Alternative Investments, so-called, are usually "products" put together, "packaged", and marketed by large investment banking firms to those customers identified as "qualified investors".

The classification of qualified investor usually means someone whose annual income was at least $200,000 per year for the past two years and expects at least that amount for the current year or has a net worth of at least $1,000,000 not counting their home.

Whenever the term qualified investor appears, "alarm bells" should be going off in your head because the term usually means large amounts of money involved in very risky non-liquid investments. In other words, you can expect your money to be tied up for a long time!

They are also "loaded" with fees and commissions for the firms "pushing" them. In fact, that is the primary reason they are created.

You may have noticed, many of the recent scandals in the financial services industry involved alternative investments.

In this age of on-line discount brokerage firms, the days of making big money in stock brokerage commissions are long gone and never coming back.

Today, commission income has given way to fee income. Many securities salesmen have given up their NASD series 7 securities licenses and become registered investment advisors (RIA) thus enabling them to be compensated through so-called "wrap" accounts which charge a hefty percentage of assets under management (usually 3%). A registered investment advisory firm, not affiliated with a brokerage firm, usually charges 1%. Quite a difference, wouldn't you say? Whom would you prefer to manage your money?

However, there are forms of alternative investments that do not require a large capital expenditure. It would be more aptly described as direct participation in a business activity. Because it qualifies as a business activity, there are significant tax advantages present. Due to the low capital investment required and high profit margin, the potential return on ones' time and investment can be considerable.

Donald Trump, the real estate magnate, while appearing on a television show, was asked what he would do if he suddenly lost all his wealth. He said that he would get involved with a good networking company. The audience burst out laughing but Donald Trump said, "Go ahead and laugh, but that's why you're out there and I'm up here!"

As the economy is ending its inflation worries and moving towards issues concerning economic growth, investors need to reallocate their portfolios to adapt to such a situation. Typically during periods of slow growth, sectors such as consumer staples and healthcare are known to be quite stable and provide investors with assurance in regards to steady growth. The biotechnological company Stratagene (STGN) defines such a sentiment, but also provides other incentives, which potentially has the impact of amassing large capital gains in this type of environment.

Entering the market mid 2004, Stratagene has had a copious amount of ups and downs contributing to its high beta near 2.6. Supporting a resistance level of near 11.50 and a supporting level near 6.00, the stock provides a timely manner of when to buy and sell. What is most interesting about the price now is the recent downfall from its supporting level on its recent news of a poor second quarter. With widening losses and negative surprises regarding earnings, shares of the stock fell to near 4.90 creating an opportune time to get into this stock.

In terms of fundamentals, while the company has not had a terrific second quarter, it will be expected that next quarter will bring a rebound creating higher margins and profitability. Along with the recent venture with Merck & Co., there should be high potential for increases in all areas as new regions will be explored in regards to production and research. With the continued notion that the economy is headed towards a recession, all the factors lead to the statement of a company ready to jump back to prices of its IPO days in the recent future.

Continuing by examining the technical side, for the past two years buying Stratagene around this time is extremely advantageous. Typically the stock is at a low during the summer mouths providing an excellent buying opportunity. When autumn time comes around, investors heed such trends and buy shares through the winter and early spring of the following year pushing the stock up nearly 50%. Once such a high has been reached, a sell off does occur in anticipation of the next cycle. With a price at an all time low, and the potential to grow 100% by April of 2007, Stratagene provides the data on all cylinders to be a worthy stock to invest in for the next few months.

.

In the U.S., the Dow is down 4% , the Nasdaq about 6%, and the S&P 500 about 5% in a week. European stocks posted their biggest drop since May 2003, and the FTSE 100 in the UK had its biggest 2 day loss in 3 years. On the other hand, in Asia, as of May 11th, the HK Hang Seng index was up 22%, the South Korean index up 55%, the Australian markets up 31%, and China was up 50% before these markets also corrected with the global market correction in the past 7 days.

In addition, the U.S. is allocating $2 billion very soon to shore up its borders, major conflict still is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Venezuela has increased the top royalty rates on oil to 33% from 16.67% after raising this rate from just 1% in October, 2004. In Bolivia, Evo Morales has followed his friend Chavez’s lead, and nationalized his country’s oil and natural gas resources. In Mexico, political unrest, according to subcomandante Marcos, is the worst since 1994 as it nears its next Presidential election. In Iran, the threat of nuclear confrontation with Israel and the United States looms, and returning to the U.S., record trade deficits that won’t turn around any time soon, a falling dollar, and another bad expected hurricane season (due to global warming) is what lies ahead.

So What is an Investor to Do?

Well, sad to say, but I don’t believe the worst is over. The temporary bounce we received mid-week was not the bounce I believe that has yet to come. I still believe that we will see a sharp, steep bounce sometime soon in response to the oversold market. But following that, I still believe that we may see the worst to come. Why? Just read the paragraph above. So in response, I have been shifting significant portions of my client’s into several areas for protection. If you had remained fully invested in these markets before they started tanking I would not recommend panicking and selling out now.

The biggest mistake individual investors make is panicking on market corrections and then buying back in after the market bounces back significantly. That’s the worst thing you could do. Sell low and buy high, but yet millions of investors will make that mistake in response to this weeks actions. But yet if you are mainly invested in Europe and the U.S., you need to rebalance your portfolio now because you will be punished for such short sightedness in the remainder of 2006. In fact, if you liquidated a good deal of assets before the plunge, I would look to buy partial (but not full) positions in some stocks now as a good deal of stocks are on sale right now. It pays to be brave when others are afraid (I think Warren Buffet said that).

Recently a new client transferred over a large portfolio and I immediately liquidated as much as I could, luckily liquidating before the second big drop in the global markets this week. His previous advisor did not own a single stock on the Brazilian, Canadian, London, Australian, Chinese, Mexican stock market. Not even one ADR either. Every single stock he owned was listed on the NYSE or S&P 500. These are the types of portfolios that will get punished over the remainder of the year. I recently read an article about a big producer at another American firm that recently shifted 70% of all his client’s assets into China, but all through Chinese mutual funds. I hate mutual funds, and the thought of owning mutual funds in emerging markets (but that’s an article for another time). People should always own stocks, not mutual funds. Mutual funds are the lazy way out and you’ll get punished for being lazy. It’s just not the way to benefit from these rapid growth markets.

So where should your money go? Due to all the political unrest, I’m looking at the defense sector. Due to continued globalization and the threat of new epidemics, I’m also looking at the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector. And due to all the geopolitical unrest, I’m looking at precious metals. Geographically, I’m looking for continuing opportunities in China of course, as well as some in Brazil, Australia, the U.K. and Canada. And the only U.S. companies I’d invest in other than the defense sector would be companies that have very wide global expansion initiatives. But I can’t discuss all of these ideas, so I’ll discuss one of my favorites –Precious metals.

PRECIOUS METALS

I’m not really sure but large investment firms by and large seem to ignore year after year, precious metals such as gold, silver, palladium, and others. However, in turbulent times, this asset class is one of the most valuable.

It’s not that the news doesn’t report on it. In fact, every night, in financial news reports, the closing price of commodities including gold is reported. However, at the end of the day, very few people ever seem to benefit from investing in the stocks (and not the commodities themselves) that benefit the most during precious metal bull markets.

LESSON #1: The average person does not understand the upside of investing in metals because it has never properly been explained to them

Many myths surround metals that cloud the truth about their value as an investment vehicle. Several of the most widespread myths include the following:

(1)Gold, silver and metals are risky speculative investments.

(2)The best way to buy gold and silver is to physically own the commodity.

(3)Gold is only an investment accessible to the extremely rich.

The definition of speculation according to Webster is the following: “the assumption of unusual business risk in hopes of obtaining commensurate gain”. Speculation is one of the most incorrectly used terms in investing. Investors in general stay away from trying to profit from bull markets in precious metals because of its speculative stigma. However, what is never explained to most investors is that the great majority of risk can be mitigated by employing intelligent analysis and intelligent buying and selling strategies.

Therefore, these investment opportunities should not be rated speculative but more accurately explained as moderate risk, high return opportunities. If you don’t perform intelligent analysis and intelligent buying and selling strategies, then investing in large company stocks, typically described as the “safest” of all investments, can become highly speculative as well. Large companies such as energy conglomerate Enron went belly up and investors lost every penny they had invested in this company. Stocks and bonds invested in “safe” companies such as Ford and Hyundai became risky this year when accounting scandals were uncovered that placed these company’s credit ratings on shaky ground.

Bonds are always described by financial consultants as “safe” investments and financial consultants will buy bonds for the overwhelming majority of their clients if they are over 60 years of age. But right now, bonds are probably one of the riskiest investments you could own. Bond prices go down as interest rates climb higher. Most likely interest rates will head higher from here, so that means the face value of bonds will decline. Bond prices are linked to U.S. dollars. The dollar is incredibly weak now and will possibly even become significantly weaker. And then there is credit risk. Accounting scandals are uncovered everyday.

And in case you’ve forgotten the “high quality” accompanies accused and investigated for fraudulent activity, in 2001 and 2002 alone, these companies included Adelphia, AOL Time Warner, Arthur Anderson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Citigroup, ImClone, General Electric, JP Morgan, Lucent, Parmalat, Freddie Mac, Duke Energy, Dynergy, Enron, Global Crossing, Halliburton, K-Mart, Merck, Qwest Communications, Reliant Energy, Tyco, Worldcom, and Xerox to name a few. All were accused of falsifying their financials to make revenu

If you are business-minded, you must be familiar with the word “stocks” and have a basic understanding of what stocks are. Stocks, in finance and the money market, is the capital that a company or corporation has been able to augment by selling shares of the company to a person or organization that has an interest in the company and its business. Buying and selling stocks is a big business all over the world.

If you are interested in buying a company’s stocks, do some research first to predict how well or how bad the company’s financial performance is. Research is important when buying stocks, and information about a company’s financial assets can easily be found on the Internet. Buying stocks is considered synonymous to investing in a company. So, before you invest, do background checks on the kind and status of the company or corporation you are putting your money into. There are Internet forums that you can enter and discuss information about a company with other interested investors.

In doing stock research, it is important to note the stocks you are interested in and the nature of business the corporation is in to. Try to get some information on how people respond to the company’s business or stocks, and how much they are willing to invest in it. Make use of this information, and let it work to your advantage. If you find stock research somewhat difficult, there are a number of stock experts who are willing to lend you a hand.

If you are interested in the stock market, you may be thinking to yourself, “How can I become a stockbroker?”

There is no educational background needed to get in this industry. The basic qualification you need is an interest in the market. But if the reason for your interest is to simply gain more money, you may end up frustrated. The stock market is a fast-paced, tedious industry, where you have to invest hours and hours to get yourself ahead and to understand the market. You must invest your time to collect a firm set of clientele. But even after having a good understanding of the market and having a set of loyal clients, there can still be curve balls you need to prepare yourself for. This preparation can only be acquired through time and experience. That is what you’ll have to face when you get into the industry.

Before you actually get in the industry, you have to understand that normally, stockbrokers do not become stockbrokers right after graduation. To start off in the industry, you need to prepare yourself to acquire a license. To acquire your license, you have to find a brokerage firm. You need to be with this firm for at least four months to take the General Securities Registered Representative Examination. After passing that test, many states require you to also take the Uniform Securities Agents State Law Examination.

When you acquire your license, the conservative advice is for you to concentrate first on the industry that you are familiar with. If your background is in the computer industry, it is better if you start analyzing stocks from that industry. This will help you get a quick understanding on the behavior of the market.

Picture yourself in March of 1986. A new IPO has been introduced regarding Bill Gate’s innovated Microsoft system. You like technology but may feel the stock is too risky. Nevertheless, your portfolio has been diminishing as of late, and you need something to revitalize it to show off to your colleagues. You buy a couple hundred shares at the 26.00 mark, leave it, and don’t look back at it for more than a decade. It is now 2000; the stock is worth near 60.00 now after dividend and split adjustments. You have made nearly a 6000% profit with your venture into Microsoft.

While the above story may seem enlightening and inspiring, the truth is very few were able to penetrate into such an adventure with Microsoft (MSFT), entering a bit too late or never at all. With an increase of such high margin through the 15 year period, you may be inclined to think that such a repeat will occur again with such a highly regarded company. While such a sentiment is entirely possible, looking at the trends Microsoft has shown through the past six years, I do not see such a situation turning into a reality. The truth is after Microsoft releases its new Vista software, the days of this storied franchise may be over.

With Bill Gates already stepping down from some of his positions in favor of his charity, the steps are in place for Microsoft to fall from its glory days. Like other companies, Microsoft has put itself into a cyclical pattern when eventually the products yielded will be inferior to the products of other competitors. Already margins have decreased in terms of revenue on a yearly basis as from 2003 to 2004 revenue increased nearly 4.5 billion relative to the less than 3 billion increase from 2004 to 2005. The corporation recently also informed its shareholders it will buy more of its shares back illustrating the loss of interest in the stock and the potential for the EPS to be inflated. While the fundamentals are still excellent and a healthy dividend issuance can make the stock appealing, the truth is that Microsoft has hit its climax years ago and is now on the decline.

More and more people are trading stocks online each year because of various reasons, one of which is that in online stock trading, there is no need for a personal broker or a middleman. Therefore, this eliminates costs since most brokers charge high stock trading fees and commissions which are not worth it for people who are only selling or buying in small deals.

There are online sites that do not offer registration fees while there are some that charge an initial joining fee. Usually, there is a flat fee which is charged per trade and a commission which is based on the number of shares that you trade. Like for example, if you trade 100 shares of stock, some sites will charge less than $10 for a trade. Commission will also vary depending on the number of stocks, but usually if you trade no more than 100 shares, it should never be more than a couple of dollars.

Online stock trading fees vary from one online site to another that is why it makes a lot of sense to compare and contrast before signing up. With so many services being offered on the net, it is rather difficult to find a site that will best work for you. When choosing one, you have to make sure to look into the fees that they charge, the commissions and of course their reliability.

A reliable online stock trading site is one that provides you tools such as online stock trading quotes which are essential in making educated stock trading decisions. Up-to-date quotes can give you accurate information regarding stock prices. However, if you receive quotes on a system that has a lag time, this can be damaging to your trade and can cost you a lot of money.

Online stock trading can bring you success if you just go for a reliable site with reasonable fees and fast quote system. All these are essential to make online investing a viable option for you even if there?s a greater sum of money you put at stake

General Motors Corporation (GM), the world's largest automotive corporation and vehicle manufacturer has undergone big transformation in regard to ownership of the corporation’s stocks and holdings.

Recently, Capital Research & Management Company, GM’s second biggest investor based in Los Angeles has sold 24 percent of its holdings equivalent to 19.2 million shares. This datum was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, Brandes Investment Partners LP situated in San Diego, third biggest investor of the corporation, has also sold 4 percent of its holdings equivalent to 2.4 million shares.

When asked about GM’s situation, Brenda Rios, spokesperson of GM merely said, "It's natural for investors to periodically rebalance their holdings.” Nevertheless, she declined to comment any further.

Capital Research & Management Company as well as Brandes Investment Partners LP dismissed inquiries by simply stating that they do not comment on their investments.

On one hand, other investors of the corporation have acquired more shares in GM. Credit Suisse purchased 11.5 million shares. Said investor is now the sixth biggest investor of the corporation. Fidelity Management & Research also purchased 6.8 million shares. Further, according to lionshares.com, Franklin Mutual Advisers LLC also purchased 4.6 million shares.

Craig Fitzgerald, an automotive industry expert, said that the transactions were the result of some investors who bought GM shares at a lower price taking a profit and others seeing signs of progress in GM's restructuring plan. Fitzgerald added, "GM in particular is continuing to do some of the key things they need to be doing. There's no reason to necessarily believe there isn't more upside in the short- and mid-term."

Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corporation, GM’s biggest investor, disclosed that GM is soon to form an alliance with other automotive giants namely Renault SA of France and Nissan Motor Company of Japan. As groundwork to said alliance, teams of employees from the three companies were united to conduct studies regarding its cost and benefits.

While planning on said alliance, GM maintains its good standing in the automotive sphere. Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Saturn and Pontiac auto parts as well as their automobile counterparts are still on top.

Stock picks are the choicest and most profitable stock deals available for trade. Experienced and skilful stock analysts can suggest stock picks and the best trading scenario.

Stock picking is the art of selecting stocks based on a certain set of criteria, with the main aim being huge returns. It is one of the four main investment strategies that are applied while investing in the stock market. Other prominent investment strategies involve buying and holding, analyzing market timing, and analyzing sector timing. If an appropriate stock pick methodology is employed, one could earn high profits within a couple of months, weeks, days, or even hours.

Financial evaluation of a stock is perhaps the best stock picking methodology. A company's past, present and future financial conditions can be analyzed through a thorough study of financial valuation of stock. Price to Earnings (PE) ratio, Price to Book (PB) ratio, and Return on Equity (ROE) are some of the steps involved in the financial evaluation of a stock. The price to earnings, a valuation ratio, compares current stock of the company to its per-share earnings. Price to book is a ratio used to compare market value of the stock to its book value. Return on equity determines the financial efficiency of the company.

Stock picks are usually listed on the basis of the stock's basing period, GSA rank, and outstanding stock chart patterns, as well as the EPS growth. Stock picks are usually companies that are members of strong and established industry conglomerates. Quality of management, the size of the market, and regulation within an industry are the other factors to be considered with regard to stock picks. Relying on stock picks suggested by genuine stock analysts can help a learning investor to invest his money wisely and earn profits in this unpredictable market.

Stock portfolio is a complete combination of securities as well as investments that are held by an individual or institution. A portfolio comprises of an array of government and company bonds, common stocks from various business establishments and many other forms of securities and assets. There are many different stocks available in the market such as common stock, preferred stock, original issue stock, penny stock, story stock, synthetic stock, treasury stock and widow-and-orphan stock. It is very important to understand the risk factors associated with each type of stock before choosing one. Stock trading brokers can help investors select an investment product that has the probability of giving them the best returns.

The practice of creating stock portfolios for profitable investment is not new. As the stock market is very volatile, stock market traders depend on various information resources so that they can purchase the shares of the corporation with the potential for maximum appreciation in a given time frame. This information is usually available for free and traders put in place a set of rules that have been tried and tested by other successful traders. It is possible to trade stocks online and the Internet allows traders to share and discuss their experiences with various methods of speculation.

Traders have to correctly identify the direction in which stock prices are moving, especially in a volatile market. It is equally vital to anticipate the timing of price fluctuations. The reason for this is that an unfavorable price change can result in a huge loss in the short run while the trader can get a profit eventually. Conversely, a trader might buy a stock whose price may rise after the purchase but he might not sell in the anticipation of an even higher price rise. In this case, if the price falls suddenly, the trader is bound to suffer a huge loss. Therefore, timing is considered vital in online stock trading, which makes many new investors apprehensive while taking up trading.

Portfolios provides detailed information on Portfolios, Portfo

Imagine a world a world in which either all investors have costless access to currently available access about the future , all investors are good analysts , all investors pay close attention to market prices and adjust their holdings appropriately and that all investors pay close attention to market prices and adjust their holdings appropriately.

Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy?

In such a market a security’s price would be a good estimate of its investment value, where investment value would be a good estimate of its investment value, where investment value is the present value is the present value of the security’s future estimated by well informed and capable expert analysts.

An efficient market could be defined as a (perfectly) efficient market would be one in which every security’s price equals its investment value at all times.

In an efficient market, a set of information if fully and immediately reflected in market information. But what information?

For example, a market would be described as having weak-form efficiency if it were impossible to make abnormal profits by using past prices to make to make decisions about when to make abnormal profits to buy and sell securities. This evidence suggests that major security market is weak-form efficient.

In an efficient market, any new information would be immediately and fully reflected in prices. New information is just that: new, meaning a surprise. Since happy surprises are almost as likely as unhappy ones, price changes in an efficient market are about as likely to be positive as well as negative. Whereas a security’s price might be expected to move upward by an amount that provides a reasonable return on capital (when considered in conjunction with dividend payments), anything above or below this would, in such a market, be unpredictable. In a perfectly efficient market, price changes would be random?

Now consider a crazy market, in which the prices never bear any particular relationship to investment value. In such a world, price changes might also appear to be random. However major securities markets throughout the world are certainly not irrational. They might not attain proper efficiency, but they are certainly much closer to it than irrationality. To understand financial markets m it is important to understand perfectly efficient markets.

In an efficient market a securities price will be a good estimate of its investment value where investment value is the present value of the security’s future prospects as estimated by well informed and capable analysts. Any substantial disparity between price and value would reflect market infancy. In a well developed and free market, major inefficiencies are rare. The reason is not hard to find. Major disparities between price and investment value will be noted by alert analysts, who will take advantage of their discoveries. Securities priced below (which are known as under priced or undervalued securities) _ will be purchased, creating pressure of price increases die to the increased demand to buy.

Securities purchased above value (known as overpriced or overvalued securities) will be sold, creating pressure for price decreases due to the increased supply to sell. As investors to sell.

As investors seek to take advantage of opportunities created by temporary inefficiencies, they will cause the inefficiencies, they will cause the inefficiencies to be reduced, denying the less alert and less informed the chance to obtain large abnormal profits.

In the world securities markets there are hundreds of thousands of professional security analysts and even more amateurs and wannnabees.

As crude oil prices continue to skyrocket, you may think that I am foolish to buy any transportation equity during such a time. However, while there is always going to be some interdependent correlations between the price of oil and the price of transports, there is a bigger and larger percentage of other intangibles which may have a more pressing effect upon each of these stocks. Fundamentals, emerging markets, and overall competition all have the possibility to affect the price positively or negatively. The key, however, is to find which of these equities will be affected in the most favorable manner.

Beginning with fundamentals, both UPS (UPS) and FedEx (FDX) are relatively similar. Both have increasing margins in both revenue and profit, good and growing cash flow, and relatively steady growth. With new markets such as China, India, and Eastern Europe continuing to expand, such growth should continue and contribute to higher potential figures regardless of the price of oil. While investors may argue that UPS has a little more growth in terms of margins relative to shares of FedEx, FedEx also has a better EPS and P/E ratio to combat the discrepancy. Since fundamentals play really no role in determining which stock to purchase as the real indicator would be found on the technical side.

Since entering the market in 1980, FedEx has surprised many investors with its heavy growth and record highs through the 26 year duration. With a near 4000% growth adjusted for dividends and splits, FedEx has provided investors with a safe investor’s choice with good dividend payout as well as an almost guarantee that capital gains will be accrued for in the span of a few years. In contrast, UPS which entered the market in late 1999 has only grown 16% to date with very little in terms of positive stability and growth. Comparing that to the 200% increase in price FedEx had during its first six years makes the choice a bit easier over which corporation holds the most positive consumer sentiment.

UPS which supports a historical resistance level of 90.00 and a supporting level of 50.00 contributes to its large fluctuations in price with no clear lead resulting in a very risky opportunity for investors. FedEx, with only minimal fluctuations throughout its duration, holds a positive chime for investors, supporting large capital gains to timely consumers. While there is always potential in the long run for UPS to become more innovated and take over the concentration ratio held by FedEx, with the trends supported through both technical and fundamental analysis, for at least the next few years FedEx is the victor which should provide the investor with a higher ceiling of capital gains.

The return that a stock can provide is often predicted with the help of technical analysis. Stock market trading tips are based on technical analysis of various parameters.

Stock market analysis is science of examining stock data and predicting their future moves on the stock market. Investors who use this style of analysis are often unconcerned about the nature or value of the companies they trade stocks in. Their holdings are usually short-term – once their projected profit is reached they drop the stock.

The basis for stock market analysis is the belief that stock prices move in predictable patterns. All the factors that influence price movement – company performance, the general state of the economy, natural disasters – are supposedly reflected in the stock market with great efficiency. This efficiency, coupled with historical trends produces movements that can be analyzed and applied to future stock market movements.

Stock market analysis is not intended for long-term investments because fundamental information concerning a company's potential for growth is not taken into account. Trades must be entered and exited at precise times, so technical analysts need to spend a great deal of time watching market movements. Most stock tips and recommendations are based on stock analysis methods.

Investors can take advantage of these stock analysis methods to track both upswings and downswings in price by deciding whether to go long or short on their portfolios. Stop-loss orders limit losses in the event that the market does not move as expected.

There are many tools available for stock market technical analysis. Hundreds of stock patterns have been developed over time. Most of them, however, rely on the basic stock analysis methods of 'support' and 'resistance'. Support is the level that downward prices are expected to rise from, and Resistance is the level that upward prices are expected to reach before falling again. In other words, prices tend to bounce once they have hit support or resistance levels.



Stock Analysis Charts & Patterns

Stock market analysis relies heavily on charts for tracking market movements. Bar charts are the most commonly used. They consist of vertical bars representing a particular time period – weekly, daily, hourly, or even by the minute. The top of each bar shows the highest price for the period, the bottom is the lowest price, and the small bar to the right is the opening price and the small bar to the left is the closing price. A great deal of information can be seen in glancing at bar charts. Long bars indicate a large price spread and the position of the side bars shows whether the price rose or dropped and also the spread between opening and closing prices.

A variation on the bar chart is the candlestick chart. These charts use solid bodies to indicate the variation between opening and closing prices and the lines (shadows) that extend above and below the body indicate the highest and lowest prices respectively. Candlestick bodies are coloured black or red if the closing price was lower than the previous period or white or green if the price closed higher. Candlesticks form various shapes that can indicate market movement. A green body with short shadows is bullish – the stock opened near its low and closed near its high. Conversely, a red body with short shadows is bearish – the stock opened near the high and closed near the low. These are only two of the more than 20 patterns that can be formed by candlesticks.

When corporations put their companies out in the market, they make their shares available, allowing other business people to invest in the company. As an investor, you want to know which companies would profit or loose out over the months after you make the investment on their stocks. But what if you are not familiar with the stock market? Do you simply not invest?

If you are hesitant to dive into the stock market because of lack of experience or knowledge in the industry, you may acquire the services of a stockbroker. A stockbroker is someone who engages in transactions on a stock market. You may encounter someone who is known as a financial planner, a financial consultant, a financial advisor, an investment advisor, or a portfolio manager - all of these are job descriptions a stockbroker can have. Before a stockbroker can offer any advice or service to you, he has to acquire a license, so rest assured that a person with the title stockbroker should have the proper credentials to give you the best advice regarding the stock market.

A stockbroker's main objective is to help you get something for your best interests. But you have to be aware that these stockbrokers, though they give you financial guidance, are working on commission based on the acquisition you may gain from the transaction they broker. You also have to be aware that it is not mandatory for you to employ the services of a stockbroker. Many prefer to have one due to the advice they can give.

With the help of the Internet, a lot of stockbroker firms have been acquired by larger companies, especially those who go online. These online stockbrokers offer low commissions that can be very attractive, but they do not offer advice. They simply follow the orders you give them.