What You Need to Know Before You Invest

by Davis, Rod

• ISBN13: 9780764110023
• ISBN10: 0764110020
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: B E S Pub Co

Summary

A wealth of solid information for inexperienced investors combined with a review of fundamentals for everybody else who invests in money instruments. The author explains the stock market and how it operates, and gives practical advice on how to select a broker and open a brokerage account, and more. New in this edition is up-to-date information on Roth and Education IRAs, a review of recent tax legislation and how it affects investments, and a question-and-answer feature at the end of each chapter.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	p. vi
Introduction	p. ix
What Is the Stock Market?	p. 1
What Is the Dow Jones Industrial Average?	p. 6
How Do You Read Market Quotes in the Newspaper?	p. 12
Should You Invest in the Stock Market?	p. 15
How Do You Know When to Buy or Sell?	p. 18
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 23
What Is a Stock?	p. 27
How Do Companies Sell Shares of Stock?	p. 30
What Are Your Rights as a Shareholder?	p. 32
Is the Stock Market Risky?	p. 37
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 41
How Do You Open a Brokerage Account?	p. 44
How Do You Select a Broker?	p. 48
How Do You Make an Investment?	p. 50
How Can You Make Money When Stocks Go Down?	p. 58
How Do Companies Pay Dividends?	p. 61
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 63
What Is a Bond?	p. 67
What Are the Different Types of Bonds?	p. 69
What Is Compound Interest?	p. 78
What Are the Risks of Investing in Bonds?	p. 83
How Do You Buy Bonds?	p. 88
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 91
How Do You Read Financial Statements?	p. 94
What Can You Learn from Financial Statements?	p. 102
Why Are Financial Ratios Important?	p. 109
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 112
What Is Fundamental Analysis?	p. 116
What Are Economic Cycles?	p. 119
How Do You Measure Inflation?	p. 126
What Is the Biggest Economic Problem Today?	p. 132
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 134
What Is Technical Analysis?	p. 138
How Do You Read Stock Charts?	p. 139
What Are Some Other Technical Indicators?	p. 143
What Is a Contrarian, and Should You Be One?	p. 147
How Do You Use Market Timing Techniques?	p. 148
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 151
What Is a Mutual Fund?	p. 155
What Does It Cost to Buy Mutual Funds?	p. 157
What Types of Mutual Funds Are Available?	p. 163
How Do You Select a Mutual Fund?	p. 168
What Are Closed-End Funds and Unit Trusts?	p. 171
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 174
What Are Stock Options?	p. 178
What Happens When You Buy Options?	p. 184
What Happens When You Sell Options?	p. 188
What Are Some Other Option Strategies?	p. 190
What Are Stock Rights and Warrants?	p. 193
What Are Commodity Futures Contracts?	p. 195
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 198
How Are Your Rights as an Investor Protected?	p. 202
What Have We Learned from Previous Market Crashes?	p. 204
What Is the National Association of Securities Dealers?	p. 210
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 213
What Are the Tax Consequences of Investing?	p. 216
Should You Have an IRA?	p. 219
What Is an Annuity?	p. 224
What Are Limited Partnerships?	p. 228
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 232
What Changes Are Coming to the Securities Markets?	p. 236
How Will Computers Change the Way You Invest?	p. 243
What Recent Events Will Affect the Economy in the Future?	p. 249
Do You Know What You Need to Know?	p. 260
How Do You Calculate Interest Rates?	p. 264
Glossary	p. 272
Recommended Reading	p. 295
Index	p. 296
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