Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Principles Of Investments In The Stock Market - Part 1 Of 4

People have been asking me lately if they should invest in the Philippine stock market or not. Majority of them also wanted to know how they should start. I am not sure if they are really serious about it. They could just be curious considering that it is all over the news that the stock market's performance is very positive.Investing in the Philippine stock market is not for the faint hearted.

As an investor you must have expectations as to how much you are going to earn for a certain vehicle of investment. Such is expectation is measured in terms of how much your money will grow at a certain period of time. (Most usually this is measured in interest per annum) Because the Philippine Stock market is in its all time high for several months now, people think that they should join the band wagon. They do not even understand the basic principles involved nor do they understand how the stock market works. I am not saying that you should be an economist before you should invest in the stock market.

What you should understand is that you must know the basic principles involved first before you can achieve a level of success in investing in the stock market. Fortunes are made on the Stock market. But take note that huge losses are also incurred. Those who just plunge into the stock market without a grasp of the basic principles of investment end up convincing themselves that the stock market is no good at all, does not make them any money and finally quit after some time.

Before I would even begin to tackle the ins and outs of the how to invest in the Philippine stock market you should first understand the basic principles of investment in order that you might enjoy trading and possibly succeed in the stock market. I will be discussing ten of them. We will discuss the first one here. The other points will be tackled on coming articles. If you wish to see the entire article please visit my blog.

1.) You must realize that the stock market is just another vehicle of investment - There are several investment vehicles where you could place your money. One is not more superior than the other. They have their advantages and disadvantages, but this will not be discussed in depth here.

In economic parlance, the stock market is categorized as belonging to the "Capital Markets." Even in the Capital market category there are different types of investment vehicles. You have several alternatives here. Aside from the stock market, you could place your investment in pension funds, bonds, insurance, real estate, time deposit accounts different types of savings.

It is important to know this because it will help you determine whether or not you should invest in the Stock Market considering that there are other alternative vehicles of investment in the Capital markets.Bear in mind that each vehicle of investment has their own advantages and drawbacks. The secret here is not to place all of your eggs in one basket. Even if most of my investments are in the Capital Markets, I diversified by placing investments in the stock market, bonds through mutual funds, pension, deposits and insurances.

No comments: