In simple words, a stock market is a market where you trade your stocks. It is a public market where you can trade the shares of stocks and derivatives of a listed company at an agreed price or securities, which are listed in a stock exchange. It is a secondary market for the secondary holders of a company’s shares to sell their stocks to other individuals within the stock market system.

What is a share?

This is a piece of document issued by a company which entitles the holder to be one of the owners of the company. It can also be purchased from the stock market. A company’s stock price is not what the company is worth for but what the investors think about the price. You can either make a big profit by selling your shares or stocks or a major loss if you have sold your share at a price much lesser than your buying price. Each share is a piece of ownership and the more shares you own, you own more of the company. You can even have certain control over the company operations to a certain extent. Companies often issue different classes of shares with different privileges. This is a system where the investor and the company can get mutual benefits. The investor gets the returns and ownership for his shares whereas the company gets more money.

How to trade in shares?

•    With the help of a stock broker: You can trade your stocks through the stock market or the stock exchange with the help of licensed stock brokers. The stock brokers also have a network of sub-brokers who provide them with orders from small investors.
•    On-line trading: This is a recent method where you can buy and sell your stocks over the internet by setting up a brokerage account. This is very easy because you can do everything on your own rather than going through a stock broker.

Few Trading Pointers

•    Do not overtrade.
•    Have a trading plan.
•    Trade active markets.
•    Do not enter a trade if you are not sure of the trend.
•    Do not let your emotions rule you when you enter into trading.
•    When you lose do not blame it on luck.