify Your Portfolio
You’ve likely heard the phrase “diversify your portfolio” when you receive stock market tips from seasoned investors.
Once again, let’s return to the example of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock portfolio. This holding company owns shares in companies in a variety of industries.
Some of these include Coca-Cola, Apple Computers, Dairy Queen, GEICO, etc. As you can see, these are varied industries with little in common.
You should do the same. As a result, you’ll need to research different industries to see where the opportunities are for investing. You might invest in Royal Caribbean for hospitality, Palantir for technology, and Tesla for transportation.
Make sure you have at least three industries that you focus on when investing in the stock market. This ensures that if one or more industries are failing, you have another one to keep your investments afloat.
Best Practices
Let’s end with a few simple best practices for when you invest in the stock market.
Create a separate bank account solely for investing in the stock market. All the cash in this account should only get used for the stock market. Consider putting away 5% to 10% of your income for investing.
If you don’t have time to research several companies, you can consider investing in ETFs. This is a fund that contains many companies rolled into one stock. You’ll only have to invest in the fund and your portfolio will move based on the performance of all the companies.
You should consider owning stocks in at least one company that pays dividends. This means that you’ll receive money from the company at least once per quarter, provided that the company is making money.
In the beginning, use this dividend money to re-invest in the stock market. Only after you make major profits should you consider keeping some of the dividend income.
These Are the Stock Market Basics
Now you know the stock market basics and can earn a lucrative income from investing.
You always want to invest in businesses that you have faith in. Make sure you do your research to determine which businesses have a brighter future. Always focus on building skills first and diversifying your portfolio.
Make sure you have a separate bank account for investing. Follow the stock market tips in this guide to balance risk with reward.
You can find more financial articles in our Money section in the magazine.