Stock Market Basics

1. What Is a Stock?

What it actually means to own a share of a company, and the rights and risks that come with it.

2. How Does the Stock Market Work?

How buy and sell orders get matched, the role of exchanges and brokers, and why prices update in real time.

3. NYSE vs NASDAQ

How the two largest US stock exchanges differ in structure, listing requirements, and the companies that trade on them.

4. What Is the S&P 500?

The index that tracks 500 large US companies, how it's built, and why it's the most-watched benchmark in investing.

5. Bull Market vs Bear Market

What these terms officially mean, what tends to drive each, and how long-term investors typically respond.

6. Market Capitalization Explained

How to calculate a company's market cap, what the size categories mean, and why it matters for diversification.

7. How Stock Prices Move

The forces behind day-to-day price changes — from earnings and economic data to sentiment and order flow.

8. Types of Stock Orders

Market, limit, and stop orders explained with concrete examples — including when each one makes sense.

9. Dividend Stocks Explained

What dividends are, how yield and payout ratios work, and the key dates every dividend investor should know.

10. Growth vs Value Stocks

Two broad investing styles compared — how they're identified, their typical risk/reward profiles, and how investors often blend them.

11. How to Read a Stock Quote

How to interpret price, day range, volume, market cap, P/E ratio, and dividend yield on a typical stock quote page.