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What is Stock MarketA stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include securities listed on a public stock exchange, as well as stock that is only traded privately, such as shares of private companies which are sold to investors through equity crowdfunding platforms. Investment in the stock market is most often done via stockbrokerages and electronic trading platforms. Investment is usually made with an investment strategy in mind.Stock ExchangeA stock exchange is an exchange (or bourse) where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell shares (equity stock), bonds, and other securities. Many large companies have their stocks listed on a stock exchange. This makes the stock more liquid and thus more attractive to many investors. The exchange may also act as a guarantor of settlement. These and other stocks may also be traded "over the counter" (OTC), that is, through a dealer. Some large companies will have their stock listed on more than one exchange in different countries, so as to attract international investors.Stock exchanges may also cover other types of securities, such as fixed-interest securities (bonds) or (less frequently) derivatives, which are more likely to be traded OTC.Trade in stock markets means the transfer (in exchange for money) of a stock or security from a seller to a buyer. This requires these two parties to agree on a price. Equities (stocks or shares) confer an ownership interest in a particular company.Participants in the stock market range from small individual stock investors to larger investors, who can be based anywhere in the world, and may include banks, insurance companies, pension funds and hedge funds. Their buy or sell orders may be executed on their behalf by a stock exchange trader.Some exchanges are physical locations where transactions are carried out on a trading floor, by a method known as open outcry. This method is used in some stock exchanges and commodities exchanges, and involves traders shouting bid and offer prices. The other type of stock exchange has a network of computers where trades are made electronically. An example of such an exchange is the NASDAQ.A potential buyer bids a specific price for a stock, and a potential seller asks a specific price for the same stock. Buying or selling at the Market means you will accept any ask price or bid price for the stock. When the bid and ask prices match, a sale takes place, on a first-come, first-served basis if there are multiple bidders at a given price.The purpose of a stock exchange is to facilitate the exchange of securities between buyers and sellers, thus providing a marketplace. The exchanges provide real-time trading information on the listed securities, facilitating price discovery.The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is a physical exchange, with a hybrid market for placing orders electronically from any location as well as on the trading floor. Orders executed on the trading floor enter by way of exchange members and flow down to a floor broker, who submits the order electronically to the floor trading post for the Designated market maker ("DMM") for that stock to trade the order. The DMM's job is to maintain a two-sided market, making orders to buy and sell the security when there are no other buyers or sellers. If a bid–ask spread exists, no trade immediately takes place – in this case the DMM may use their own resources (money or stock) to close the difference. Once a trade has been made, the details are reported on the "tape" and sent back to the brokerage firm, which then notifies the investor who placed the order. Computers play an important role, especially for program trading.The NASDAQ is an electronic exchange, where all of the trading is done over a computer network. The process is similar to the New York Stock Exchange. One or more NASDAQ market makers will always provide a bid and ask the price at which they will always purchase or sell 'their' stock.The Paris Bourse, now part of Euronext, is an order-driven, electronic stock exchange. It was automated in the late 1980s. Prior to the 1980s, it consisted of an open outcry exchange. Stockbrokers met on the trading floor of the Palais Brongniart. In 1986, the CATS trading system was introduced, and the order matching system was fully automated.People trading stock will prefer to trade on the most popular exchange since this gives the largest number of potential counter parties (buyers for a seller, sellers for a buyer) and probably the best price. However, there have always been alternatives such as brokers trying to bring parties together to trade outside the exchange. Some third markets that were popular are Instinet, and later Island and Archipelago (the latter two have since been acquired by Nasdaq and NYSE, respectively). One advantage is that this avoids the commissions of the exchange. However, it also has problems such as adverse selection. Financial regulators have probed dark pools.Different Types of Stocks You Should KnowThe main types of stock are common and preferred. Stocks are also categorized by company size, industry, geographic location and style. Here's what you should know about the different types of stock.Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks or securities.A stock is an investment into a public company. When a company sells shares of stock to the public, those shares are typically issued as one of two main types of stocks: common stock or preferred stock. Here’s a breakdown.Common stockIf you’re new to investing in stock and looking to buy a few shares, you likely want to invest in common stock, which is exactly what the name suggests: the most common type of stock.When you own common stock, you own a share in the company’s profits as well as the right to vote. Common stock owners may also earn dividends — a payment made to stock owners on a regular basis — but those dividends are typically variable and not guaranteed.Preferred stockThe other main type of stock, preferred stock, is frequently compared to bonds. It typically pays investors a fixed dividend. Preferred shareholders also get preferential treatment: Dividends are paid to preferred shareholders before common shareholders, including in the case of bankruptcy or liquidation.Preferred stock prices are less volatile than common stock prices, which means shares are less prone to losing value, but they’re also less prone to gaining value. In general, preferred stock is best for investors who prioritize income over long-term growth.Other stock categoriesWithin those broad categories of common and preferred, different types of stocks are further divided in other ways. Here are some of the most common:Company size: You might’ve heard the words large-cap or mid-cap before; they refer to market capitalization, or the value of a company. Companies are generally divided into three buckets by size: Large cap (market value of $10 billion or more), mid-cap (market value between $2 billion and $10 billion) and small-cap (market value between $300 million and $2 billion).Industry: Companies are also divided by industry, often called sector. Stocks in the same industry — for example, the technology or energy sectors — may move together in response to market or economic events. That’s why it’s a good rule of thumb to diversify by investing in stocks across sectors. (Just ask someone who held a portfolio of tech stocks during the dot-com crash.)Location: Stocks are frequently grouped by geographic location. You can diversify your investment portfolio by investing not only in companies that do business in the U.S., but also in companies based internationally and in emerging markets, which are areas that are poised for expansion. (Here’s more on how to invest in international stocks.)Style: You might hear stocks described as growth or value. Growth stocks are from companies that are either growing quickly or poised to grow quickly. Investors are typically willing to pay more for these stocks, because they’re expecting bigger returns.Value stocks are essentially on sale: These are stocks investors have deemed to be underpriced and undervalued. The assumption is these stocks will increase in price, because they’re either currently flying under the radar or suffering from a short-term event.Types of stock classesCompanies might also divide their stock into classes, in most cases so that shareholder voting rights are differentiated. For example, if you own Class A of a certain stock, you might get more voting rights per share than owners of Class B of the same stock.If a stock has been segmented into different classes, each class typically has its own ticker symbol. For example, 21st Century Fox shares are sold under FOXA (A shares) and FOX (B shares).Choosing the right stocks for youAn important consideration when investing in stocks isn’t necessarily the stock’s category, but whether you believe in the company’s long-term growth potential and whether the stock complements the other investments you own.But if the idea of assembling individual stocks into a diversified portfolio seems daunting — and it certainly can be — you might want to consider stock index funds.Index Funds: How to Invest and Best Funds to ChooseIndex funds are one of the easiest ways to build a diversified portfolio. These funds allow you to purchase many different types of stocks in a single transaction: They track a section of the market — such as large-cap stocks — by following a benchmark index, like the S&P 500. For more about index funds. Index Funds: How to Invest and Best Funds to ChooseIndex funds are a low-fee, no-fuss way to invest. It might be the smartest and easiest investment you ever make. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks or securities.Steps1. Pick which index2. Select which index fund3. Decide where to buyBest S&P 500 index funds with low costs for Winter 2021Everyone gushes about index mutual funds, and for good reason: They’re an easy, hands-off, diversified, low-cost way to invest in the stock market.An index fund creates a portfolio of stocks that mirror the collection of companies and performance of a market index, such as the S&P 500. Index funds are passively managed and have lower fees than actively managed funds, often generating higher investment returns.Lastly, index funds are easy to buy. Here’s how it’s done.1. Pick which indexIndex mutual funds track various indexes. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is one of the best-known indexes because the 500 companies it tracks include large, well-known U.S.-based businesses representing a wide range of industries.But the S&P 500 isn’t the only index in town. There are indexes — and corresponding index funds — composed of stocks or other assets that are chosen based on:Company size and capitalization. Index funds that track small, medium-sized or large companies (also known as small-, mid- or large-cap indexes).Geography. These funds focus on stocks that trade on foreign exchanges or a combination of international exchanges.Business sector or industry. Funds that focus on consumer goods, technology, health-related businesses, for example.Asset type. Funds that track domestic and foreign bonds, commodities, cash.Market opportunities. Emerging markets or other nascent but growing sectors for investment.Despite the array of choices, you may need to invest in only one. His Royal Investment Highness Warren Buffett has said that the average investor need only invest in a broad stock market index to be properly diversified. (For more, check out our story on simple portfolios to get you to your retirement goals.)However, you can easily customize your allocation if you want additional exposure to specific markets in their portfolio (such as more emerging market exposure, or a higher allocation to small companies or bonds).2. Select which index fundOnce you've decided which index you're interested in, it's time to choose which corresponding index fund to buy. Oftentimes, this boils down to cost.Low costs are one of the biggest selling points of index funds. They’re cheap to run because they’re automated to follow the shifts in value in an index. However, don’t assume that all index mutual funds are cheap.Even though they’re not actively managed by a team of well-paid analysts, they carry administrative costs. These costs are subtracted from each fund shareholder’s returns as a percentage of their overall investment.Two funds may have the same investment goal — like tracking the S&P 500 — yet have management costs that can vary wildly. Those fractions of a percentage point may seem like no big deal, but your long-term investment returns can take a massive hit from the smallest fee inflation. Typically, the bigger the fund, the lower the fees.The main costs to consider:Investment minimum. The minimum required to invest in a mutual fund can run as high as a few thousand dollars. Once you’ve crossed that threshold, most funds allow investors to add money in smaller increments.Account minimum. This is different than the investment minimum. Although a brokerage's account minimum may be $0 (common for customers who open a traditional or Roth IRA), that doesn’t remove the investment minimum for a particular index fund.Expense ratio. This is one of the main costs are subtracted from each fund shareholder’s returns as a percentage of their overall investment. Find the expense ratio in the mutual fund’s prospectus or when you call up a quote of a mutual fund on a financial site. For context, the average annual expense ratio was 0.09% for stock index funds and 0.07% for bond index funds, versus 0.82% for actively managed stock funds and 0.58% for actively managed bond funds, according a 2016 report from the Investment Company Institute.Tax-cost ratio. In addition to paying fees, owning the fund may trigger capital gains taxes if held outside tax-advantaged accounts like a 401(k) or an IRA. Like the expense ratio, these taxes can take a bite out of investment returns: typically 0.3% of returns when invested in an index fund, according to a 2014 study by Vanguard founder John Bogle. Fund tracker Morningstar calculates the tax-cost ratio, which shows the percentage by which a fund’s performance has been reduced by taxes.3. Decide where to buyYou can purchase an index fund directly from a mutual fund company or a brokerage. Same goes for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are like mini mutual funds that trade like stocks throughout the day (more on these below).Fund selection. Do you want to purchase index funds from various fund families? The big mutual fund companies carry some of their competitors’ funds, but the selection may be more limited than what’s available in a discount broker’s lineup.Convenience. Find a single provider who can accommodate all your needs. For example, if you’re just going to invest in mutual funds (or even a mix of funds and stocks), a mutual fund company may be able to serve as your investment hub. But if you require sophisticated stock research and screening tools, a discount broker that also sells the index funds you want may be better. (If you don't have a brokerage account, here's how to open one.)Trading costs. If the commission or transaction fee isn’t waived, consider how much a broker or fund company charges to buy or sell the index fund. Mutual fund commissions are higher than stock trading ones, about $20 or more, compared with less than $10 a trade for stocks and ETFs.Commission-free options. Do they offer no-transaction-fee mutual funds or commission-free ETFs? This is an important criterion we use to rate discount brokers. (The selections at Charles Schwab, E-Trade, Fidelity and TD Ameritrade are worth checking out.)Best S&P 500 index funds with low costs for Winter 2021By far, the most popular class of index funds are linked to the S&P 500 — in 2019, nearly 30% of all investor cash in index funds tracked that benchmark index, according to the Investment Company Institute.Other things to keep in mindIndex funds have become one of the most popular ways for Americans to invest because of their ease of use, instant diversity and returns that typically beat actively managed accounts. Some additional things to consider:Is the index fund doing its job? Your index fund should mirror the performance of the underlying index. To check, look at the index fund’s returns on the mutual fund quote page. It shows the index fund’s returns during several time periods, compared with the performance of the benchmark index. Don’t panic if the returns aren’t identical. Remember, those investment costs, even if minimal, affect results, as do taxes. However, red flags should wave if the fund’s performance lags the index by much more than the expense ratio.Is the index fund you want too expensive? Invest in an exchange-traded fund that tracks the index. Instead of having to buy the main-course mutual fund, you purchase just a slice of the fund. (Here are some pros and cons of investing in ETFs versus mutual funds.)Want to buy stocks instead? Learn how to trade stocks with these step-by-step instructionsNew to investing? This guide to the best online stock brokers for beginning investors will help.How much will you need to retire? Use our retirement calculator to track your progress.To Download Powerpoint Presentation for Project Click this link given Below:-https://tinyurl.com/Powerpoint29