Thursday, December 4, 2008

Basic investment principles in the stock market - Part 1 of 4

By Zigfred Diaz

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.

The Philippine stock market or the stock market in general is not a child's play ground. If you are a true investor, you must have expectations as to how much you are going to earn for a certain type of investment. This is measured in terms of how much your money will grow at a certain period of time. (The most common measure being interest per annum) Since the Philippine Stock market is at its peak for months now, people think that they should join the party even they do not understand how it works. They are even naive with the basic principles involve. This is not to say that you should be an economist before you start investing.

What I am saying is that you should understand the basic principles involved first before you could succeed in the stock market. While it is true that fortunes are made on the Stock market, loss of wealth has also been experienced by some. Some who just barge into the stock market without understanding the basic principles of investment end up leaving the stock market convinced that the stock market is no good at all as an alternative vehicle of investment.

Let us not begin first by discussing the "how tos" in investing in the Philippine stock market. Let us first understand the basic principles of investment so that we might enjoy trading and be successful in the stock market. There are ten principles involved. We will talk about the first principle here. Other principles will follow in the next articles. Visit my blog if you want to see the whole article.

1.) Its just another vehicle of investment - The stock market is just another vehicle of investment. There are other investment vehicles where you could invest your money. They have their advantages and disadvantages. One vehicle of investment is not more superior than the other. However this will not be discussed in detail 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.

As I said each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages. What I personally did is not to place all of my eggs in one basket. I have invested in most of the Capital Markets including the stock market, insurance, pension, deposits, and bonds through mutual funds. - 15224

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