Stock FAQs

what does it mean when stock market goes up

by Fatima Conroy Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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The phrase "market is up" means the stock, bond, or commodity market, or an index representing them, currently trades higher than it did at some specific point in the past. Most of the time, financial media and individual investors refer to the stock market, saying it is up or down, they are comparing it to the previous trading session.

If more people want to buy a stock (demand) than sell it (supply), then the price moves up. Conversely, if more people wanted to sell a stock than buy it, there would be greater supply than demand, and the price would fall. Understanding supply and demand is easy.

Full Answer

Why stock market went down?

Why Is the Stock Market Down Today? Among the factors driving valuations in the market are bond yields. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield is commonly used as the risk-free rate for models.

Why do stocks keep going up?

because everyone's buying them. People need to understand stocks don't go up on their own. Literally hear this question thousands of times a day. Stocks go up because people like the price and buy them. Stocks go down when people don't like the price and think they will go lower and sell them.

When will the stock market go back up?

When fair price of a stock is below its current price, the stock has good possibility to go up in times to come. How soon it will go up? It depends on the degree of undervaluation. As a rule of thumb, a popular stock which is trading at a discount to its fair price (say at 2/3rd levels), can go up within next few months.

Will Stocks go up soon?

Stocks ... as go on vacation over the next six months. Other reports showed U.S. home sales increased for a third straight month in November, and that gross domestic product increased at a 2.3% annualized rate in the July-September quarter, revised up ...

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Is it good when a stock price goes up?

In general, strong earnings generally result in the stock price moving up (and vice versa). But some companies that are not making that much money still have a rocketing stock price. This rising price reflects investor expectations that the company will be profitable in the future.

What will cause the stock market to rise?

If there is a greater number of buyers than sellers (more demand), the buyers bid up the prices of the stocks to entice sellers to sell more. If there are more sellers than buyers, prices go down until they reach a level that entices buyers.

How do you make money in the stock market?

Collecting dividends—Many stocks pay dividends, a distribution of the company's profits per share. Typically issued each quarter, they're an extra reward for shareholders, usually paid in cash but sometimes in additional shares of stock.

What determines a stock price?

After a company goes public, and its shares start trading on a stock exchange, its share price is determined by supply and demand for its shares in the market. If there is a high demand for its shares due to favorable factors, the price will increase.

Learn why the stock market and individual stocks tend to fluctuate and how you can use that information to become a better investor

Tim writes about technology and consumer goods stocks for The Motley Fool. He's a value investor at heart, doing his best to avoid hyped-up nonsense. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @TMFBargainBin

What affects stock price?

High demand for a stock drives the stock price higher, but what causes that high demand in the first place? It's all about how investors feel:

The big picture is what matters

Long-term investors, like those of us at The Motley Fool, don't much care about the short-term developments that push stock prices up and down each trading day. When you have years or even decades to let your money grow, analyst reports and earnings beats are often fleeting and irrelevant.

What happens when you buy one share of Apple?

If you buy one share of Apple or Exxon or Walmart, when those companies make money, you make money. It's really that simple. When you invest in the stock market, you are investing in (mostly profitable) companies. They actually provide goods and services that people want and are willing to exchange money for.

What is index fund?

An index fund is a mutual fund (a bunch of investors pooling their money together and hiring a professional to manage it) where the manager simply buys all the stocks being traded on the market and holds on to them, passing on the dividends to the investors and providing economies of scale and liquidity.

Why does the stock market go up?

So the reason the price of a company goes up (and the reason the stock market goes up over the long term) is because it makes more money. In financial terms, a company is really only worth the return on your money that it can generate. There are basically three sources of return when it comes to owning a company:

Is inflation a good reason to invest in stocks?

Inflation is a great reason to INVEST IN STOCKS, not avoid them! It's one of the main reasons you invest, not a reason not to invest. Perhaps people claim that the US stock market is just a historical exception. Well, the data doesn't seem to support that conclusion.

Is the stock market a casino?

Thus, you see the stock market is not a casino, at least in the long-term. It's just the place you go to buy profitable companies. In one respect, it is a bit casino-like. This is due to the costs of transacting in the market. These can be:

Is the stock market a closed system?

The stock market is not a closed system. There are inputs into the system. Those inputs are work. The work of people creates value. Some of that value goes back to the people who provide it in the form of salaries and benefits. The rest of it goes to the owners of the companies.

Is inflation going away?

Inflation has been with us for a long, long time and is probably not going to go away for any lengthy period of time. In fact, our government and banks are actually trying to keep inflation going. They aim for an inflation rate of around 2% per year. You have probably noticed that the cost of cars, food, gasoline, houses, health care, and education continue to rise each year and will probably continue to do so.

What does a manipulator do?

All a manipulator needs to do is execute a few carefully timed trades to create the illusion that a stock is moving so he can get others to buy or sell. The goal is to raise the price if he wants to sell and to lower the price if he wants to buy.

What does it mean when a stock starts trading at low volumes?

When a stock begins irregularly trading at low volumes, it's usually a warning sign: proceed with caution. Low-volume stocks may express trading volatility, market uncertainty or a liquidity risk.

What does price action mean?

Price action reflects investor sentiment. If a stock is rising, investors are eager to buy; if it is falling, investors are eager to sell. But for a move to be valid, the stock price action must be confirmed by volume. As technicians say, volume goes with the trend. Volume shows how much conviction investors have in a trend.

What does volume mean in stock trading?

What Does Volume Mean When Trading Stocks? A stock's trade volume represents the total number of shares or contracts that are traded for a specific security during a specific time period. A stock's volume is high when its securities are more actively trading and, conversely, a stock's volume is low when its securities are less actively trading.

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.

Pro Tip

Investing always carries some risk. That’s why it’s a good idea to spread out your investments among many different stocks.

Fundamental Factors

The two most fundamental factors boil down to profitability and the valuation ratio, says Juan Pablo Villamarin, CFA and senior investment analyst at Intercontinental Wealth Advisors.

Technical Factors

Technical factors are things that change the supply and demand of the stock that won’t fundamentally alter the prospects of generating cash, Plumb says.

News

If you’ve ever seen a company’s stock price go up or down following an earnings call, it’s because of the news.

Market Sentiment

Market sentiment, or investor sentiment, is the investor outlook regarding a particular stock’s performance in the market. Sentiment drives demand, which also influences supply.

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Too Many Market Indicators

  • This is one probable cause why the stock market goes up and down. The thing is that every investor will always be convinced knowing the fact that they could have a good share on the stock market. However, if they would see from the different market indicators. In particular, the red flag to be considered for them, they would withdraw. Investors wil...
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Trends

  • This is where there are two situations to consider the momentum and the reverting to the mean. The momentum happens when there is a certain period of time where the trends of the stock keep on moving up. This is the reason and factor behind the higher value of the stock in the market. On the other hand, this reverting to the mean happens when the stocks keep on moving down. Ther…
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News

  • The news can be political or even a country’s headline. Most of the investors especially the big companies to the market. They all have an eye for the various news in their community. This only means that whatever they read and see will always affect the status of the market. Usually, when the investors find out that there is news about the government policies involve and change to th…
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Your Market Sentiment

  • This is all about you having your own judgment to whatever you hear, perception, and values for you to decide. Oftentimes people are willing to take a risks and wanted to see the possibility out of the stock market. They are the ones who helped the market to function well. The fact is when an individual has their own opinion about the growth of the stock on the market then this will aff…
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The Stock Market Is An Auction

  • The thing about the market is between the seller and the buyer as well. There are a lot of sellers and buyers at the same time who wants to make a close agreement. Individuals, corporate, and big companies can have their own agreement to start the auction. The auction affects the stock market. It is because of the fact that when there is a volume of the agreement to the buyers and …
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Moves of Both Parties, The Sellers and The Buyer

  • There are a lot of things that might influence both buyers and sellers. So, what you need to know as beginner investors in the stock market is that there are influences. This might affect the status of the market. Whenever a seller has changed their mind according to the price range they are offering as an exchange to the buyer and if it suits the market. You can expect that the inflation …
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Financial Events

  • There are external activities to be considered. But the thing is whenever there is a piece of financial event news to the stock market. Then there will always be an effect to it. You can always affect that when the financial news or events happens in the country it will push the stock market to go down. This is because most of the investors believed it is an indication. However, if the fin…
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