
Why do stocks move up?
Often a stock simply moves according to a short-term trend. On the one hand, a stock that is moving up can gather momentum, as "success breeds success" and popularity buoys the stock higher. On the other hand, a stock sometimes behaves the opposite way in a trend and does what is called reverting to the mean. Unfortunately, because trends cut both ways and are more obvious in hindsight, knowing that stocks are "trendy" does not help us predict the future.
What drives stock prices?
Stock prices are driven by a variety of factors, but ultimately the price at any given moment is due to the supply and demand at that point in time in the market. Fundamental factors drive stock prices based on a company's earnings and profitability from producing and selling goods and services. Technical factors relate to a stock's price history ...
Who is David Harper?
Forces That Move Stock Prices. David Harper is the CEO and founder of Bionic Turtle. He is also a published author with a popular YouTube channel on expert finance topics. Thomas Brock is a well-rounded financial professional, with over 20 years of experience in investments, corporate finance, and accounting. ...
What is FFO in real estate?
Real estate investment trusts (REITs), for example, use a special measure of earnings power called funds from operations (FFO). Relatively mature companies are often measured by dividends per share, which represents what the shareholder actually receives.
Is inflation bad for stocks?
2 Deflation, on the other hand, is generally bad for stocks because it signifies a loss in pricing power for companies.
What is valuation multiple?
The valuation multiple expresses expectations about the future. As we already explained, it is fundamentally based on the discounted present value of the future earnings stream. Therefore, the two key factors here are:
What is discount rate?
The discount rate, which is used to calculate the present value of the future stream of earnings. A higher growth rate will earn the stock a higher multiple, but a higher discount rate will earn a lower multiple. What determines the discount rate? First, it is a function of perceived risk.
What is growth stock investing?
This is classic growth stock investing and generally involves buying stocks with high multiples. Some investors combine features of both strategies. Warren Buffett , the world’s most successful investor, is known to look for companies that he is very sure will grow relatively rapidly for at least 10 years.
What is the difference between category 1 and category 2?
Category 1 (multiple changes) are responsible for almost all of the day-to-day, minute-to minute, movement in stock prices. Category 2 (fundamental growth) is responsible for most of the long term change in a stock’s price over a period of years. This creates two major categories of ways to make money from stock price increases.
Why does stock price go up?
The faster a business grows, the more willing investors are to purchase its stock, and the more they are willing to pay for it. If the supply of stock remains the same while the demand for it increases , the stock price will go up.
Why do companies go up in stock market?
Corporate executives often have a vested interest in making company stock go up, either because it increases the value of their stock options or because their compensation is tied to the stock price. Because it is easier to make the stock price go up than to increase company profits, top executives sometimes spare no effort to push up the stock price. One way is to buy back company shares in the open market: When the number of shares decreases, the business value per share increases, making the stock more valuable. Another way is to boost sales by buying a fast-growing business with company stock – a virtual currency that executives can literally create out of thin air by issuing additional stock to pay for the acquisition.
What are the factors that affect the value of a stock?
1. Three Factors That Affect the Market Value of a Stock. 2. What Makes a Stock Split? 3. Factors Affecting the Direction of Stock Prices. A stock’s price is what investors are willing to pay for it. Investors commonly buy a stock when they believe its price is going higher, hoping to sell it at a profit later.
What is a share of stock?
A share of stock represents a proportionate ownership in a business. Businesses are valued on the amount of money they make. If a business goes from making $100,000 annually to $1 million while the share count remains the same, its stock could be worth 10 times more.
What are some examples of business value?
For example: The value of a restaurant chain can be based on how much money it is making now, and on how much more it can be expected to make in the future by opening new restaurants. Another example: When the chances increase that an unprofitable biotech company will get ...
Who is Slav Fedorov?
He has worked in financial services for more than 20 years, serving as a banker, financial planner and stockbroker. Now working as a professional trader, Fedorov is also the founder of a stock-picking company.
How to value a stock?
The most common way to value a stock is to compute the company's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio . The P/E ratio equals the company's stock price divided by its most recently reported earnings per share (EPS). A low P/E ratio implies that an investor buying the stock is receiving an attractive amount of value.
Why is price to book ratio important?
A company's price-to-book ratio is only marginally useful for evaluating companies, like software tech companies, that have asset-light business models. This metric is more relevant for evaluating asset-heavy businesses, such as banks and other financial institutions.
What is passive investing?
Passive investors subscribe to the efficient market hypothesis, which posits that a stock's market price is always equal to its intrinsic value. Passive investors believe that all known information is already priced into a stock and, therefore, its price accurately reflects its value.
Who said it's better to buy a company at a fair price than a fair company at a
As Warren Buffett famously said, "It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.". John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Robin Hartill, CFP has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.
What is GAAP earnings?
GAAP is shorthand for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and a company's GAAP earnings are those reported in compliance with them. A company's GAAP earnings are the amount of profit it generates on an unadjusted basis, meaning without regard for one-off or unusual events such as business unit purchases or tax incentives received. Most financial websites report P/E ratios that use GAAP-compliant earnings numbers.
What is the book value of a stock?
Price is the company's stock price and book refers to the company's book value per share. A company's book value is equal to its assets minus its liabilities (asset and liability numbers are found on companies' balance sheets). A company's book value per share is simply equal to the company's book value divided by the number of outstanding shares. ...
What is value trap?
These types of stocks are known as value traps. A value trap may take the form of the stock of a pharmaceutical company with a valuable patent that soon expires, a cyclical stock at the peak of the cycle, or the stock of a tech company whose once-innovative offering is being commoditized.
2.1 About Fundamental Analysis
Why to do fundamental analysis? This way we can ‘ estimate fair price ‘ of stocks. Once fair price of a stock is known, it can be compared with its market price to understand if the stock is ‘ overpriced ‘ or not.
2.2 Correlation Between Financial Reports, Business Fundamentals & Fair Price
This is the crux of fundamental analysis of stocks. If we can learn to establish a correlation between financial statements, its business fundamentals, and its fair price – it all about it.
2.3 Two Methods to Predict Stock Price
There are two ways one can predict stock price. One is by evaluation of the stock’s intrinsic value. Second is by trying to guess stock’s future PE and EPS.
2.4 Future PE-EPS Method
This method of predicting future price of a stock is based on a basic formula. The formula is shown above (P/E x EPS = Price).
Conclusion
Access the price data, and financial report of you stock as suggested in the above article. You can use these numbers to predict what will be the future price of stock – after 3 years from today ( Check the 3 steps ).
Why are dividend stocks attractive?
It's always nice to have a back-up when a stock's growth falters. This is why dividend-paying stocks are attractive to many investors—even when prices drop, you get a paycheck. The dividend yield shows how much of a payday you're getting for your money. By dividing the stock's annual dividend by the stock's price, you get a percentage. You can think of that percentage as the interest on your money, with the additional chance at growth through the appreciation of the stock.
What does a PEG ratio mean?
A PEG of 1 means you're breaking even if growth continues as it has in the past.
What is book value?
The book value usually includes equipment, buildings, land and anything else that can be sold, including stock holdings and bonds. With purely financial firms, the book value can fluctuate with the market as these stocks tend to have a portfolio of assets that goes up and down in value.
Who is Andrew Beattie?
Andrew Beattie was part of the original editorial team at Investopedia and has spent twenty years writing on a diverse range of financial topics including business, investing, personal finance, and trading.
Can a stock go up without earnings?
A stock can go up in value without significant earnings increases, but the P/E ratio is what decides if it can stay up. Without earnings to back up the price, a stock will eventually fall back down. An important point to note is that one should only compare P/E ratios among companies in similar industries and markets.
Why are stocks under $10?
For the most part, they are under $10 because many are companies in their early development stages and not turning a profit. In an attempt to grow and raise more money, they issue more shares on the public market. Slowly but surely, they hope to become mega-cap stocks.
What does "float" mean in stock?
By definition, “float” means the number of shares available for trading. For example, as of October 2020, Apple had 17.09 billion shares in the market to buy and sell. Because of this large number, we consider Apple a “mega cap” stock.
What is RVOL ratio?
RVOL, displayed as a ratio, compares the current volume to the normal volume for the same time of day. For example, if a stock is trading five times its normal volume, it would have a relative volume display of five.
What is the RSI score?
The Relative Strength Index, or RSI for short, is one of the momentum indicators. This indicator is based on past volatility and performance and uses a numerical score between 1-100.
What is MACD in trading?
MACD shows the relationship between two moving averages and it functions as a buy and sell trigger. Even though it is up to the trader’s discretion, you typically use the 12-day and 26-day exponential moving averages (EMAs). When the 12-day EMA is greater than the 26-day EMA, you get a +MACD value.
Is volume a breakout?
More importantly, volume precedes price. A surge in volume is mandatory to confirm a breakout. If there’s no volume, it is not a breakout; it could be just a false rally.

Fundamental Factors
Technical Factors
- Things would be easier if only fundamental factors set stock prices. Technical factors are the mix of external conditions that alter the supply of and demand for a company's stock. Some of these indirectly affect fundamentals. For example, economic growthindirectly contributes to earnings growth. Technical factors include the following.
News
- While it is hard to quantify the impact of news or unexpected developments inside a company, industry, or the global economy, you can't argue that it does influence investor sentiment. The political situation, negotiations between countries or companies, product breakthroughs, mergers and acquisitions, and other unforeseen events can impact stocks and the stock market. Since s…
Market Sentiment
- Market sentiment refers to the psychology of market participants, individually and collectively. This is perhaps the most vexing category. Market sentiment is often subjective, biased, and obstinate. For example, you can make a solid judgment about a stock's future growth prospects, and the future may even confirm your projections, but in the meantime, the market may myopica…
The Bottom Line
- Different types of investors depend on different factors. Short-term investors and traders tend to incorporate and may even prioritize technical factors. Long-term investors prioritize fundamentals and recognize that technical factors play an important role. Investors who believe strongly in fundamentals can reconcile themselves to technical forces with the following popular argument…