The stock market is a place for individuals to buy and sell shares. A stock is a share of ownership in a company. More people tend to buy these shares when they think companies are going to do well, as they can gain wealth from their investment, but there is also a chance that they lose money. This is called risk, according to finra.org.

“Buying stock is a way of investing,” personal finance teacher Jill Farmer said. “We purchase stocks in hopes that the value of the stock will increase and we will make a profit.”

A way to ease the amount of risk when investing is diversification. Diversification is when someone buys into multiple types of investments. This helps people not lose all of their riches when one of their investments does badly, as they would still have resources coming in from their others to make up for it, according to finra.org.

“On average, most people’s return or profit in the stock market averages over 10%—that’s phenomenal, especially compared to the interest rate you will receive on savings in a traditional bank,” Farmer said. “The key is to diversify your investments and leave your investment alone to let it grow.”

A key thing about the financial market is knowing what is popular. People are going to want to invest in the company that is going to be making the most money at the time. However, they need to invest before the price begins to rise. They will be losing more money buying than making.

“I started upping my stocks on Starbucks and Target because when Christmas was coming around, everybody was going to go Starbucks for the new winter drinks and everybody was going to go to Target for presents,” senior Emily Toczylowski said.

Many online banking programs have a way of buying and selling shares that makes it suitable for new people in the industry, with one popular example being Cash App. People can invest as much as they want with no fees. Cash App also makes a chart with a company’s earnings to make the information easier to understand. The user can set a schedule to buy stock at certain times or whenever they reach a certain price. Users can set alerts or notifications to see which companies are doing better at the time, so they know which companies to invest in, according to cash.app.

“I get my stocks through Cash App,” Toczylowski said. “I like using Cash App for purchasing and selling stock because it is very simple.”

The stock market is an investment. The more someone puts into the market, the more likely they are to gain more wealth out of it. It is a simple process, but it is just as easy to gain money as it is to lose it. It can be important for people to know what they are doing and how to be safe with their money when investing, according to bankrate.com.

“If you know what you’re doing, it’s really easy to start gaining more money for yourself and your future,” Toczylowski said. “I’ve made almost $1,000 just by transferring my stocks.”