The global stock market is really big: billions of shares of thousands of stocks from dozens of countries around the world, influenced by everything from the political climate to the actual climate. And yet stocks are a major element of the most basic investment portfolios. Even elementary school students learn about how the stock market works. A good understanding of how the stock market works is an important part of financial literacy. However, it’s just the beginning of your education about the stock market.
In all aspects of life, learning doesn’t end when you leave school and the same is true for investing. There’s always more to know and whether you’re diving deep or just staying up to date, learning new things will make you a better, smarter investor. But as a busy adult, it can be hard to fit study time into your schedule. For some people, a quick glance at the morning paper is all the time there is, while others like to take advantage of commuting time. In order to help you out, we’ve compiled a list of some great ways to keep expanding your investing education, in whatever format works best for you.
Website: Investopedia
The aptly named Investopedia is an online encyclopedia of every investment topic you can imagine. It’s got news, analysis, and courses for all investor levels. They have a thorough glossary of financial terms, articles about the history of investing, and video tutorials covering everything from technical analysis to personal finance. Most importantly, perhaps, the site can serve as a great reference guide to check back in with as you learn more and more about investing.
Newspaper: The Wall Street Journal
In print since 1889, the Wall Street Journal began as news bulletins for stock traders and has continued in that tradition ever since. To this day, it remains one of the world’s most trusted sources of market news. Although it covers all news topics and isn’t exclusively a financial publication, the Wall Street Journal focuses on financial and business news more than most mainstream outlets.
App: Yahoo Finance App
The website Yahoo! Finance is one of the most popular places on the web for financial updates and its app is following in its footsteps. The app lets you track specific stocks, bonds, commodities, indices and more and set up personalized notifications so that you can stay up to date on the things that interest you most. It even lets you track and edit your financial portfolio right from your phone.
Book: The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
This book may have been published in 1949 and last revised in the early 1970s, but it’s stood the test of time. It’s considered a classic and one of the basics for any investor. Graham promoted the idea of Value Investing: buying securities when their price is below their value. Warren Buffet was one of his most prominent students, which we think is a pretty good recommendation.
Podcast: Planet Money
For something a little more casual, try the NPR podcast Planet Money. Episodes are short and each one uses laymen’s terms to explore a different topic in economics or financial news. Topics range from manufacturing and agriculture to marketing and what causes a global financial crisis. Most importantly, the Planet Money team sounds like they have a lot of fun with every topic, making the podcast an entertaining way to learn about even the most boring topics.