Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary
A stock market is a physical or electronic space where buyers and sellers of ownership in corporations can exchange their shares with each other.
The prices that buyers and sellers offer each other is “discovered” either by direct electronic display, or (in the historical case of the New York Stock Exchange, for example) by specialists and market makers who serve as middlemen in the price discovery and transaction.
A stock market is a public exchange used to issue and trade stocks and shares. The stock market is also known as the equity market and can be either public or private. The stock market is such a market where the public gets an opportunity to be part of any enterprise or organization. The system of trading shares in stock markets is accepted worldwide.
The market economy is a fundamental aspect of the economy and stock market forms a significant part of the market economy. To participate in the stock market is an ideal strategy for companies to earn money. Companies make their profit available to the public through stock markets.
A stock market is a market for the trading of publicly held company stocks or shares and associated financial instruments (including stock options, convertibles and stock index futures). Traditionally such markets were open-outcry where trading occurred on the floor of an exchange. These days increasingly the markets are cyber-markets with buying and selling occurring via online real-time matching of orders placed by buyers and sellers.
Many years ago, worldwide, buyers and sellers were individual investors and businessmen. These days markets have generally become “institutionalized”; that is, buyers and sellers are largely institutions whether pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds or banks. This rise of the institutional investor has brought growing professionalism to all aspects of the markets.
The movements of the prices in a market or section of a market are captured in price indices called Stock Market Indices, of which there are many, e.g., the Standard and Poors Indices and the Financial Times Indices. Such indices are usually market-capitalisation weighted.
There are stock markets in most developed economies, with the world’s biggest markets being in the USA, Japan, the UK, and Europe. There are global stock-market indices that, because they delineate the global universe of stock opportunities, shape the choices and distribution of funds of institutional investors. The character of markets around the world varies, for example with the majority of the shares in the Japanese market being closely held (by financial companies and industrial corporations) compared with the structures of ownership in the USA or the UK.
Stock or share is a piece of paper that carries a part of the ownership right of any company. Any corporate can issue any number of shares and sell it to the public. The quantity of shares owned measures the extent of ownership in a company. More share means more is the right on operations of the company. All shares issued by a company are not of the same type. Some shares are meant for general public while other shares are there that have special privileges for the owners. Similarly, prices of the share also vary. A company creates different types of shares and sells them. Buyer of a share is an investor who pays money for a share or in other way invests money in a company. The company gets money on the sale of a share and in exchange provides a certain degree of ownership to the investor.
An option is a contract to buy or sell something at an agreed-upon price during a specified period. A buyer who believes that the price of a stock will rise can enter a contract known as a “call” which gives him the right to buy another’s stock at a date three to nine months in the future. He pays a fee to the owner of the stock and will forfeit it if he does not exercise the option. But if the stock price rises enough, he can exercise the option and buy the stock at the fixed price, and then resell it for a higher price to recover his premium and make a profit.
Someone who thinks that the price of a stock is about to fall can buy a “put” contract with someone else who agrees to buy the stock at a fixed price. He does not have to own the stock at the time the contract is made. Again, he pays a premium. But if the stock price does fall, he can buy the stock at a low price on the market and then sell it for an agreed-upon higher price.
Option contracts are traded like stocks, often by people who have no intention of exercising them. Although there is a guaranteed loss of the premium when an option is not exercised, there is enormous potential profit from trading the option itself–its price rises or falls with the price of the underlying stock. Someone who has a guaranteed buyer for 10,000 shares of stock at $35 has a contract of enormous value if the price of the stock falls to $10. He may not want to invest $100,000 to fulfil the contract and earn $350,000. But someone will want to buy the contract from him for more than he paid for it.
There are also two sorts of trades involving cash or stock not actually owned, short selling and margin buying. In short selling, someone sells stock that they don’t actually own, hoping for the price to fall. They must eventually buy back the stock. In margin buying, someone borrows money to buy the stock and hopes for it to rise. Most industrialized countries have regulations that require that if the borrowing is based on collateral from other stocks, it can be at only a certain percentage of those other stocks’ value. Other rules include a prohibition of freeriding; that is, putting in an order to buy stocks without paying initially, and then selling them and using part of the proceeds to make the original payment.
Before 1929, there were few regulations governing trades. This was taken advantage of by the so-called “Robber Barons,” to amass the large fortunes for themselves using (today illegal) techniques.
Since then, there have been periodic attempts to solve other perceived business problems with further regulation.
A stock market can be quite lucrative as this seems an easy way to invest in a growing company and earn a part of the profit of the company. From the company’s point of view, the stock market is a convenient way to attract investors and gather money for the benefit of the company. Unlike any other market, there always remains a higher risk factor in the stock market.
Prices of stocks keep on fluctuating and this is called market risk. This is the first risk that comes into mind whenever we think of market risk in the stock market. There are several factors that can influence the price of stocks.
Inflation is defined as a continuous rise in prices and it is a major risk factor in the stock market. Long-term investments get very badly affected due to inflation.
If a company that once promised good profitability has a downfall and incurs a huge loss, then the investor loses money in this investment. This is known as a business risk.
The changing currency exchange rates can lead to fluctuations in the value of the dollar. This is currency risk where the value of the dollar fluctuates with respect to the other national currencies.
To help you cite our definitions in your bibliography, here is the proper citation layout for the three major formatting styles, with all of the relevant information filled in.
Definitions for Stock Market are sourced/syndicated and enhanced from:
This glossary post was last updated: 28th November, 2021 | 0 Views.