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How does the stock market work?

How does the stock market work?

  • Okay I have always wonder this, how does all of this work? For an example say for instance how much does one stock cost and where do you find this information and the options to buy stock at? Also when it states for instance Sprint is up $0.05 on the day and then there is a total like $25.05. What does all this mean im very curious, thanks!

  • Answer:

    The market in which shares are issued and traded either through exchanges or over-the-counter markets. Also known as the equity market, it is one of the most vital areas of a market economy as it provides companies with access to capital and investors with a slice of ownership in the company and the potential of gains based on the company's future performance. This market can be split into two main sections: the primary and secondary market. The primary market is where new issues are first offered, with any subsequent trading going on in the secondary market. The price of the stock varies second by second. You can get the current price of a stock, say for your example, Sprint whose stock symbol is "S", by going to Yahoo/finance... http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=s Here you can see that S closed at 22.87 on Friday. However, during after hours trading (4:30-7pm EST) it rose to 22.98. If you were to put a market order in Monday morning, this is about what you would pay for it. If you want to buy Sprint, then you need to open a brokerage account. There a quite a few to choose from and with a little research, I'm sure that you can find one that meets your needs. Generally, stock is sold in blocks of 100 shares, but this convention has changed over the years with online trading and the ease of which to buy shares and the relatively low cost of buying shares. Today you can expect to pay somewere around $10 to buy anywhere from 1 to 1000 shares. So if you bought 100 shares of Sprint at say $23, this would cost you $2300 + about $10 brokerage fee, for a total of $2310. If those 100 shares of Sprint went up to $24, then you would be $90 ahead. $2400-$2310. If you put a limit order to sell with your broker, at $24 and a buy was found (not too hard), then you would get $2400 - $10 again for the selling brokerage fee. ///

Rey Suicide GLK at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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The stock market works in a lot of ways. At the basic level, the stock market is the place where people buy and sell shares of stock of publicaly trade companies. At all times one person is looking to buy stock and another is looking to sell. The broker matches the buyer with the seller. This is how it works fundamentally. If Sprint sold for $25 a share Monday at the close of the market, the it closing price is $25. On Tuesday if Sprint sold for $25.05 a share at the close of the market then its closing price will be $25.05. That means it is up $0.05 for Tuesday. You can go to www.financial-realities101.com and the site will explain in detail how the stock market works and how to read the stock tables and undestand the financial news.

anthony s

u reported me, that wasn't very nice. This guy reports others. Don't answer his questions.

just me

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