By: Ricky Schmidt
Dear Fellow-Investor.
Every day the media is full of all kind of statistics and whether they are useful or not is up to each individual. When used properly, statistics can help investors make more informed decisions.
The reasons why statistics are important are as follows:
Economic statistics keep track of the economy. They explain whether the economy is in an expansion, a recession, a sideways or cyclical motion.
By monitoring the status of the economy, statistics provide governments with information on what sort of policies can be used to fix whatever problems the economy may be having.However, as we all know, there s no guarantee that the state will sctually fix any problem.
Statistics provide investors with information that can be useful to make market related investment decisions, i.e. when to buy or sell shares or other securities.
Some of the most commonly reported statistics are:
Stock Market Indices:
World-wide investors look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average as an indicator of stock market trends since this index is considered the largest and most important one. No wonder! About 60% of all financial activities in the world either take place in the United States or go via the USA.
The Dow is an index of the stock prices of the 30 largest US corporations based on their market capitalization and other factors that got them a place in the Dow. There are also Dow indices for transportation and utility companies.
On the surface, the above indices tell us whether stock prices are rising, falling or remaining unchanged.
Beneath the surface, they suggest what is happening to business profitability and the overall health of the economy. Other not less important stock market indices include the German Dax, the UK FT-100, Japans Nikkei, Hong Kong s Hang Seng and the French Cac-40.
[Read full article]
Every day the media is full of all kind of statistics and whether they are useful or not is up to each individual. When used properly, statistics can help investors make more informed decisions.
The reasons why statistics are important are as follows:
Economic statistics keep track of the economy. They explain whether the economy is in an expansion, a recession, a sideways or cyclical motion.
By monitoring the status of the economy, statistics provide governments with information on what sort of policies can be used to fix whatever problems the economy may be having.However, as we all know, there s no guarantee that the state will sctually fix any problem.
Statistics provide investors with information that can be useful to make market related investment decisions, i.e. when to buy or sell shares or other securities.
Some of the most commonly reported statistics are:
Stock Market Indices:
World-wide investors look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average as an indicator of stock market trends since this index is considered the largest and most important one. No wonder! About 60% of all financial activities in the world either take place in the United States or go via the USA.
The Dow is an index of the stock prices of the 30 largest US corporations based on their market capitalization and other factors that got them a place in the Dow. There are also Dow indices for transportation and utility companies.
On the surface, the above indices tell us whether stock prices are rising, falling or remaining unchanged.
Beneath the surface, they suggest what is happening to business profitability and the overall health of the economy. Other not less important stock market indices include the German Dax, the UK FT-100, Japans Nikkei, Hong Kong s Hang Seng and the French Cac-40.
[Read full article]
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