Todays Tutorial--Few Terms

bear - an investor who sells his stocks, and gambles on buying it back at a lower price.

bear market - a market where stock prices are falling, favoring a bear.

block trade - a transaction involving over 10,000 shares.

blue chip - the highest and best shares to buy. Comes from poker, where a blue chip is the most valuable.

broker - the person who can order stocks to be bought or sold.

bull - an investor who buys stocks, and gambles on selling it at a higher price.

bull market - a market where stock prices are rising, favoring a bull.

close - the final price of the stock at the end of the trading day.

closely held corporation - a corporation that only allows a few people to invest in it, such as friends and relatives.

commission - the profit that a broker gets every time you buy or sell a stock through him or her.

cyclical stock - a stock that tends to rise and fall with the economy.

dip - a drop in the price of a stock that is temporary, making it the ideal time to buy the stock.

discount brokers - a simple broker that only takes orders on buying and selling.

fundamental analysis- a method of stock analysis based on the management of the company and past stock movements.

going public - when a company puts their stock up for sale.

gross - value before tax.

growth stocks - stocks that pay low dividends, but are expected to grow.

high - the highest price of the stock during the trading day.

home run - a referral to an investors large gain in a short period.

hostile takeover - a company or person that tries to buy a controlling amount of stocks in a company in order to control it. Usually this is not for the good of the company, and is similar to raiders.

hot stock - a stock whose price rises quickly the day it goes public.

income stocks - stocks that have consistently paid high dividends.

Initial Public Offering (IPO) - The formal name for going public.

limit order - an order that limits the price the broker can buy or sell at.

limit order to sell - an order to sell stocks only if they can be sold at a certain price.

low - the lowest price of the stock during the trading day.

market order - an order to buy or sell at the best price available.

market trend - the upward or downward movement of a market for six months or more.

odd lot - an amount of stocks that is not the usual trading number.

portfolio - a collection of stocks that is owned by an investor.

privately held corporation - a corporation that allows only a select group of people to purchase stock.

proxy ballot - a voting ballot that allows you to control what happens with the company you have stock in.

publicly held corporation - a corporation that allows anyone in the public to purchase their stock.

raiders - a person or group of people that attempt to buy over 50% of the shares of a company in order to control the company by using the voting power of the stocks.

round lot - an amount of stocks that is the usual trading number, such as 100 on the Sensex.

shareholder - a person who buys stock in a corporation, and therefore becomes a part-owner of the corporation.

stag - an investor who buys and sells stocks rapidly, usually to make profits quickly.

stock certificate - the actual piece of paper that is evidence of stock ownership, usually watermarked and patterned to make itself hard to forge.

stockbrokers - a broker that in addition to taking orders, also offers advice on investing.

stop order - an order to sell all stocks if the price of the stock drops to a certain point.

technical analysis - an analysis of a stocks future based strictly on numbers, such as earnings, sales, and assets.

tombstones - the advertisments that are put out when a company goes public.

white knight - a person or company that saves another company from an unwanted hostile takeover.

yo-yo stock - a stock with a price that often rises and often drops rapidly.