Stocks: Most Popular Articles

Understanding Earnings Per Sha
Earnings per share or EPS is one way to compare companies, but it does not tell you about market value.

Trading Basics
How does a stock trade work? What happens after you call your broker? Follow a stock order through the process, both with a floor trader and electronically.

Introduction to Stocks
What are stocks and what to they represent? Ownership is the key word for stockholders and the rights and privileges that go along with it.

What is the P/E?
The Price to Earnings Ratio is one of the most important numbers analysts look at to understand how the market values a stock.

Tools of Fundamental Analysis
Fundamental analysis relies on several tools to give investors an accurate picture of the financial health of a company and how the market values the stock.

Online Stock Trading Sites
Thirteen of the top online stock trading sites offer investors a wide variety of services including research and advice.

Understanding Dividend Yield
Dividend Yield tells you what percentage return a company pays out in the form of dividends.

Dividend Payout Ratio
The dividend payout ratio looks at what percentage of a company's earnings are paid out to shareholders in the form of dividends.

Bond Prices and Interest Rates
Bond prices move inversely to interest rates, when interest rates go up, bond prices go down and when interest rates go down, bond prices go up.

Stock Sectors
Investors break the market down into sectors by company business. These sectors make is possible to compare how a stock is doing relative to its peers.

Bid & Ask Prices
The stock exchanges use a system of bid and ask pricing to match buyers and sellers. The difference between the two prices is the bid/ask spread.

Price to Book
The Price to Book ratio is a way to determine how the market values the book value of a company based on the current market price.

Understanding Book Value
Book value of a company is the assets minus liabilities.

Price to Sales Ratio
The Price to Sales ratio is a tool for evaluating companies with no earnings that looks at how the market values the company's sales.

Understanding Return on Equity
Return on equity tells investors how efficiently a company is using its assets to generate earnings.

Stock Prices
Who sets stock prices? How are prices set each day? How do you know what a stock will open at each day? Understanding how stocks are priced in the market will make you a better investor.

What is Investing?
What is investing and how does it differ from saving? Investing is the proactive use of your money to make more money.

Understanding the PEG
PEG ratio provides investors a way to calculate how much future earnings growth is going to cost based on the stock's P/E and projected earnings growth rate.

The Beta Ratio
A stock's beta ratio is a useful tool for measuring risk, but it does have some serious limitations.

Bond Basics
Bonds are an important part of every investor's portfolio. They provide safety and stability against the fluctuations of stocks.

Understanding Stock Orders
Stock orders, such as market orders, limit orders, stop loss orders, and trailing stops, are important for every investor to know.

Basic Options
Options provide another way to profit from movement in the stock market, but they are not for beginning investors.

Growth, Value Stocks
Growth and value are two ways to define stocks. Each has specific characteristics that can guide you in stock selection.

Investing and Taxes
Taxes on investment gains fall into two categories, long and short term capital gains. Knowing the difference can mean a bigger tax bill if you're not careful.

Why Per-Share Price is Not Imp
Market cap is more important than per-share price because market cap tells you the value of the company.

Dividend Yield
Stocks with high dividend yields may be a smart buy, but they may also be a trap. Always check the other fundamentals before making an investment decision.

Stock Screening Basics
There are many research tools available to investors, but the one you should master first is the stock screener. Get your feet wet with this one from MSN.com.

Real Rate of Return
The real rate of return on an investment factors in inflation and taxes to give you a clearer picture of how much your purchasing power has increased.

When to Sell a Stock
Knowing when to sell stocks is sometimes as difficult a knowing when to buy. This is the first part of a two-part series.

Making Money with Dividends
Dividends are a way companies distribute a portion of their profits to shareholders.

Understanding Share Terms
It is important for investors to understand the different terms used to describe shares of stock such as authorized, restricted, treasury, float and outstanding.

Compound Annual Growth
The Annual Compound Growth Rate of your investments is important because it takes into account the time value of money as well as price changes.

Understanding Bond Types
You can purchase bonds from a variety of sources including the U.S. Treasury, municipalities and corporations. Each has unique characteristics and features.

Buying on Price
If you go by price alone, you may end up paying too much for stocks and selling them for too little.

Understanding Risk
Risk and reward go hand-in-hand with investing in the stock market. Learn about this relationship and how you can make it work for you.

Earnings Per Share
Earnings Per Share is calculated by dividing a company's net earnings by the outstanding shares.

I Bonds
I Bonds offer protection from inflation and the safety of the U.S. Treasury in addition to tax exemption from state and local taxes.

Old Stock Strategies
Just because a stock investing strategy worked in the past doesn't mean it will work forever.

Investing 101
Investing in Stocks - Basic Information for Investors

Investing Risks
Understanding the risks of stock investing and how to guard against them can help you meet your financial goals.

Protecting Profits
Trailing Stops are a form of stop loss orders you can use to protect your profit in a stock.

Cash Flow
Cash is vital to a company's health and its ability to generate cash can be used to see if the market under or over-values the stock. For many, these metrics are better than P/E for that purpose.

Stock Market Crash
The stock market crash of 1929 erased 90% of the market's value. Can another crash like that happen again?

What does Weak Dollar Mean?
The U.S. dollar is near all-time record lows against major foreign currencies - what does this mean for investors and consumers?

Stock Options
Trading stock options is not for beginners, but it can enhance your investing.

Stop Loss Orders
Stop Loss Orders can protect you when your favorite stock gets hit by a disaster by cutting your losses with an automatic sell.

Understanding Stock Splits
Stock splits occur when a company splits its outstanding shares, usually 2 for 1. This reduces the share price and increases the number of outstanding shares.

Stocks and Inflation
Inflation has reared its ugly head - what does this mean for your stock investments?

What Moves the Market
Major economic and political factors shape the stock market, but most of all the stock market hates uncertainty.

Sell a Stock
Sometimes it is as hard to know when to sell a stock as it is to know the right time to buy. This is the second of a two-part series on selling stocks.

Institutional Ownership
The actions of the institutional owners of a stock can tell you something about the quality of the stock - sometimes you can believe it.

Sales/Price Ratio
The sales/price ratio provides a metric for measuring the relative value of a stock's price when compared to industry peers. It is used along with price/earnings ratio.

Value Investing
Value investing is about finding stocks overlooked by the market, but that are fundamentally sound with good growth prospects.

Portfolio Rebalancing
Rebalancing your portfolio is an important maintenance function that will keep your investing program on track and true to your goals.

Opening an Account
What types a accounts are available? How do you open an account?

It's the Earnings
Earnings are the single most important factor in stock evaluation for many investors. Although there are other factors to consider, earnings must be near or at the top of every investor's list of important checkpoints.

Risk Premium
Risk premium is what a stock should return over a "risk-free" investment. It is your reward for taking a risk with your money.

Small Cap Stocks
Small cap stocks offer the potential for rapid growth, but come with a high degree of risk.

Foreign Stocks
Foreign stocks represent an investing opportunity outside the U.S. economy, but you can buy them on our markets through ADRs.

Dangers of Short Selling
Selling short involves selling stock you don't own that you believe is about to drop in price. If you are right, there are good profits, however, your loses can be staggering if wrong.

Long Term Investing
Investing for the long term will let you ride out the unavoidable ups and downs of the market. Research shows you are better off staying in the market for the long term rather than jumping in and out.

Stock Buybacks
Stock buybacks can be a good deal for stockholders or a smokescreen to hide weak financial ratios.

Insider Trading
What corporate insiders do with their shares can help you become a better investor if you know what to look for.

Stock Market Trends
The stock market is driven by obvious forces of supply and demand. You can watch those forces drive the market and see which where the market is headed.

Introduction to Asset Allocati
Asset allocation is the process of spreading your investment across different asset classes and diversifying them within classes. Asset allocation is key to investment success and meeting your financial goals.

Operating Cash Flow
Operating cash flow measures how cash is generated in a company and whether the company is taking in more or less than it is spending.

Bonds and Taxes
Bonds generate income that is taxed, however if you choose wisely you can avoid most of the tax burden and earn a nice return.

Interest Rates and Stock Valua
Changes in interest rates effect stock valuations in a fundamental way by changing the required return.

Zero Coupon Bonds
Zero coupon bonds are sold at a deep discount and redeemed at full face value.

Cyclical and Non-Cyclical Stoc
Cyclical and Non-Cyclical Stocks react differently in changing business cycles. Knowing the difference between Cyclical and Non-Cyclical Stocks can make you a smarter investor.

Convertible Bonds
Convertible bonds appear to offer the best of both stocks and bonds, but complex factors make them hard to judge.

Financial Advisers I
Financial advisers can map a blue print that will get you from where you are to your financial goals.

Stock Market Prices
Trying to time the bottom of the stock market is a losing game. The better strategy is to stay invested and catch the upturn profits when they happen.

Preferred Stock
Preferred stock has some unique features, however don't let the name fool you, these shares leave much to be desired.

Good Stock Screen
The better stock screens offer similar characteristics that give you greater flexibility when looking for investment candidates.

Understanding IPOs
IPOs or initial public offerings are how companies offer stock for sale to the public the first time. Often the subject of wild speculation and excitement, IPOs can be a very profitable buy or a disaster.

Market Specialists at NYSE
The New York Stock Exchange sets prices of stocks by auction with the best price to buy and best price to sell always available.

Choosing a Broker
What type of stockbroker is right for you? Online, discount, full service or money manager - each has advantages and disadvantages. Remember, you pay for what you get.

Asset Classes
There are four classes of assets you can use to build your portfolio - use them all for a sound foundation.

Risk Premium Changes
The risk premium investors expect from stocks may need adjusting during turbulent market conditions.

Management Effectiveness
How well is management making use of the company's resources? The answer can tell you a lot about whether you want to own the stock or not.

How to Avoid Defaulting Bonds
Bonds should be the conservative part of your portfolio - so how do you avoid buying a bond likely to default?

Return on Investments
You can use a few simple calculations to determine how your investments are performing and what they are returning.

Short-Interest Ratio
The short-interest ratio tells you whether your stock is an active target of short sellers

Trader or Investor?
Are you buying a stock or investing in a company. There's a difference and it's important that you don't confuse the two.

IRAs and Investing
IRAs are great ways to save for retirement and take advantage of tax-deferred or tax-free grow of your investments.

Should You Own Stocks?
Should you own individual stocks or mutual funds? Which investment is better for you? For many investors, the answer is both and this article gives some reasons why.

Market Timing
Market timing is a strategy that attempts to predict future market movements using fundamental and technical analysis.

Margin Trading
Margin trading is a way to magnify your buying power by borrowing money from your broker for up to 50% of a stock purchase.

Class B Stock
Class B stock has special priveledges and is usually retained by the company founders.

Market Capitalization
Market Capitalization or market cap is a way of measuring the size of a company and is calculated by multiplying the current stock price by the number of outstanding shares.

Fee-Based Broker
Traditional stockbrokers are divided into two types: commissioned-based and fee-based. Fee-based brokers offer a wide variety of services in addition to handling your trades.

Stock Market Losses
There are several different types of losses you can suffer when investing in stocks - some less obvious than others.

Sell for a Profit
Knowing when and how to sell a winning stock is as important as knowing when to sell a losing stock.

Stock Prices in Short Term
The stock market is dangerous for investors with short-term goals - it is better to pay capital gains taxes than risk price reversal.

Help from Your Broker
How much help do you want or need with your investment decisions? Pick a broker who can fill in the gaps in your knowledge and experience.

Market Makers
Market makers in the Nasdaq are responsible for creating and maintaining a market for securities listed on the exchange.

Size Matters in Investing
A company's size is an important investment consideration. The smaller the company, the more volatile and risky the investment.

Value Investors
Value investors look for companies trading below their intrinsic value.

Stock Cliche
Don't fall into the trap of expecting a 10% return from your investments because that's what the market's averaged.

Price and Value
Daily chatter about stock prices is mostly just noise - focus on a company's value for long-term investing success.

Large Cap Stock
A Large Cap Stock is any company with a market capitalization of $8 billion or more.

What is a Stock?
What is a stock? How does it fit into our economy? What is a bond?

Investing in Stem Cell Researc
Companies involved in stem cell research took a split decision in the Nov. 3 election. Sen. John Kerry had promised to lift restrictions on research. On the plus side, California passed a $3 billion initiative to fund stem cell research projects.

Price Earnings Ratio
Price Earnings Ratio is a way to show how a company’s earnings relate to the stock price. The P/E is calculated by dividing the current price of the stock by the annual earnings per share.

Bull, Bear Markets
The difference between the intelligent investor and the person who invests on a whim is what happens when the markets shake their stock.

Financial Adviser II
Financial advisers come in a variety of flavors. Finding the one right for you involves knowing how each is compensated and what they do.

Cash Flow of Stocks
Cash flow is an important tool for investors in evaluating stocks for investment.

Traits of Great Stock
Great stocks and great companies have several traits that distinguish them from the rest of the pack.

Stock Quotes
Stock quotes, whether in the newspaper or online, offer a wealth of information if you understand the numbers.

Consumer Confidence Index
The Consumer Confidence Index is one of the two most important measures of future consumer spending expectations.

Dollar Cost Averaging
Dollar cost averaging is a powerful tool individual investors can use to lower their costs in a long term investment.

Two Classes of Stocks?
Companies sometimes issue two classes of stock - one for the public and another for the founders.

Investing strategies
Four main investment objectives define how you choose financial products for your portfolio.

P/E is Important
A stock's P/E is a key valuation measurement investors use to determine how much to pay for a stock.

Yield to Maturity
Yield to Maturity

Consumer Price Index
The Consumer Price Index is the leading indicator of inflation and one of the most important indicators for investors. A rising CPI may signal rising inflation and trigger interest rate increases.

Investing Philosophies - Part
Developing an investing philosophy will help you focus your investing in areas that work toward building a coherent portfolio.

Growth or Value Stocks
Growth and value investing are the two main styles that most investors use - you should know about each.

Market Futures
Stock market index futures give you a clue about what traders think the market is going to do the next session.

What are the Two Types of Stoc
There are two types of stocks, common and preferred. What are the differences.

Stock Market Regulation
The stock market and securities industry is highly regulated. Several layers of regulatory oversight are designed to protect the individual investor.

Top Down Investing
Top-down investing looks at big picture before narrowing in on individual stocks.

Initial Public Offering
The Initial Public Offering is the first time a company issues stock for sale to the public.

Understanding Warren Buffett
The second edition of "The Warren Buffett Way" offers insights into how we can become better investors.

Rising Interest Rates
Where do investors turn in a market of rising interest rates?

A Bond Ladder
A bond ladder solves the problem of interest rate risk for bond investors.

Long-Term Investing
The global economy is changing the way long-term investors look at their holdings. The "buy it and forget it" strategy has never been very wise and is now bordering on dangerous.

Dogs of the Dow
Dogs of the Dow is a mechanical investing technique that takes the research and effort out of investing. The whole process takes about one hour per year, yet the results often beat the S&P500.

Relative Strength
Relative strength measures a stock's performance against the rest of the market and is helpful in evaluating investments.

Employee Stock Purchase Plans
Employee Stock Purchase Plans can be a great benefit, but be careful that you don't fall into the Enron trap.

Economic Risk
Economic Risk is the danger that the economy could turn against your investment.

Level II Quotes
Level II quotes provide stock traders and investors with information on prices and price trends.

Common Stock
Common Stock is the primary unit of ownership in a corporation.

Stock Market's PE
The stock market's PE is helpful in understanding the significance of major declines and advances.

Understanding Earnings Season
Earnings season is that time when a large number of companies report quarterly earnings to the public.

The Right Stocks/Bonds R
Bonds balance the volatility of your stock portfolio, but what is the proper ratio of stocks to bonds?

Dangers of Inflation
Inflation is a major threat to the stock market and investors, especially those heavily invested in fixed income securities.

Stock Market Cycles
The stock market rotates through predictable cycles. Some of the cycles can be difficult on investors, but they also create bargains.

Buying Winning Stocks
It makes good sense to look at the list of stocks closing at their 52-week high for investing ideas.

Class A Stock
Class A Stock is the common stock issued for public trading.

Dividend Ratios
Dividend ratios can tell you much about a stock and its future payout prospects.

Stocks and Interest Rates
The stock market closely watches interest rates for signs of change. Lower rates mean more money in the economy.

Picking Winning Stocks
You know more about the companies that are or will become stock market winners than you think. They make the products and services that you use everyday at work or home.

Investing in REITs
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a special form of security that allows individuals to invest in large commercial real estate projects with the ease of buying stock.

R&D Spending for Stock
Research and development is important to every company, since that's where new products and services are created.

Value Stock Investing
Value investors look for stocks that are under-priced and use fundamental analysis tools to uncover candidates.

Market News Sources
Three top sources of market news on the Internet.

Prepare Stocks for 2008
Now is a good time to prepare for 2008 by making some adjustments to your stock portfolio and overall financial plan.

After-Hours Trading
After-hours trading of stocks may seem like a great idea, but it is full of risks for the average investor.