Finance and Investment Stocks are Stocks help you

Finance and Investment

Stocks are. . . Stocks help. . . • you raise money from selling those "pieces" of • Stock is ownership in a your business which can company. (Equity) be used to build new plants and facilities, pay • If you were to divide your down debt, or acquire business up into small another company. pieces and sell those • smart owner will keep at pieces, you would least 51% of the stock, essentially have issued which will allow them to retain control of the day to stock. day activities • controlling shareholder

What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average? • An index of thirty, blue chip stocks that are traded in the United States. • It is believed that by looking at the companies on the list, a person can get a general picture of how the market as a whole is performing. • The most quoted and followed index in the world, and dates back to May 26, 1896.

Bear or Bull Market? The use of "bull" and "bear" to describe markets comes from the way in which each animal attacks its opponents. That is, a bull thrusts its horns up into the air, and a bear swipes its paws down. These actions are metaphors for the movement of a market: if the trend is up, it is considered a bull market. And if the trend is down, it is considered a bear market.

Bear Market • A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism • Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly • 1929 Crash most famous crash in U. S. history • Dow Industrials hit a high of 386 in September, 1929. • It did not get back to that level until November, 1954 • Dow dropped 89% • 1987 – The Market fell dramatically.

Bull Market • long term uptrend (months to years) price movement in any market • An extended period of generally rising prices • characterized by optimism, investor confidence and expectations that strong results will continue.