Until previously, my knowledge of the stock market was middling. I knew that it went up sometimes, down sometimes, and that sometimes, like a ship on a stormy night, it crashed. I knew that you could buy a little piece of a company for yourself, and that a green arrow was good news, while a red arrow wasn’t.
However, I had no personal experience with it. The closest connection I had with the stock market was my tenth-grade history teacher, who also teaches economics, recounting his experiences and bad luck, and giving us tidbits of advice whenever it happened to occur to him. ‘Buy low, sell high!’
Then one night, my father sat my brother and I down and began to explain the intricacies of the stock market. He assigned us each a sector: my brother would focus on companies that made electric vehicles, while I would research the semiconductor industry. He told us both to read up on our respective areas, watch the news and the markets, and choose a company to invest in.
So, that’s what I did. Slowly, I started immersing myself in this new world. I perused the Financial Times, and I watched CNBC every morning while having breakfast. I added a few choice companies and indexes to the Stocks app on my phone and edited my widgets so that I could keep myself abreast of the market. And one day, I took the leap and invested.
Being young and a first-time investor, I only bought five shares in one company. My dad completed the transactions from his account, creating a new portfolio under my name. I held my breath and watched the numbers.
Nothing happened.
Of course, nothing would. Not that much changes within three minutes. To really see change, you need to step back to a view of at least the past hour, preferably the whole day. Once I did that, my blood really started pumping.
The exhilaration I feel when the arrow is green compared to the misery that a red arrow brings is almost laughable. ‘After all,’ you’re probably thinking, ‘they’re just some numbers on a screen.’ And that they are, but in a way, they’re my numbers. I saved my allowance for months and invested all of it into the stock market (warning: do not invest all of your money into the stock market!) To watch my profit grow is an amazing feeling. To watch it shrink is heartbreaking.
The thought that one day, I could have a sizeable sum in my name just from having bought a few shares of a few companies, is incredible. It didn’t even take that much effort from my end: just some research into something that I was already interested in. While I haven’t seen that much difference yet, having only invested a few weeks ago, I feel certain that in a few years, I’ll be glad that I took this step now.
The great thing about the stock market is that anybody can partake. I encourage everyone to begin their own research, even if it’s just watching a few minutes of market-related news every morning. Eventually, it will pay off.
I wish you luck in your stock market adventures!