Stock market investing all you need to know about the main players
Well, if you are a beginner and you need to find out more about stock market investing, the first step would be to become familiar with the main players from this field. As you know (or, at least, as you should know, if you are serious about stock market investing) there is not a single exchange, but a few, different ones.
One important exchange is NASDAQ, founded in 1971, which become the first electronic stock market. This is actually the reason why NASDAQ is today the biggest exchange from US, with more than 5000 stocks, these stocks also being the most actively traded ones. The computerized system facilitates over-the-counter trading, making the New-York based stock exchange NASDAQ one of the most important exchanges from all over the world.
The world’s largest stock exchange, by the market capitalization of the companies listed here, is New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). If a company wants to be listed at New York Stock Exchange, it must accomplish some minimal requirements, such as a certain level of earnings, market value, nut it also has to have a majority of independent members in the board of directors. A company listed to New York stock Exchange also has to publish, periodically, the financial status. In 2008, New York Stock Exchange acquired another major exchange, American Stock Exchange.
NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange are the two main players if we speak about stock exchange. There are, of course, other, smaller or regional exchanges, and once you are familiarized with stock market trading you can start check them out. However, as a beginner, you should concentrate on the major exchanges, because all the big companies and investment funds are listed here, so your investments are safer.
Whether you choose a stock exchange or another, you need to understand you can’t trade without the help of a broker. A broker can help you decide about the stock exchange, about what companies or investment funds to include in your portfolio. In order to make the right decision, you need to clarify first your goals. What do you expect from stock market investing? If it’s a way to keep your retirement money away from the dangers if inflation, than go with long term, risk free investments. In this category, we can include big, well-established companies and investment funds.
On the contrary, if you want quick, high returns, you need to analyze speculative, emergent stocks. This is quite hard to do, and you need the help of a very good broker. Volatile stocks can make you lose a lot of money, so you have to be very careful about their proportion in your portfolio. You can’t risk 50 % of all your money on high-risk stocks; in fact, most brokers will recommend to limit yourself to a maximum of 10% of volatile stocks in your entire portfolio.