What is a stock?
Wouldn't you love to be a business owner without ever having to
show up at work? Imagine if you could sit back, watch your company grow, and
collect the dividend checks as the money rolls in! This situation might sound
like a pipe dream, but it's closer to reality than you might think.
As you've probably guessed, we're talking about owning stocks.
This fabulous category of financial instruments is, without a doubt, one of the
greatest tools ever invented for building wealth. Stocks are a part, if not the
cornerstone, of nearly any investment portfolio. When you start on your road to
financial freedom, you need to have a solid understanding of stocks and how they
trade on the stock market.
Over the last few decades, the average person's interest in the
stock market has grown exponentially. What was once a toy of the rich has now
turned into the vehicle of choice for growing wealth. This demand coupled with
advances in trading technology has opened up the markets so that nowadays nearly
anybody can own stocks.
Despite their popularity, however, most people don't fully
understand stocks. Much is learned from conversations around the water cooler
with others who also don't know what they're talking about. Chances are you've
already heard people say things like, "Bob's cousin made a killing in XYZ
company, and now he's got another hot tip..." or "Watch out with stocks--you
can lose your shirt in a matter of days!" So much of this misinformation is
based on a get-rich-quick mentality, which was especially prevalent during the
amazing dotcom market in the late '90s. People thought that stocks were the
magic answer to instant wealth with no risk. The ensuing dotcom crash proved
that this is not the case. Stocks can (and do) create massive amounts of wealth,
but they aren't without risks. The only solution to this is education. The key
to protecting yourself in the stock market is to understand where you are
putting your money.
show up at work? Imagine if you could sit back, watch your company grow, and
collect the dividend checks as the money rolls in! This situation might sound
like a pipe dream, but it's closer to reality than you might think.
As you've probably guessed, we're talking about owning stocks.
This fabulous category of financial instruments is, without a doubt, one of the
greatest tools ever invented for building wealth. Stocks are a part, if not the
cornerstone, of nearly any investment portfolio. When you start on your road to
financial freedom, you need to have a solid understanding of stocks and how they
trade on the stock market.
Over the last few decades, the average person's interest in the
stock market has grown exponentially. What was once a toy of the rich has now
turned into the vehicle of choice for growing wealth. This demand coupled with
advances in trading technology has opened up the markets so that nowadays nearly
anybody can own stocks.
Despite their popularity, however, most people don't fully
understand stocks. Much is learned from conversations around the water cooler
with others who also don't know what they're talking about. Chances are you've
already heard people say things like, "Bob's cousin made a killing in XYZ
company, and now he's got another hot tip..." or "Watch out with stocks--you
can lose your shirt in a matter of days!" So much of this misinformation is
based on a get-rich-quick mentality, which was especially prevalent during the
amazing dotcom market in the late '90s. People thought that stocks were the
magic answer to instant wealth with no risk. The ensuing dotcom crash proved
that this is not the case. Stocks can (and do) create massive amounts of wealth,
but they aren't without risks. The only solution to this is education. The key
to protecting yourself in the stock market is to understand where you are
putting your money.