Basics of Stock Market - 1

I am happy to share my limited knowledge on the Stock Market with you all. It may be very basic, keeping in mind that some may be totally new to the Stock Market. With the Index falling from 20000 levels to 9000 level, started showing a bullish trend immediately after the election results, shedding about 600 points during the budget session made any common man to look into the Stock Market. There are people who made money and there are many who lost their money in the market. Is it gambling? speculation? calculated risk?. The answer to the question is very simple "Yes" and "No". For those who stay invested in a good stock never lost their money and those who want to make quick bucks loose their money. Nowhere in the history of the stock market people lost their money just by holding on to a fundamentally good stock. How to find those stocks and how long to hold them, how to make the fundamental analysis are the questions that would be running in your mind. It is not a rocket science. It can be easily understood. In this direction, let me take you through a couple of sessions on what is Stock Market, what is IPO, FPO, Rights issue, what is an index (Sensex, NIFTY), why market fluctuates, when to buy, what is long position, what is short, How much is the brokerage, what is STT, what is demat account, what is settlement, etc.,

I hope you will enjoy the same and please keep commenting on the posts by giving your valuable feedback, your doubts, any mistakes in my posting, suggestions for improvements.

I want to make sure that this series is getting to know the stock market and not on giving tips for your buying or selling.

I am travelling and start posting from 28th Aug 09.

Cheers,
Gopal