What do the terms "bull market"a and "bear market" mean and what does investing have to do with bulls and bears?

Stock prices go up and down daily on what stock market investors perceive the value to be and not necessarily what the company is really worth.

Is option trading really as risky as most laymen seem to believe? This article contends that option trading is frequently less risky than trading the underlying financial instrument. It also covers the fundamental definition of what options are and the advantages they offer the typical private trader.

There is an almost religious faith in TV economists and other such 'experts'. This article warns against this tendency and points out many fallacies in the fundamentalist approach to forecasting financial markets, as well as and why it can actually damage your online trading!

The advantages and disadvantages of online stock trading are discussed, as well as the main differences compared to traditional offline stock trading.

There seems to be on the immediate horizon an entire flock of black swan events that could easily qualify as last straw events. The probability that at least one black swan will descent from the flock and bring grief to financial markets is high.

Who sets the price of a stock? You do!

Options are bets about the future price movement of exchange-traded securities--- it's just that simple. The prospect of unusually high returns always signals unusually high risk. Caveat emptor, in spades. Here are some things to consider before you think about attending that free seminar:

As a new entrant into the stock market you will keep hearing about the terms NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ and more of the international ones nowadays like HangSeng or the LSE or even the Luxembourg stock exchange. These are stock exchanges where the exchange of stocks takes place between the buyers and the sellers.

The rewards are incredible for those that do it right, but for those who make enough mistakes it will take everything they have and still not be satisfied. Day trading is the practice of buying and selling securities and other financial options.

The current question that is being asked in the stock is why is the bond market selling off. While there is a number of excuses there are real reasons this is occurring. First and foremost there are more seller than buyers.

You may have heard the statement before; the biggest battles traders will face are within. If there was an explanation as to what these sorts of battles are it's more than likely along the lines of overcoming bad habits, emotional issues, biases, beliefs and so on. But why are these so important to master, and why is it so hard to do so?

Unfortunately, most investors can not bring themselves to buy at extreme lows as market sentiment at that time is completely negative and most people have a herd instinct that they can not overcome.

The use of corn to produce ethanol in the USA is a terribly misguided program as it has created a scarcity of corn resulting in high prices for not only corn but for the food chain that relies on corn as a feed grain, such as hogs, cattle, and chickens.

With discount brokerage firms operating on the Internet trading stocks is easier than ever. An investor and stock trader can easily and inexpensively trade stocks from his home or office computer.

Lately the stock market rallies on really bad news. Does that mean that the worse is over?

It seems scary at starts, but if you can learn to do it reasonably well, you can make huge amounts of money pretty easily. Here are the steps in stock market trading for beginners.

There are many reasons why people decide to trade in the stock exchange. One of the biggest reasons is to get the income they earn and save to work better for them by yielding returns on investments. Nowadays more than ever before, people are finding it easier to invest in the stock market through company shares as a result of the increased awareness of the fortunes available in the stock market.

When the underlying market is in downtrend, short selling is the best strategy if implemented correctly in hands of Commodity, Equity and Forex traders. To be a successful trader one need to learn both long and short strategies as market itself goes through bullish and bearish cycles periodically giving plethora of opportunities to generate wealth.

The decision to invest is no different than the decision to buy a car, get married, or have children. One must access why they are doing such a thing as well as what they hope to accomplish by doing so. When investing in the stock market, it is important to have a predefined list of goals you hope to achieve with your money.

To really make money in the stock market, one should approach their trading decisions with reasonability. Certain emotions, most specifically fear and greed, have been the downfall of many-a-trader.

Over 90% of traders fail to reach any success simply because they are not equipped for success, especially in key components such as money management and emotional control. This is true for most things in the civilized world. We are programmed for failure and as such as easy prey for the trap that is the financial markets.

Do you know what insider trading is? Is it really illegal?

This quarter started with huge concern about housing bubble bust followed by subprime crises which all are talking US economy towards a recession. This will be long or short recession only time will tell but impact is getting visible in low consumer confidence and same store sales reports which are falling each month.

Two Wall Street guru's come up with a Stock Picking Robot called "Marl" that analyzes past performance of stocks and can pick the current performance and tell you when to buy and sell.

Whoever heard of soybeans being used as a commodity for trading purposes? The mindset may undergo a sudden change after reading this article, which gives a detailed commentary on why soybeans is the commodity of the future!

One question that keeps coming up from time to time is Can I Invest my money into a company that sells stock directly from the company and not having to invest through a stock broker, the answer is Yes, and you can read more about this topic and more about the Stock Picking Robot as well in the following article.

With their busy schedules and lifestyles, most people find it difficult to keep track of many consequential events that may have come and gone in a single particular year! It is only after historians make known the results of their findings, that the public wakes up to the fact that a certain year has been particularly significant and they were not even aware of it!

A simple and definite must read to anyone thinking about starting a stocks portfolio. We are often asked about the best way to start off, whether as a new investor or when you want to venture into new areas.

The NYSE can trace its roots to 1792, however it did not become known as the New York Stock Exchange until 1817 when the organization drafted a constitution.