What you need to know before you invest : an introduction to the stock market and other investments

Updated to help readers cope with the unusual number of uncertainties that characterize today?s financial markets, this book is a financial primer that will be of special value to first-time investors, but also enlightening to everybody who currently has a personal investment portfolio. The author provides sound fundamental information in clear language that non-experts can understand. Separate chapters give practical advice on how to select a broker and open a brokerage account, and describe how the stock market operates. Readers learn how to cut through the jargon that fills annual reports and other financial statements. They will find clear explanations of mutual funds, stock options, an investor?s legal rights, the tax consequences of investing, market analysis, technical analysis, and much more. Here is information that every potential investor should have before opening an account. A wealth of solid information for inexperienced investors combined with a review of fundamentals for everybody else who invests in money instruments. The author explains the stock market and how it operates, and gives practical advice on how to select a broker and open a brokerage account, and more. New in this edition is up-to-date information on Roth and Education IRAs, a review of recent tax legislation and how it affects investments, and a question-and-answer feature at the end of each chapter. In many ways the economy is like a living person, probably most like a hyperactive teenager.