How are Stock Prices Decided Upon?
If you purchase stocks, there are two main ways you can make money from the purchase. First of all, you can be paid dividends. When a corporation makes a profit, they may decide to pay some of it as dividends to their shareholder such as $1 a year per share, but this isn't guaranteed.
The other way to make money is through capital gains. This means that you have bought the stock at one price and then sell it at a higher price. The difference between the price paid and the price sold is your capital gains.
Investors are usually hoping to make capital gains when they buy shares of stock. People who are in or nearing retirement may prefer high dividend paying stocks that are stable for a source of income, but for others, dividends aren't where they expect to make most of the money.
Stock prices have to increase if you want to make capital gains. Stock prices vary from day to day, so how do you know that it will go up? What makes stock prices change all the time?
The price of stocks goes up and down the same way that the price of anything else goes up and down. It is an economic principle of supply and demand. Maybe you remember that from your economic class.
When the supply increases and the demand stays the same, the price will decrease. When the demand increases and the supply stays the same, the price increases. They vary inversely and the price adjusts along with them.
With stocks, if a lot of people want to buy a particular stock and not enough people are selling, they will have to raise the price to accommodate for it. If there are more people looking to sell than people willing to buy, they will need to decrease the price to get people to buy.
If you understand how this works, you can better understand how to make money with stocks. You want to buy stocks that you think a lot of people will be buying in the future so that the price goes up. - 23196
The other way to make money is through capital gains. This means that you have bought the stock at one price and then sell it at a higher price. The difference between the price paid and the price sold is your capital gains.
Investors are usually hoping to make capital gains when they buy shares of stock. People who are in or nearing retirement may prefer high dividend paying stocks that are stable for a source of income, but for others, dividends aren't where they expect to make most of the money.
Stock prices have to increase if you want to make capital gains. Stock prices vary from day to day, so how do you know that it will go up? What makes stock prices change all the time?
The price of stocks goes up and down the same way that the price of anything else goes up and down. It is an economic principle of supply and demand. Maybe you remember that from your economic class.
When the supply increases and the demand stays the same, the price will decrease. When the demand increases and the supply stays the same, the price increases. They vary inversely and the price adjusts along with them.
With stocks, if a lot of people want to buy a particular stock and not enough people are selling, they will have to raise the price to accommodate for it. If there are more people looking to sell than people willing to buy, they will need to decrease the price to get people to buy.
If you understand how this works, you can better understand how to make money with stocks. You want to buy stocks that you think a lot of people will be buying in the future so that the price goes up. - 23196
About the Author:
Do you ever ask, "how do stocks work?" Don't stay confused. Find out how stock prices change from day to day.