The Stock Market Story

The Stock Market is a place where the stocks and shares of Companies, Govt. Institutions etc. are sold or purchased giving them an opportunity to get public funding and the public and other investors to earn from the rise or fall in stock/share prices traded there. The stocks or shares of the Companies etc. are listed on the Stock Exchanges like the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) or the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in India after which the investors can purchase them to earn profits in the rise/fall in stock/share prices. The investors can do so through a registered Broker either Online though Websites, Apps etc. or through telephonic requests.

The Stock Market is a very popular investment medium. The returns from it are usually higher than any other form of investment viz. Bank Savings, FD, Real Estate, Gold or even Mutual Funds. Although long term returns are better, still some traders eke out formidable returns in short term trades say, 1 day, a week, a month or 3 months. Stock Market trading or success is of course a hard work. A large amount of study, intricacy, patience and alertness is essential to make plausible returns from it. There are rags to riches stories but at the same time distress tales of utter financial collapse or bankruptcy. There are instances where people started their trading journey with only a handful of money but with their sheer grit, hardwork and efficiency became millionaires and billionaires. The stock/share prices change every moment after the trades that take place in them or due to any news of profitability or loss of the Companies coming in. The uncertainty in the stock prices moving either high or low or just remaining flat is so big that 100% predictability is impossible. Even with the best of Chart tracking like – Line Charts, Candle Stick Charts, Intra Day, Weekly or Monthly Charts, etc. accurate prediction of the prices is still a guess. Even for the best of market experts, financial pundits or experienced traders too price prediction is not fully certain. One has to have tremendous patience, alertness and knowledge so as to build a formidable wealth out stock market tradings. The Indian Stock Market started its operations with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) set up in 1875. Later the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was set up in 1992 in Bombay erstwhile Mumbai. Initially trading was done using paper shares which were exchanged after a certain price was achieved. Later in the 1995 Online trading using the Internet and Computers was started. Now-a-days smartphones or laptops, PCs are widely used for trading alongwith telephonic trading. Whilst paper trading is not prevalent now. Important terminologies related to the Stock Market include-

· Share or Stock – A unit of holding of partnership of a Company or firm by an investor after purchase from a stock market. A stock is a group of shares thus acquired.

· Demat A/c- A Dematerialized account where shares of Companies etc. are stored in electronic form after converting them from physical shares.

· Listing and IPOs- A stock or share must listed on a Stock Exchange in order to be traded. An IPO (Initial Public Offering) is the availability of shares for purchase for getting listed on the Exchange.

· Exchange-A place where stocks/shares of Companies can be traded like BSE, NSE in India or the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange), LSE (London Stock Exchange) etc. SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) regulates the markets in India.

· Index – A value for indicating total of value of stocks in an Exchange or in the predefined group.

· Broker- A firm or Company registered with the regulator so that it can enable its customers to trade in stocks at the exchanges.

·Bidding Price and Offer Price- Bidding Price, Price at which a stock can be bought. Offer price, price at which a stock can be sold.

· Bulls and Bears- Technical term meaning prices or markets are going up, Bulls and going down, Bears.  

· Volatility-Sharp or fast movement in the stock prices or the indices.

· Order - The request to buy or sell a particular stock/share made through a broker.

· Stop Loss – A minimum price of stock below which it is sold and not retained.

·Futures and Options – A segment of the Stock Market that purchases stocks/shares that are to be sold at date later with or without the chance to make exits in between.

· Commodities- A segment of the Stock Market that enables sell or purchase of items like Gold, Silver, Copper etc, Pulses like Dal, Spices, Grains like Rice, Wheat, Barley etc., Oil, Natural Gas, Crops like Jute, Guar etc.

· Currency Market - A segment of the Stock Market that enables the trading of Indian or Foreign currencies.

· T+1 date- A date after a trading date on which it is settled. Usually one day (working day) after the given trade.

· STT and LTCG – The Securities and Transaction Tax, paid on each trade done. Long Term Capital Gains Tax, tax paid on profits of stocks/ shares held for more than a year.

· DMA, DEMA, MAs- Abbreviations for Daily Moving Average, Daily Exponential Moving Average or simply Moving Average used to show the stock price movements on a daily or a 20, 30, 50, 100 200, 500 day intervals.  

The fortunes of the world’s richest billionaires have been brightened by the Stock Markets viz- Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Benjamin Graham, Jeff Bezos, George Soros, Elon Musk

or India’s own Rakesh Jhunjhunwalla,Mukesh Ambani, Ramdeo Agarwal, Radha Krishna Damani etc. One thing is common among them all. They have arduously even against the worst of market crashes and turmoils stuck to their task and built wealth both for themselves, their Companies or their clients. The Stock Market is a large source of public revenue as well as a hope of additional income for large number of small investors, mutual fund investors or garnering wealth for companies listed. The Indian stock markets have been leaders lately in terms of overall returns generated on investments and will very hopefully do well in the future given India’s high economic growth rates and excellent prospects.