Investing in Shares For Dummies

Get your slice of the economic pie and then some, in the UK and beyond

Investing in shares can help build anyone's financial standing-move over, economic elite! People from all walks of life can easily grow their wealth and secure money for the future. Investing in Shares For Dummies takes a friendly, non-jargony approach for new and not-quite-advanced-yet shareholders. This book walks you through the investment orchard so you can cherry-pick shares that will turn you a tidy profit (mmm, tasty.) You'll also learn to stay calm and ride the unavoidable waves of the markets. Over the long term, you stand to earn greater returns (translation: more money) than if you invested in real estate or bonds alone. And who isn't keen on the idea of more money?

This latest edition is up-to-date with the top investing apps, investing with ETFs, thematic investing, trading shares in the US and other nations, and everything else you might be curious about as you start building a rock-solid portfolio. With Investing in Shares For Dummies, you will:

• Get to know the stock markets to decide if shares investing is right for you
• Plan your investing strategy and take risks that make sense for your financial situation
• Research shares before you buy: analyse industries, read stock charts and find company data

• Make investment decisions that maximise profits, lower costs and minimise your tax bill
  Investing in Shares For Dummies gives you the sound advice and proven tactics you need to play the markets and watch your profits grow.

Autorentext

David Stevenson is a UK-based investment columnist for the Financial Times, Citywire, and MoneyWeek. He's also the executive editor of www.etfstream.com and Altfi, a global fintech news and analysis website.

Paul Mladjenovic is the bestselling author of Stock Investing For Dummies. He's a certified financial planner, writer, and public speaker.

Klappentext
Get your slice of the economic pie and then some, in the UK and beyond

Investing in shares can help build anyone's financial standing--move over, economic elite! People from all walks of life can easily grow their wealth and secure money for the future. Investing in Shares For Dummies takes a friendly, non-jargony approach for new and not-quite-advanced-yet shareholders. This book walks you through the investment orchard so you can cherry-pick shares that will turn you a tidy profit (mmm, tasty.) You'll also learn to stay calm and ride the unavoidable waves of the markets. Over the long term, you stand to earn greater returns (translation: more money) than if you invested in real estate or bonds alone. And who isn't keen on the idea of more money?

This latest edition is up-to-date with the top investing apps, investing with ETFs, thematic investing, trading shares in the US and other nations, and everything else you might be curious about as you start building a rock-solid portfolio. With Investing in Shares For Dummies, you will:

• Get to know the stock markets to decide if shares investing is right for you
• Plan your investing strategy and take risks that make sense for your financial situation
• Research shares before you buy: analyse industries, read stock charts and find company data
• Make investment decisions that maximise profits, lower costs and minimise your tax bill

Investing in Shares For Dummies gives you the sound advice and proven tactics you need to play the markets and watch your profits grow.

Inhalt

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond This Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: The Essentials of Investing in Shares 5

Chapter 1: Exploring the Basics 7

Understanding the Basics 8

Getting Prepared before Starting 8

Knowing How to Pick Winners 9

Recognising the value of shares 9

Understanding how market capitalisation affects share values 10

Sharpening your investment skills 11

Boning Up on Strategies and Tactics 12

Getting Good Tips 13

Chapter 2: Sizing Up Your Current Finances and Setting Goals 15

Establishing a Starting Point 16

Step 1: Making sure you have an emergency fund 17

Step 2: Listing your assets in decreasing order of liquidity 17

Step 3: Listing your liabilities 20

Step 4: Calculating your net worth 21

Step 5: Analysing your balance sheet 22

It's All about the Cash (Flow)! 23

Step 1: Tallying up your income 24

Step 2: Adding up your outgoings 25

Step 3: Creating a cash flow statement 26

Step 4: Analysing your cash flow 27

Finding investment money in tax savings 27

Setting Your Sights on Your Financial Goals 28

Chapter 3: Defining Common Approaches to Investing in Shares 31

Matching Shares and Strategies with Your Goals 32

Investing for the Future 33

Focusing on the short term 33

Considering medium-term goals 34

Preparing for the long term 34

Investing for a Reason 35

Growth investing 35

Income investing 36

Investing in Your Personal Style 38

Cautious investing 38

Aggressive investing 38

Chapter 4: Assessing the Risks 41

Exploring Different Kinds of Risk 42

Financial risk 42

Interest rate risk 42

Understanding the adverse effects of rising interest rates 44

Market risk 45

Inflation risk 46

Tax risk 46

Political and governmental risks 47

Personal risks 47

Emotional risk 48

Minimising Your Risk 50

Gaining knowledge 50

Staying out for now 51

Getting your financial house in order 51

Diversifying your investments 52

Weighing Risk against Return 53

Chapter 5: Getting to Know the Stock Markets 55

Knowing How Indices Are Measured 55

Using the Indices 57

Tracking the indices 57

Investing in indices 57

Checking Out Major Markets 58

The FTSE 100 Index 58

The FTSE 250 60

The FTSE All-Share 60

Identifying Markets for Smaller Companies 61

The Alternative Investment Market 61

Further afield: International indices 61

Considering international markets 63

Part 2: Before You Start Buying 65

Chapter 6: Gathering Information 67

Looking to Stock Exchanges for Answers 68

Understanding Shares and the Companies They Represent 69

Accounting for taste and a whole lot more 69

Understanding how economics affects shares 70

Staying on Top of Financial News 73

Figuring out what a company's up to 74

Discovering what's new with an industry 74

Knowing what's happening with the economy 75

Seeing what the politicians and government bureaucrats are doing 75

Checking for trends in society, culture and entertainment 76

Reading (and Understanding) the Financial Pages 76

52-week high 77

52-week low 78

Name and code 78 Dividend 78</p...