Technical analysis or using charts to identify trading signals and price patterns may seem overwhelming or esoteric at first beginners should first understand why technical analysis works as a . Stock trading typically refers to day traders those who are short term speculators that a stock will rise or fall its different from investing. Etfs built to replicate major indices like the dow nasdaq and sp 500 are good places to start to give your portfolio broad exposure to the us stock market many traders also diversify their holdings with assets other than stocks such as bonds as a way of hedging their risk during stock market downturns. On the stock market over the last few decades the average persons interest in the stock market has grown exponentially what was once a toy of the rich has now turned into the vehicle of choice for growing wealth this demand coupled with advances in trading technology has opened up the markets so that nowadays nearly anybody can own stocks. Earnings per share the total company profit divided by the number of stock shares outstanding going public slang for when a company plans to have an ipo of its stock ipo short for initial public offering when a company sells its shares of stock for the first time market cap short for market capitalization the amount of money you would have to pay if you bought every single share of