Stock FAQs

what makes a stock go lower

by Guadalupe Dickinson Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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The stock price decreases when the number of people who are willing to sell the stock (supply) is greater than the number of people who are willing to buy the stock (demand). It’s simple to say that the price fluctuations are due to demand and supply, but, what causes the demand and supply is a fascinating subject to understand.

Stock prices go up and down based on supply and demand. When people want to buy a stock versus sell it, the price goes up. If people want to sell a stock versus buying it, the price goes down. Forecasting whether there will be more buyers or sellers of a certain stock requires additional research, however.Jan 28, 2022

Full Answer

Why do Stocks go up and down?

Everything from a breakout news story to a shareholder meeting can impact a stock’s price. A lot of times, it has to do with supply and demand, such as we saw during the infamous GameStop surge, when a collective of small individual traders drove share prices up.

What happens when you sell a stock at a lower price?

The person buying it at that lower price–the price you sold it for–doesn't necessarily profit from your loss and must wait for the stock to rise before making a profit. The company that issued the stock doesn't get the money from your declining stock price either.

Why do some stocks have a lower multiple than others?

First, it is a function of perceived risk. A riskier stock earns a higher discount rate, which, in turn, earns a lower multiple. Second, it is a function of inflation (or interest rates, arguably).

Why are stocks disappearing from the market?

Essentially, it has disappeared into thin air, reflecting dwindling investor interest and a decline in investor perception of the stock. That's because stock prices are determined by supply and demand and investor perception of value and viability.

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What causes a stock price to go down?

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.

What are 4 factors that affect stock prices?

Stock prices rise when buy orders outnumber sell orders, and prices decline when sell orders outnumber buy orders. Demand is proportional to four factors: earnings, economy, expectations and emotion. Stock prices usually rise when all four factors are positive and fall when all four are negative.

What drives a stock price?

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.

How do you predict if a stock will go up or down?

Topics#1. Influence of FPI/FII and DII.#2. Influence of company's fundamentals. #2.1 About fundamental analysis. #2.2 Correlation between reports, fundamentals & fair price. #2.3 Two methods to predict stock price. #2.4 Future PE-EPS method. #1 Step: Estimate future PE. #2 Step: Estimate future EPS.

Why do stock prices go up and down?

Stock prices go up and down based on supply and demand. When people want to buy a stock versus selling it, the price goes up. If people want to sell a stock versus buying it, the price goes down. Forecasting whether there will be more buyers or sellers in a stock requires additional research, however. Buyers are attracted to stocks ...

Why do stocks go up?

Sometimes, stocks go up simply because they have been going up. In a strategy known as momentum investing, investors buy shares in rising stocks and sell shares in those that are following. This momentum builds on itself and continues to drive rising share prices higher.

Why are buyers attracted to stocks?

Buyers are attracted to stocks for any number of reasons, from low valuation to new product lines to market hype. Learning how the stock exchange works is the first step in understanding the factors that make a stock go up and down; knowing what makes stocks valuable can help you predict which ones are more likely to rise.

What attracts buyers to a stock?

One of the factors that attracts buyers to a stock is valuation . Companies can be valued in a number of different ways, but earnings per share and P/E ratio are two common factors in the equation.

What is stock in business?

A stock is simply an ownership share in a physical company. Stock shares allow investors to buy or sell an interest in a company on an exchange through a bidding process. Sellers indicate prices at which they are asking to give up their shares, and buyers similarly post prices at which they’re bidding to buy shares.

What happens after a trade at $10.10?

After the first trade at $10.10, there are no more sellers willing to accept such a low price. The next trade occurs at $10.20, as the demand to pay a higher price exceeds the willingness of sellers to accept a lower price.

Is it possible for a stock to go up or down?

In spite of all the ways to evaluate stocks, the truth is that no one can say with absolute certainty when a stock will go up in value or down. However, in the long run, the trend in the overall stock market is up.

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.

Why is low 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 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 ...

Why do you buy stock with a valuation multiple?

That's the reason for the valuation multiple: It is the price you are willing to pay for the future stream of earnings. 1:26.

Where are stock prices determined?

Stock prices are determined in the marketplace, where seller supply meets buyer demand. But have you ever wondered about what drives the stock market—that is, what factors affect a stock's price? Unfortunately, there is no clean equation that tells us exactly how a stock price will behave.

Do company stocks track with the market?

Company stocks tend to track with the market and with their sector or industry peers. Some prominent investment firms argue that the combination of overall market and sector movements—as opposed to a company's individual performance—determines a majority of a stock's movement.

What is Stock Price?

Stock price refers to the current price that a share of stock is trading at.

Why do stock prices go up and down?

The price of any product being sold in the market is set by the demand and supply of the particular product.

Why do stock prices go up and down – Key factors that affect

The earnings of a company are calculated from a company’s profits. Almost all the investors are unable to invest in a profitable company. The Stock prices show the actual value of the future earnings expectations of the company.

Reasons that cause an increase in demand

When Such a Thing Happens, Retailers can Buy the Share with more ease, This Automatically Increases the Volume, i.e., Demand Increases.

A bear market could be in the offing -- but it's not all bad news for investors

Following a historically strong bounce from the March 2020 pandemic lows, Wall Street and investors have endured a rough start to 2022. Through this past weekend, the benchmark S&P 500 ( ^GSPC -1.01% ) and technology-driven Nasdaq Composite were lower by 8.8% and 13.4%, respectively, on a year-to-date basis.

Five reasons the stock market could crash in the short term

Though there is a laundry list of catalysts that can push the S&P 500 and growth-oriented Nasdaq Composite lower, five stand out as most worrisome.

1. The Fed is pumping the brakes

The first issue is the Federal Reserve's plans to end quantitative easing (QE) measures and begin raising interest rates.

2. We're in uncharted territory with inflation

Perhaps the one thing Wall Street and investors value above all else is certainty. Even though history doesn't repeat, it often rhymes. When it comes to inflation and the Fed, we're entering uncharted territory.

4. Margin debt is at a precarious level

A fourth reason the stock market can plunge is due to the amount of outstanding margin debt. Margin debt is the money investors borrow with interest to purchase or short-sell securities.

5. High-risk trades appear to be unwinding

Lastly, a number of high-risk trades that have brought retail dollars into the stock market are beginning to break down.

Here's why I'm not worried (and you shouldn't be, either)

I freely admit that the above five reasons paints a bleak picture for the stock market. But it's not all bad news.

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 a stock tumbles?

When a stock tumbles and an investor loses money, the money doesn't get redistributed to someone else. Essentially, it has disappeared into thin air, reflecting dwindling investor interest and a decline in investor perception of the stock. That's because stock prices are determined by supply and demand and investor perception of value and viability.

What happens when investors perceive a stock?

When investor perception of a stock diminishes, so does the demand for the stock, and, in turn, the price. So faith and expectations can translate into cold hard cash, but only because of something very real: the capacity of a company to create something, whether it is a product people can use or a service people need.

How is value created or dissolved?

On the one hand, value can be created or dissolved with the change in a stock's implicit value, which is determined by the personal perceptions and research of investors and analysts.

What is implicit value in stocks?

Depending on investors' perceptions and expectations for the stock, implicit value is based on revenues and earnings forecasts. If the implicit value undergoes a change—which, really, is generated by abstract things like faith and emotion—the stock price follows.

What is short selling?

Short Selling. There are investors who place trades with a broker to sell a stock at a perceived high price with the expectation that it'll decline. These are called short-selling trades. If the stock price falls, the short seller profits by buying the stock at the lower price–closing out the trade.

What does it mean when a company is in a bull market?

In a bull market, there is an overall positive perception of the market's ability to keep producing and creating.

What happens if you buy a stock for $10 and sell it for $5?

If you purchase a stock for $10 and sell it for only $5, you will lose $5 per share. It may feel like that money must go to someone else, but that isn't exactly true. It doesn't go to the person who buys the stock from you.

Why are stocks going down?

Political issues, economic concerns, earnings disappointments and countless other reasons can send stocks lower or higher. But over the long term, stock prices will be driven by just a handful of fundamental factors such as earnings growth and changes in valuation.

Why are stocks volatile?

Stocks were volatile around the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections as investors waited to see which administration would be in charge for the next four years. But often, the reaction of markets isn’t obvious and traders can quickly shift their attention to a new topic of concern or excitement.

What is the effect of higher discount rates on valuation?

Higher discount rates lower the valuation investors are willing to pay. An investor who demands a 12 percent return is willing to pay less for the same asset as an investor who requires only an 8 percent return. The change in valuation can have a big impact on investors’ returns over time.

Why do companies share their earnings with shareholders?

Mature companies tend to share more of their earnings with shareholders in the form of dividends or share repurchases because they aren’t able to deploy it themselves at attractive rates of return.

What is technical analysis in stock trading?

This analysis uses recent price movements and chart patterns in an effort to predict a stock’s future direction. Technical analysis can influence a stock’s price over the short term, but ultimately its value will come from the long-term earnings power of the business.

What is the key contributor to a company's return?

A key contributor to your return is the company’s growth in profits. This will be driven by the growth rate of the overall economy as well as the circumstances of the specific business.

How has online retail benefited from the shifts in the way people shop?

Some businesses, such as online retail, have benefited from massive shifts in the way people shop, creating long runways for growth. Others, such as traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are challenged by the changing competitive landscape and may struggle to grow or even maintain their earnings.

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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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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