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Showing posts with the label return on investment

Risks and rewards of bull market

Bull market is market trend when price of assets or securities rise by 20%, an opposite from bear market. The term bull market is usually used when talking about securities but the term applies to anything that can be traded, real estate, currencies and commodities . During bull market all three major stock indexes, S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average rise. Bull market happens in healthy economy and is characterized by investor confidence and optimism. The term can be also applied to investors, ones that have optimistic view of the market is called bull or bullish. On the other hand investors with pessimistic view of the market are called bears or bearish. Natural rise and fall of economic growth over time is known as business cycle and it has four phases: expansion phase, peak, contraction and through. Bull market happens during expansion phase when economy is growing with strong GDP, with drop in unemployment and strong corporate profits. In stock market...

How to invest during bear market?

Bear market is defined as a market trend in which price of securities fall 20% or more from previous market peak and last two months or longer. Usually bear market is caused bu declining economic activity caused by a change in monetary policy. Recession is accompanied by low employment. Stock market crash, drop in stock price of 10% or more in just a day or two can cause bear market and negative investor sentiment. It can occur in any asset class, stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities or section of industry. In stocks bear market is measured by indexes like Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq, if they are continuing to lower over period of time. Bear market can be recognized through observation of business cycles. It is the opposite of bull market or expansion phase when asset price continue to grow over time. sometimes corrections, less severe decline in price that lasts less than two months. Investors use different steps to protect themselves like increasing amount of cash...

How to become seasoned investor?

Many beginners in investing dream about getting rich and becoming a seasoned investors. It is not an easy task but it is not impossible. If you are serious about investing the first thing you need to do is stop dreaming about becoming rich and successful overnight. You probably heard it many times but that's because it true- patience is the key. You will have to learn how to think long term and not make hasty decisions that you will regret later. Another thing that you have to do before you start is to get to know yourself - what is your goal, what motivates you and also very important your fears and limitations. Knowing what you want will help you devise an investing plan and stick to it as well as knowing your limitation. So far it is a good start but it is not enough because you will have to educate yourself continually about investing, but don't let your lack of knowledge hold you back. Stock market is ever changing and learning about it is a lifelong journey so if...

Investing strategies

Investing strategy can be understood as set of rules that guide investor in his decisions regarding investment portfolio. Investors use strategies to balance risks and rewards in accordance with his risk tolerance investing goal and investment horizon. Taking time to understand which strategy suits you the best can also help you avoid unwanted expenses. You can look at it as existence of two extremes where on one side are investment strategies that seek rapid growth which includes greater amount or risk and on the other side is low risk strategy with regular dividends payment that is more concentrated on wealth protection. In other words there is always some kind of  trade off between risk and return on investment and most investors are not in the one of those two extremes but somewhere in between. You should honestly assess your current financial situation, your expenses and debt and how much you are able to invest. Investors using value inves...

Exchange traded funds

An exchange traded fund is an investment fund that comprises different securities and is traded on exchange much like a stock. This type of fund track stock or bond index like Standard&Poor's. Similarly like mutual funds ETFs have mixed portfolio consisting of various types of securities like stocks, bonds and commodities. Funds hold different underlying assets that are divided in shares with attached price which makes them marketable security that trades on exchange so its price can change during the trading day. Exchange  traded funds differ depending on their focus on different aspects of the market. Some funds have stock from hundreds and even thousands different industries while some other may focus on one particular industry  sector. In the same manner some are interested in exclusively on U.S. securities while others have more global approach. Some examples of ETFs are bond ETFs that include different types of bonds (government, corporate and...

Common investing mistakes

When trying to learn any skill and reach excellence, mistakes are the natural part of process. There is no way around it, but beginner investor are usually more prone to making these mistakes. Even famous and successful investor have made some of these mistakes at least once. We will look over some of the most common mistakes in hope to raise awareness among future and current investors and help them avoid repeating them. First of all, investing in business and industry that you don't know that well is not a good idea. There is always some "hot" and "up and coming" industry sector but if you don't have much knowledge about that particular industry and don't understand its business model avoid it. For example crypotocurrencies were massive hit, year and a half ago when bitcoin reached its all-time high of $19,500 and then fell to $3,000 a year later. Inexperienced investor could suffer a massive loss if he doesn't fully understand complexity ...

What is a hedge fund?

A hedge fund is an investment fund that collects pools capital from accredited and institutional investors and invest in securities or other type of investments with a goal to generate high returns. What makes them different from mutual funds besides type of investors and diversity of investments is that they are less regulated and have more freedom when utilizing  investing strategies that carry greater risk and potential for loss. Reason why it is available to wealthy investors is their knowledge and understanding of risks involved and ability to afford higher fees and potential loses. This means they can use short selling and other speculative activities unlike mutual funds. To be considered accredited investor individual must have a net worth of $1,000,000 at least or annual income of at least $200,000. Term accredited investor is defined in Rule 501 of Regulation D of Securities and Exchange Commission. Even though hedge funds are not subject to some regulation that...