Archive for the ‘stock market’ Category

PostHeaderIcon A Review Of The Stock Market Crash Of 1929

The great Wall Street Crash just previous to the Great Depression of the 1930s has become a part of North American legend. People speak of the crash, its causes and its consequences, with great authority, although few people actually understand the fundamentals that led to the crash, and fewer still the intricacies involved in it. This article will detail a short review of the crash, analyze some of the myths evolving out of this period in American history, and also answer some questions such as why the crash happened, and if something like it could happen again.

The crash began on October 24, 1929 and the slide continued for three business days, ending on October 29 1929 (as we can see, the crash did not occur in the ‘30s, as many people believe). The first day of the crash is known as Black Thursday, and the last day is called Black Tuesday. The crash began when a rush of nervous spenders panicked and rushed to sell their shares- over 13 million stocks were sold on that first Thursday. In an attempt to halt the slide, several bankers and businessmen gathered and tried to rally the numbers by buying up blue-chip stocks, a tactic that had worked in 1909. This was to prove only a temporary fix, however. Over the weekend, while the stock markets were closed, the media added to the fear of investors as the published the wrap ups to the week. By Monday, a fearful populace, nerves on edge due to the reports, were waiting to liquidate. Again, industrial giants and other businesses tried to halt the panic by demonstrating their faith in the system by buying more stock, but the slide would not stop. The market did not recover its value until almost a quarter of a decade later.

As with any legend, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 carries with it several mythical misconceptions. To start with, the Crash did not lead to the Great Depression. In fact, many financial analysts and historians are still not sure to what degree the Crash even contributed. The economic forecasts were poor before Wall Street fell, and it was poor people who could not even afford to think about stocks that were the most affected by the Depression. For these people, poverty was mostly caused by very poor farming conditions. There was also not the onslaught of suicides that is commonly referred to- a few investors did succumb to depression, but their numbers are generally agreed to have been very small indeed- enough to count on one hand.

What was it that caused this Crash? Because the market had been doing so well, many Americans were investing- many more, in fact, than could afford it. These people were investing on speculation. This means that they were buying stocks with an eye to selling them in the future for a higher profit, and to achieve the capital to invest they borrowed from banks. When prices began to drop, people realized they would not be able to pay their debt, let alone make any money,. They rushed to get out as soon as possible. To prevent panics such as this in the future, buying on speculation is now illegal.

PostHeaderIcon Online Stock Trading

Among the many revolutionary changes brought about by the advent of the Internet is online stock trading.  Once the exclusive preserve of the rich and the wealthy, the stock market has now become a place where even the common man can play a part. Investors today can use Internet client-server technology to trade stocks anywhere, anytime they like.  Just a couple of mouse clicks and the client is through with a thousand-dollar transaction!

There are several ways in which one can participate in online stock trading. One can use an online broker, or do it himself.

There are two types of online brokers: discount and full-service. The former are licensed individuals who have direct access to the share market. They neither give you advice nor research the best options. They just order the stocks you want at a discounted price. They earn no commission but make money by selling mass amounts of stock.

In comparison, a full-service broker offers many more stocks. They act as your personal agent in all share-related activities, such as advice in buying shares, creating a safe investment portfolio, and offering investment advice. Commissions being their main source of revenue, they work hard to satisfy you. So they do a lot of research on the best stocks and investments for you, and hope you will stay with them.

As stock trading is a complex thing, you should do your homework before taking the plunge online. Take into account how frequently you trade, what other services might interest you, how reliable the trading system is, whether it is difficult to log on when the market is active, and other variables. As hunch or intuition may turn out to be misleading, try to be conversant with the market’s state-of-the-art trading techniques and strategies. Try to read the quarterly or annual reports of the companies to know what they are doing with your money. When in doubt, ask your stockbroker.

PostHeaderIcon My Simple Penny Stock Picking System

Before investing your hard-earned cash into penny stocks, it is important to research the penny stocks you want to invest in before committing any cash.. You want to find profitable penny stocks. To do this, you’ll need penny stock leads. Leads are just names of penny stocks that you are thinking of investing in.

There are many ways to get penny stock leads. For example, searching the internet (blogs and forums), joining a penny stock mailing list or keeping an eye out on the news. The main idea is to build a list of around 5 to 10 quality leads that are worthy of your money.

After you have a list of leads, you’ll want to choose one or two of them. You’ll need to go through your list and discard stocks which do not meet your criteria. This process can be tedious but it will be well worth it in the end.

The criteria that I look for include – company history, business plan, opinions of individuals and experts, financial information, competition, track record of the board of directors, company reports and broker recommendations. Using the variables, I can quickly establish whether a particular stock is worth investing in.

Once my list has been cut down to 1 or 2 stocks, I’ll ask for opinions from other people to confirm my selections. It is very important to listen to the views of other investors because, in most cases, they’ll have something valuable to contribute to your research. Perhaps, you missed out a vital piece of information which other investors could highlight for you.

Now that I have 1 or 2 stocks out of my original list of 10, I feel confident that I have done my due diligence and I am ready to invest. I use this process every time I’m investing in penny stocks and , so far, it has been simple but profitable.