am I buying a part of the company? my purchase of a company stock is part of what keeps a company in business so to speak? am I correct? If the company succeeds, then I succeed? If they fail then I fail? Success and failure is determined daily? I'm with Sharebuilder. I can trade Monday to Friday I think between 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (I don't know why there is a time specific). Does these hours determine a company's sale for the day? If it's good then the stock (trade?) I bought goes up or something? What I bought was a Wal Mart (WMT) stock by way of real-time trading. I guess there is a difference between investing and trading/real-time trading?
Any recommended books and or websites/forums I can get a better answer from outside of Yahoo Answers?
Would a “For Dummies” book series help regarding investing/trading/stocks?
Answers & Comments
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Shareholders own public companies. If you buy a share of stock in a public company you become one of several thousand that own the stock. For larger companies there can be millions of shareholders.
As an owner you are entitled to a share of the profits generated by the company. Some companies pay dividends to pay out part the profits. Others do not and you earn capital gains as the stock hopefully continues to rise to reflect an increase in the net worth of the company.
Stock is floated at the beginning of an initial public offering IPO. The money you use to buy stock in the company does not go to the company, but rather pays another investor when they sell their shares. For every buyer of stock, there must be a seller. This supply/demand is what causes stock prices to rise and fall along with expectations of dividends and increases in earnings.
The hours of the exchanges have nothing to do with the company. There merely are the hours that the exchanges are open for business. Day trading is a form of speculation. Investing is more long-term in nature. Sharebuilder is not a realtime trading system. Trades are done in batches.
Shareholders own public companies. If you buy a share of stock in a public company you become one of several thousand that own the stock. For larger companies there can be millions of shareholders.
As an owner you are entitled to a share of the profits generated by the company. Some companies pay dividends to pay out part the profits. Others do not and you earn capital gains as the stock hopefully continues to rise to reflect an increase in the net worth of the company.
Stock is floated at the beginning of an initial public offering IPO. The money you use to buy stock in the company does not go to the company, but rather pays another investor when they sell their shares. For every buyer of stock, there must be a seller. This supply/demand is what causes stock prices to rise and fall along with expectations of dividends and increases in earnings.
The hours of the exchanges have nothing to do with the company. There merely are the hours that the exchanges are open for business. Day trading is a form of speculation. Investing is more long-term in nature. Sharebuilder is not a realtime trading system. Trades are done in batches.
Investing for Dummies will answer many of the questions you have. You can then use the Yahoo boards to ask for additional help for things that the books don't explain.
Yes you are correct, but the market/trading plays a great part in the performance of your stock because your stock is in a public company and not a private company. As an investor your looking at the long term growth of the stock and not the daily trader growth, which is short term. Traders are in the business of making a profit by buying and selling stocks. As an investor, the main concern is that the company is not going out of business with your money. You will see sell offs all year long, but that may not mean the company is down. Just that a lot of traders are trying to sell their stocks at a price that other traders would buy it. This is because they want the lowest price and to make a profit they cannot buy it at the same price value it sells for. This pressure brings the price down for the seller to sell the stock etc. Trading is done during market hours 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m and the market is closed there after. If you buy your stock during 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m, it is real time as long as the execution is made at the same time you place an order.
For Dummies books are very good. There is likely one for every topic of interest.