Learning how to use the stock market is always more than just a little tricky. But even then, being able to foresee what is going to happen in the stock market will always have a risk factor - you win some, and... Knowing just which ones to pick should not be left to mere guesswork, or "hunches." Here are a few good things to look at when trying to find that "just right" stock for you to invest in.

Pay Attention To The Market

Anyone that does any kind of investing knows that you have to keep your eye on it at all times. It certainly will not take care of itself. So unless you have a stockbroker, then plan on checking the overall results of the company that you choose to buy stocks from. Unless you have a good memory, it may be a good idea to make some kind of chart to plot its stock trends, too. This will give you an instant overall view of the way your company's stock is performing.

Investigate Carefully

Unless you have a lot of money that you can just throw away, you need to be careful where you invest. Do a little homework. Being a success in the stock market takes a little more than blind luck. Here are three things that you should look at when considering what company to invest in.

* The History And Background Of The Company

It is always good to find out what is the reason that this company is doing so well. Ask yourself whether or not it is because of good leadership, overall quality in the products or services it supplies, or is it just a fad product, that will soon fade away? Ask yourself if there is apt to be a projected demand for whatever that company is offering; in other words, is there a reasonable expectation of growth in the near future?

Other things that you want to understand are the quality and integrity of the company. If you are not sure, or if that company is definitely involved with things that you do not agree on, stay away from it - there are many other ones to choose from.

* The Performance On The Stock Market In Recent Months

This is also a must. You need to study the way that their stock has performed in at least the last six months. See if you can spot a trend that goes in a generally upward direction. Be careful of companies whose stock explodes overnight - they can implode just as quickly, and there goes your money with it. Seek for a more even, but generally constant increase in stock value.

* News About The Company

This is a continuation of paying attention to what is happening. The stock market, and the companies behind it, changes everyday. Do weekly Internet searches for news about the company in order to detect forward motion, and whether or not it is staying a leader in its field. You can also be aware of negative events, such as a shakeup in CEO's, scandals, the misuse of funds, improper reporting of its finances, etc., anything that might mean you should take your investment somewhere else. Other news might deal with why some stock market watchers think that your company is solid, and a good investment - which is always good to hear.

Don't Put All Investments In One Company.

Finally, be wise and spread your investments over a rather broad base. Make different kinds of investments, too - don't put them all in the stock market. When you start to see problems in one, don't be afraid to make a decision and move your investment. Always be learning more about how to invest. You want to learn as much as you can from those who may know more than you.

Just about everywhere you look these days you see news, articles or books about stock trading. Well, we’ve all heard of investing in stock but what exactly is stock trading and how is it different than investing?

Many of us are used to being invested in stock through a mutual fund in our retirement plan. We may switch from one fund from the other from time to time but for the most past we consider ourselves to be in for the long haul.

So basically an investor seeks to be in a stock or a group of stocks for the long haul. Investors don’t expect a stock to skyrocket in value overnight but do expect that the value of the company’s stock they have chosen will appreciate over time.

In stock trading you don’t necessarily expect to be in a stock for the long run, but you are looking to profit form typically smaller short-term moves in a stock. In stock trading you are more like to use market timing meaning that you are seeking the best time to get into a stock and after that you are looking for the best time to get out.

Stock trading often involves the use of technical analysis to determine the best times and prices for entries and exits. As this is a more short-term approach to profiting in the stock market stock trading is typically more hands-on that stock investing. As the length of the trades is shorter more frequent monitoring of positions is usually necessary.

A stock trade can last anywhere from a few minutes to many months. It all depends on the preferred methods of the stock trader.

Stock trading can be an extremely profitable business. Make sure that you do your homework and have a plan before you commit your money in an effort to make a profit.

To Your Stock Trading Success!

With the NHL, NFL, and NBA seasons ready for a new year, the large conglomeration of Disney (DIS) looks to boost guidance for its many enterprises during the fall to winter seasons. As a Dow component, Disney has helped propel the recent rally by recently reaching a 52 week high in aims of a very favorable market according to recent trends. However, with a recession looming should you be involved in such a company who basis a lot of its products on consumer expenditures?

The answer to this question simply is yes. It is true that the economy should be headed for a recession in the near future, but it does not necessarily mean that shares of Disney should fall. Recognized as one of the premier brands to both children and adults, even if income of consumers will fall as usually accustomed too during times of slow economic growth, the mass-branding Disney has propelled with its ESPN and ABC brands along with its origin television, movie, and theme park basics should have no problem attracting customers. The real growth however, should be apparent and incredible in the next few quarters. With three of the major four sports beginning this season, along with new premieres on ABC as well as other Disney affiliates, profits should rise to new levels signaling strength in this industry. As incomes have not fallen significantly yet, and employment still remains incredibly high, margins should surprise future and current shareholders as a net positive more than anything.

Some investors may be hesitant to believe such sentiments, but by looking at current trends of how Disney tends to perform during the months from October to April, the signs almost all lead to positive indicators. Except for 2001, which may have been the result of a total derail, shares of Disney have tended to rise each of these months signaling from about a decade signaling strong capital gains for investors. If such a trend was not reason enough to believe in Disney, when looking a fundamentals, there is almost no other company that can match Disney’s production. Posting positive margins on almost all levels each quarter each year along with a strong dividend ratio and PE ratio relative to its peers, the fundamentals for Disney should not be a negative detriment to any investor who studies this equity. It may be true that some of these margins may reduce in terms of percentages once the recession hits, but I believe that by April of 2007 any impact will be negligible in terms of investors warranting strong capital gains. Thus, I would strongly advise buying Disney at its current price but to be wary of keeping your shares past next April.

The term stock market, as the name connotes, is a place where you can market or trade a company's stock, which the corporation issues through shares in order to raise capital. Of course, capital is the cost that a company incurs in relation to producing its products and services.

The people who buy these shares are the shareholders, and the term can refer to an individual or an organization.

The term stock market can also apply to all the stocks available for trading (as well as other securities), for example, when used in terms like "the stock market performed well today."

The stock market involves the trading of bonds, which is a debt security that stipulates that the issuer of the bonds holds the holders a debt. It is exactly like a loan, only that it is in the form of a security. These bonds are traded over-the-counter, which means they are traded directly between two parties. Thisis opposed to exchange trading or the trading that occurs on stock exchanges or future exchanges.

The stock market also involves the trading of commodities, which refer to raw commodities such as agricultural products (coffee, sugar, wheat, maize, barley, cocoa, milk products) and other raw materials (pork bellies, oil, metals).

The stock market is different from the stock exchange, which is primarily concerned with bringing togehter buyers and sellers of stock and securities.

You can participate in the stock exchange as an individual stock investor or as major player (large hedge fund trader). Orders at a stock exchange are usually made through a broker.

There are two types of exchanges where stocks can be traded. There is the exchange that has a physical location where verbal trading takes place. This is the more famous type of exchange because it is often depicted on TV showing animated trader shouting at each other, waving and running around frantically. That's exactly how the stock exchange works. What happens is traders enter into verbal agreements on the prices of stocks. The other type of exhcnage is the virtual kind where traders deal electronically through computer terminals.

One may not immediately be aware of it, but stock investing is a means to stable personal financial status. It is not unnatural for people at this day and age to look for opportunities to augment their income. Someone who works for a living, is more often than not unsatisfied with what he is earning from his day job. The nine-to-five work arrangement may sure provide for his daily expenses, but rarely does he manage to save a good amount of it. Most of the income from employment is spent on necessities, barely leaving any amount to allocate for extra income. For those fortunate enough to have surplus income, they invest the money by depositing it in a bank and letting the money grow via the bank's imposed interest rates. However, the income generated via this rather traditional way is not as profitable as one may think.

Usually, the inflation rate is higher than the interest rate which makes the bank alternative a losing deal. It is this seemingly lack of opportunity to grow one's savings which drives most of the working men and women to take on extra jobs other than their regular apartment. This is one way of increasing one's income and savings, but eventually it takes its toll on the health of the working individual, as his rest period and time off work is severely compromised. There are those who have saved a significant amount of money start their own business, only to see this grandiose plan flounder because of sheer inability to handle a business. All these high-effort but low-return means to get your hands into more money leaves us with one overlooked alternative that relatively requires less effort but offers the biggest bang for your buck: stock investing.

It is not difficult at all to succeed in stock investing. It is usually a matter of choosing what companies to invest in and when to invest in these companies. It is always wise to invest in financially and operationally sound companies. At the end of the day, even the hottest stocks may turn cold after the volatile market forces have run its course. A good company to invest in has a good product or service to go with it. Reputable companies, the so-called blue chip companies, may have stocks that are higher in price. But these are the stocks that are the envy of all investors, because it is optimal in terms of risk and profit.

As mentioned earlier, stock investing is not only knowing the companies but also knowing the timing of investment. Smart investors are on the look-out for fluctuations that may prove to be the very opportunities to increase the monetary equivalent he is playing in the stock market. Thus it is advisable to watch out for the business environment in order to be made aware of the conditions that may prove to be pivotal in holding or selling the stock. In this manner, stock investing is much like surfing: spotting when or when not to ride the waves.

Nowadays, stock investing can already be done by the man on the street. One does not need brokers to successfully invest in the stock market. There are online stock broker services that initially help the investor to get started. But once stock investor gets the hang of stock investing, he can directly to the investing and trading with the aid of the online portal.

When you take a closer look, the alternative means of extra income via stock investing is just a spin-off of earning from a business. Instead of putting up your own business and investing your life-savings on it despite the uncertainty, it makes perfect sense to invest in another's business without the uncertainty. It is a calculated bet on a business entity, pinning one's hopes that this company will win him the big prize. In a nutshell, an investment made to a company is being made when one does stock investing, as stocks are the basic unit of investment. You let the companies you have invested in make use of your well-earned money, so they can further expand their operations and thus generate more income for the benefit of itself and for the investor. The second richest man in the world, Warren Buffett, has made his millions from stock investing. This is quite an invitation to most of us not familiar with investing in the stock market.

With the NHL, NFL, and NBA seasons ready for a new year, the large conglomeration of Disney (DIS) looks to boost guidance for its many enterprises during the fall to winter seasons. As a Dow component, Disney has helped propel the recent rally by recently reaching a 52 week high in aims of a very favorable market according to recent trends. However, with a recession looming should you be involved in such a company who basis a lot of its products on consumer expenditures?

The answer to this question simply is yes. It is true that the economy should be headed for a recession in the near future, but it does not necessarily mean that shares of Disney should fall. Recognized as one of the premier brands to both children and adults, even if income of consumers will fall as usually accustomed too during times of slow economic growth, the mass-branding Disney has propelled with its ESPN and ABC brands along with its origin television, movie, and theme park basics should have no problem attracting customers. The real growth however, should be apparent and incredible in the next few quarters. With three of the major four sports beginning this season, along with new premieres on ABC as well as other Disney affiliates, profits should rise to new levels signaling strength in this industry. As incomes have not fallen significantly yet, and employment still remains incredibly high, margins should surprise future and current shareholders as a net positive more than anything.

Some investors may be hesitant to believe such sentiments, but by looking at current trends of how Disney tends to perform during the months from October to April, the signs almost all lead to positive indicators. Except for 2001, which may have been the result of a total derail, shares of Disney have tended to rise each of these months signaling from about a decade signaling strong capital gains for investors. If such a trend was not reason enough to believe in Disney, when looking a fundamentals, there is almost no other company that can match Disney’s production. Posting positive margins on almost all levels each quarter each year along with a strong dividend ratio and PE ratio relative to its peers, the fundamentals for Disney should not be a negative detriment to any investor who studies this equity. It may be true that some of these margins may reduce in terms of percentages once the recession hits, but I believe that by April of 2007 any impact will be negligible in terms of investors warranting strong capital gains. Thus, I would strongly advise buying Disney at its current price but to be wary of keeping your shares past next April.

If you're interested in trading options, then it's a good idea to always look for options that are highly liquid. What does this mean? Basically, it simply means that there are lots of people all trading the same options as you. That's important, because it means there's plenty of supply and demand. If you need to exit a trade, you want to be reasonably confident there will be someone out there wanting to buy into it - and that's what liquidity gives you.

There are plenty of options that only trade at low levels, and these are generally referred to as "illiquid" options. If you trade in illiquid options, and the market moves against you, it can be very difficult to exit your open positions. You might have to accept an even bigger loss, simply because you had to drop your price so much further before finding a buyer. It's no fun, with a trade going against you, to sit and watch your profit being eroded away minute by minute, because you can't find a market for your position. Unfortunately it can happen far too easily with an illiquid option.

The best way to avoid getting stuck in a losing position is to only trade in liquid options and strike prices. That takes some discipline, because it's very easy to be tempted by the opportunities that regularly present themselves in the illiquid portion of the market. But don't be fooled - restrict your focus and you'll be a more profitable options trader as a result.

It's often a good idea to pick a handful of stocks that have very liquid options, and focus on those. Becoming extremely familiar with just a few stocks and their charts makes it much easier to see the patterns of the stock's price and take advantage of them. Remember, though, to periodically confirm that the options for that stock are still very liquid. Over time the liquidity of individual options can vary enormously, so do an occasional review, just to be on the safe side.

If you want to be even more careful, it can be worth working out the average liquidity for a stock's options, and only trading those that are above average. To do this, add up the open interest levels available for each stock, and divide by the number of options available. That will give you an average.