Why do individual stocks go up and down and who receives the money for the purchases and sales?
88807
Stocks go up and down due to supply and demand foreces created by buyers and sellers.\n\nMore demand, less supply = Price go up\n\nMore supply, less deman = price go down\n\nBuyers receive the money, sellers pay up the money\n\nBrokers get a commission. The stock market is a minus sum game as broker commissions whittle away the value that is being traded with their commissions.
192046
By buying back its shares in the market and then cancelling them. Often done in UK and US as it then increases earnings per share
1058114
Companies issue and sell their stock to raise money. So stocks give you ownership of the company which issued stocks. Stock market is where stocks are being traded: sold and bought; example New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, etc. That's a 30-second overview. Go to website www.investopedia.com.. Very good website to get education. Also, there is a stock trader simulator, give it a try.
1025851
They have different prices.  Some do a flat rate, some take a percentage of investments.  Ask each one their price.
386133
Good question....\nWhen supply is down, demand and price go up \nWhen supply goes up probably because demand goes down so does the price.....I think its something like that but...try reading a book called Business Essentials
135166
depends on how well the market is doing. If the total niumber of people buy more then they sell, the sensex raises. IF the opposite occurs, the market goes down.
652874
For every share sold, there is a share bought; \nfor every seller, there is a buyer.\nThe money that you lost might have gone to a short-seller who first sold the stock at $40 and then bought it back at $30, or it might have gone to somebody who bought the stock at $30 and will (in the future) sell the stock at $40. (By the way - the company itself might have been the buyer!)\nBottom line is that the $10 did NOT go INTO your pocket, it came OUT of your pocket!
248796
The stock market is simply a meeting place of buyers and sellers.\n\nThe price at which stocks are sold is simply where they agree on the value of that stock.\n\nIf there are an equal number of buyers and sellers with an equal proportion of sentiment then the price will never change.\n\nWhen a stock price changes it's because there is an oversupply of buyers or sellers.\n\nSo in the case of a stock price dropping, more people want to sell than buy and therefore the price is pushed down by those sellers until it reaches a new equilibrium.\n\nThe cause of people selling is varied.  Some people sell because of a bad newspaper article.  Some people sell because they want to buy a new car.  Some mutual funds sell because of a reweighting of their portfolio.  Some traders sell because a particular level has been reached.  Some people sell because of change in the fundamentals of the company (sales, profits, market competition etc.).  There's probably another 100 reasons that could be added here.\n\nOne thing about the market is that it's like a herd and often movements cause more movements in the same direction.\n\nCheers,\nRichard.
729205
Its because the market is constantly changing and thats what day traders try to capitalize on. Stocks make money through either capital appreciation (raises in value) or dividends (money paid out from company). Day traders usually do trades that run from a couple of thousand dollars to much more. They make their money by using the large amount of stock purchased with those thousands and then later sell them after capital appreciation. Meaning the value of the stocks went up and they sold them for more and since they bought so much stock those few cents turned into much more than even thousands in some cases. The reason its so risky is because stocks fluctuate meaning they also go down although historically the stock market continually rises. Hope that gave you an idea.
1050996
I'm asumming you are referring to purchasing stocks on different exchanges.  Sometimes there is a small spread difference, but arbritragers usually eliminate that very quickly.  Also, the fees may be slightly different.
1162116
Your question is confusing people, but I think I know what you mean.\n\nWhen you hear them report "profit taking" in the news it has nothing to do with the mutual fund or the underlying companies making a profit.  It has to do with speculators holding stocks that have appreciated substantially and selling those investments to secure the gain.  By dumping shares into the market and by them no longer adding demand buy buying, they add supply and reduce demand causing the entire market to fall in price.  Since mutual funds are usually broadly diversified holders of a sizeable segment of the market, the mutual fund's price falls with everyone elses.\n\nThe profit was taken by someone else, not you and by the time you found out about it, it was gone.\n\nDON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.  Mutual fund investors should ignore price fluctuations.
181745
...  and the price of the stock is adjusted accordingly.  For instance, if you had 300 shares at $15 each, after the split you would have 400 shares at $11.25 apiece.\n\nAs a general rule, the purpose of a stock split is to lower the price of the stock, supposedly to get more people to buy the shares.
1042896
I don't get it, either.  When things go on sale at the supermarket, everyone goes to get stuff, so why isn't it the same for the Stock Market?  Beats me.  That sheep thing is about right.
146107
I haven't had this happen to me, but the way to avoid this is to select investments (brokerages, mutual funds, banks) that allow you to view their results and see if other people have lost money on the same investment.
593181
Well, the old addage is true...it takes money to make money.  The more you have to invest, the more you can make.  I've made $30K in one day based on one buy of $100K worth of the stock.\n\nOne word:  RESEARCH\n\nRemember, the more you invest, the more you can LOSE too!!!
294475
The fact that someone will pay it. If no one buys them, they suddenly start to sell for less.
722283
Short selling is absolutely insane for you if you are asking a question like this.\n\nA "short sale" is basically a minus sign in front of what would happen if you bought a stock. \n\nSo, if you normally buy a share of stock (say for a hundred dollars) and it goes up a dollar, you make a dollar (or a 1% return). And if it goes down a dollar, you lose a dollar (for a -1% return). When you have sold a share short, if the real share goes up a dollar, you lose a dollar, and vice versa.\n\nThat's all there is too it. You lose money if the stock goes up, and make money if it goes down, the opposite of what would happen if you engaged in the normal transaction of purchasing a share.\n\n(There are a number of related things that happen because you have to pay interest on the borrowed share, but you can invest the money that you got from selling, but at the same time you can't invest the money that you used to buy a share... you can ignore all this and interest you pay or receive all comes out in the wash; the market is fair.)\n\nSo, if it's so simple, why would it be insane for you to do? Because, most stocks go up most of the time. \n\nOther investors have invested their money in companies that are out there, and many of those investors both have done more homework than you, and are smarter all around investors anyway. So, If a company has shares traded, that means that other people think that investment is going to go up. The stock market is not flipping coins, companies create value out of thin air by people working hard. So, people work hard and create value and shareholders benefit from that.\n\nSo, since shares are expected to go up, when would you ever bet that they'll go down?\n\nAnswer: NEVER\n\nSo, why would you short sell?\n\nWell, you short sell to get rid of risk in your portfolio from other investments. Here is the easiest example: if you are Henry Ford VI and you inherited a bunch of Ford shares and you are not allowed to sell them, you can keep them, and short sell somebody else's. You still own yours, but if they go up $1, you don't earn the $1 because you also short sold another one which lost a dollar, so no matter what Ford does, you break even. Now you can invest your money sensibly in what you want, instead of all in Ford. All in Ford is risky, and short selling for you actually reduces your risk instead of increasing it.\n\nThat (and similar transactions) are what short selling is for.