42 2.82 2.40 2.45+0.05
68 5.91 5.53 5.53-0.16
cent interest. Students tend to invest in shorter term CDs because they can't afford to have their money locked up.
Although CDs are a prime investment opportunity for students, keep in mind that if you have credit card debt, it's best to use your money to pay your bills before you lock up your money for a significant amount of time. By the time the CD would be ready to use, all the money you gained would go to pay off the interest you've accumulated on your credit card bills. The same rules apply for mutual funds.
Mutual Funds
A mutual fund gives you the opportunity to buy a lot of stocks in a bunch of companies. If you bought stocks individually, you would only be able to own a couple. A mutual fund pools your money into one big pot and invests in companies that suit you best. You can invest $100 in a mutual fund and own 100 different stocks. If you tried to buy shares in these corporations by yourself they would cost too much. It is a good way to get a diversified portfolio with a small or large amount of money, says Heffley.
Some companies require a minimum $3,000 investment in the stock market. It is not economical for an investment firm to monitor and take care of small accounts. They don't profit unless the
investment exceeds $5,000. Investment firms look for larger investors and parents investing for their child's future. Too small of an investment would lose money for about any company, says Duncan.
Investing Terms
Before you go off and become a big time investor,you should familiarize yourself with the lingo.
- Futures - Experts explain "futures" as a prediction of what the stock market will do later that day. So if you turn on the television and watch the stocks at the bottom of the screen early in the morning, you're watching the futures for that day.
- Going Public - When company executives talk about going public, it means that the public can invest in the company through the stock market.
A minus or a plus tick—A minus or a plus tick, when looking at a stock, tells you whether the stock is losing or gaining money, which means you are either losing or gaining money.
Dividend — A dividend is the amount a company pays its shareholders.
Share - A share is the amount of the company you own. When you invest in the stock market, you're buying a certain amount of shares in the stock itself, which grants you partial ownership in the company.
16 26.17 22.81 23.03 +0.02
18 5.90 4.60 4.87-0.26
'8 28.45 25.73 27.69+1.59 thursday, november 8, 2003
64 59.43 55.24 55.88-3.56
68 4.95 3.71 4.61+0.86
09 8.13 7.32 7.45-0.42
94 8.20 7.55 7.55-0.50
61 6.74 5.97 6.49+0.41
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