Use this calculator to find Net Present Value, based off expected annual growth, cash flow over a variable number of years, and separations of cash flow between investments and operations. This calculator will help you determine the attractiveness of a company by seeing how much it would be worth if you wanted to buy it Read More…

Picking Stocks – The Basics The most challenging aspect of starting to invest is picking the first few stocks to add to a portfolio. Every investor has their own techniques and strategies, but we want to give you the tools you need to place your first trades, and get your portfolio off to a running Read More…

The most challenging aspect of starting to invest is picking the first few stocks to add to a portfolio. Every investor has their own techniques and strategies, but we want to give you the tools you need to place your first trades, and get your portfolio off to a running start. Establish Goals Before choosing Read More…

The definitive StockTrak user guide. Details on creating your account, making your first trade, managing your portfolio, and everything you need to get started.

These tutorial videos walk through how to make trades, use different order types, conduct research, and manage your portfolio.

Large companies that have lots of investors often issue “stocks” or “shares” to the investors as a way of showing ownership. If you bought 100 shares of a company you might get a stock certificate like the one below indicating your ownership. If you decided you no longer wanted to own those shares you could Read More…

How Do I Build a Diversified Portfolio? Understanding what it means to build a diversified portfolio is one of the first concepts a new investor needs to understand. When talking about stocks, diversification means to make sure you don’t “put all of your eggs in one basket.” What Does It Mean To Diversify? Simply put, Read More…

Bonds are essentially a much more formal I.O.U (I owe you) used to borrow money. You buy the bond in return to interest over a given period of time. When a corporation or government needs money they issue bonds that people buy. In turn, the issuer (the person who sells the bond) takes the money. However, no one would buy something if they didn’t get something in return, so the issuer will offer to not only pay the person back at a specified date but also provide some interest along the way.

Definition: A “Ticker Symbol” is a unique one to five letter code used by the stock exchanges to identify a company. It is called a ticker symbol because the stock quotes used to be printed on a ticker tape machine that looked like the images below.  WARNING: The ticker symbol is NOT just an abbreviation of Read More…

Mutual Funds are a way you can buy into a wide range of stocks, bonds, money markets, or other securities all at once. They are professionally managed, so you’re basically buying a piece of a larger portfolio.     Definition Mutual Funds come in several different “flavors,” but the core concept is always the same. Read More…

ETFs are a fairly new way that you can buy a large group of stocks, assets, or other securities all at once. ETFs trade just like stock; you can buy and sell shares of an ETF throughout the day on an exchange. Definition ETF funds are not usually actively managed, instead they work like an Read More…

Simply put, when you have money to invest for an extended period of time (like 20 years or more), the stock market historically has provided the greatest return. When most people are able to save money, they usually put it in the bank. Banks usually pay interest on the cash in your account, so if Read More…

Definition A stock quote represents the last price at which a seller and a buyer of a stock agreed on a price to make the trade. Because stock prices are determined by a continuous auction process between buyers and sellers, stock prices change frequently as the buyers and sellers change. Prices also change as new Read More…

Following is a list of the most popular (largest) mutual funds. Rank Symbol Fund Name 1 PIMCO:Tot Rtn;Inst 2 Fidelity Cash Reserves 3 Vanguard Prime MM;Inv 4 Vanguard T StMk Idx;Inv 5 Vanguard Instl Indx;Inst 6 JPMorgan:Prime MM;Cap 7 Fidelity Contrafund 8 Vanguard 500 Index;Adm 9 Vanguard T StMk Idx;Adm 10 American Funds CIB;A 11 Read More…