I’ve been a small time supporter of Kiva for a while, and recently I’ve been focusing on those entrepreneurs who grow coffee for us or those in the coffee business.
But just supported a new borrower who’s growing coffee in Honduras, one of my favorite coffee origins. See the jpeg for more information. Take a look for yourself.
The purpose of the stock market is for both companies and investors to make money. Starting and running a company requires cash. there are many ways to get cash. One of them is becoming a publicly traded company and selling a percentage of your ownership. That’s the business side. And it’s a business side that several prominent social media companies have taken or are about to take: that’s you Facebook, and Twitter!
But for us, the average citizens, we don’t see that side. We buy and sell stocks hoping to make money. But, obviously that’s not always not the case. Ill talk about the business side first. Which is important for any investor to know, as well if you want raise money for your own business some day.
If you own a company, the purpose of the stock market for you is selling stocks, which is a great way to raise funds quickly. A business owner can sell up to 49% of his company and still retain ownership. It is a great way to raise funds quickly, thus you can expand your business quickly.
You must weigh the pros and cons and speak with an underwriter before doing this. An underwriter is basically someone who helps you through the whole process and in the end writes you the check. They value your company, do the market research, and finally find you investors.
But, obviously there is a down side. But many businesses have decided that it’s worth it. As well as not retaining complete ownership, you must also open your books to the public. When a company goes public, it offers an Initial Public Offering, or an IPO. All this means is that this is their first offer to the public to buy part of their company. The underwriter works with the business owners to decide how many shares to sell and at what price.
At a later date the company can sell more or buy back some of they’re stock, thus increasing or decreasing they’re ownership in the company. When a company feels like they’re value is going to go up, it is wise for them to buy back shares. The public knows this, thus it increases the investors’ faith in the company and usually the remaining shares up.
Don’t get this confused with insider trading. You are not allowed to trade based on information that is classified or has not been released to the public yet. This rule applies to company owners, employees, or the general investor. So basically, everyone. I’m sure you wont come into this situation. But just in case you do, its better to not make that extra money, than wind up in jail.
When you buy a share in a company, you literally own part of that company. A share can be over-valued or under-valued. You find this by with the price per sales ratio of the stock. You find this by multiplying the number of outstanding shares by the price per share. This gives you the market capitalization, or the market cap. You then take that number and divide it by the company’s revenues. You take that number and compare it other companies in the same industry. This is fundamental analysis. I don’t dabble in this. But it is good to know and a useful tool.
Stocks can also be over-bought or over-sold. That is determined with the RSI oscillator, which I use every time I research stocks. I am a technical investor. That means I look at the charts of a company’s stock.
Most newbie investors first hear about studying a company’s fundamentals. That is called fundamental analysis. The fundamentals are what a company must publish quarterly in order to retain their membership on a stock exchange. This was implemented with the securities and exchange act of 1934. If investing is the purpose of the stock market for you, be safe and good luck.
If you are an investor, the purpose of the stock market for you should be to beat the hoards of investors to buy and sell before the general public catches on.
As I said before, when you buy a stock you are literally buying part of that company. Stock value is determined by many things. One of them is what the average investor sees a stock as being worth. Thus, a stock price can be inflated or deflated, as I discussed previously. The average middle class person comes in hoards to buy a stock that looks exciting and looks like its going up. Real investors know that they can make money in an up market or a down market. Experienced investors also buy before the public catches on and sells short after the stock has become inflated and is on its way back down.
I’m not saying that you should send your money to a broker. Just Because they are professionals, doesn’t mean they are going to make you money. I’m not saying that stock brokers are your average uninformed investor. But since they trade conservatively, they usually go with the flow of what everyone else is doing. Brokers enjoy using heavily fundamental analysis. They would be good for you if you truly have no idea what your are doing and you are looking to invest in the long-run.
If you want to be a long-term investor, I do recommend fundamental analysis. But, if your looking to be an active trader, like myself, I recommend technical analysis.
So, investors making money is the second purpose of the stock market.
So, the purpose of the stock market basically boils down to businesses being able to get quick cash, with some sacrifices and us being able to make money by buying part of a company. Its good to know how and why stocks work. But don’t spend too much time researching this. Focus on your bottom line, which includes technical analysis and possibly fundamental analysis. The best way to learn in by making mistakes. So, do your research, get in, make mistakes, and repeat. Whatever the purpose of the stock market is for you, good luck.
After giving Reputation.com a thorough look-through, I was quite impressed by what the site offers. Although I personally am not in need of the services, at least not yet, I believe that what this site provides is essential for a person promoting themselves as a novelist, businessperson, dentist, or any professional who relies on the www for their business.
The site has a truly unique approach that let’s customers choose a plan according to their needs and budget. The products offered have won awards, and the site itself is run by a prestigious and qualified staff in the field. When I first arrived to the site, I was greeted by immediately eye-catching graphics and words. I enjoyed that I knew what I was getting into the moment I clicked on the site’s link.
The goal of Reputation.com is to help individuals to maintain and protect their online presence, which is something that is much more possible online than offline. The site offers a selection of products that come for an annual fee.
The site offers a product called “Reputation defender” whose chief features are the ability to fix results on Google, hide undesirable links, and make you visible online. This service seems like a great deal, because we all know how unforgivable the internet is.
Another product, “my reputation,” seems to act as more of a monitoring service than a fixing one. This seems like a good service especially for people who are just starting their business or online presence.
The third product, “my privacy,” seems like a good service for anyone, even if they aren’t working on an online presence. People would be surprised at the amount of their personal information can be learned from a quick Google search. This tool can help you decide what you want people to see.
I personally think that it might be better to have monthly payment options too. I didn’t see an option for a trial period, but that could be helpful too. Despite this, I believe there are plenty of people out there who would be willing to invest in these services right away. The nice thing is that customers can choose from a simpler or plan or a more advanced plan to fit their budget.
From reading the management page, it appears that your business would be in good hands with Reputation.com. They offer a large, experienced staff who are qualified and dedicated to helping your reputation.
I found the site to be professional, stylish, and easily navigable. It was easy to find the information I was looking for, and it is all arranged neatly. It was a breath of fresh air seeing a site with great information as well as a great design.
One thing that I would take out is the little pop up window that keeps coming up asking you to register. I realize that this is pretty common with these types of websites, but I still think that people who have interest will register of their own free will.
Overall, the site was a great experience that offers a unique and useful product. I would definitely recommend checking out this website to anyone interested in buying reputation management services, whether for personal branding, professional or business-related reputational management.