JUL 26, 2010 - Investor Glossary answers a lot of the questions people have asked me, after reading my forecasts. My readers ask a lot of good fundamental questions about financial matters; questions way more fundamental than Investor Glossary ever dreamt of addressing. Like, for example, in a major economic dislocation like the present, how's the stock market different from a casino? That said, I'm keen on pointing out that as tough as this transitional phase can be - and it's horrendous if you're one of the millions who've lost a job, a business, a home - it's still not the Apocalypse. Banks are weak, but they're still there. The businesses that remain have smaller markets, but they're still there. So if you have money to invest, you need to do something good with it so that you'll hang onto some of it (and maybe grow it) for the day that good times return. And they will. Investor Glossary doesn't answer some of those really fundamental questions, but it can help get you up to speed when it comes to growing your own money. If you think that the difference between bonds, common stock and preferred shares is a needless nuance, consider the case of a client (who shall remain nameless, of course) whose $28,000 worth of Fannie Mae stock disappeared overnight when the corporation went bankrupt. Too bad my client wasn't the Chinese government, whose Fannie Mae investment was in the form of bonds - which were paid in full in the bankruptcy. Lots of people use astrology to help make investment decisions. But if you don't know the fundamentals, it doesn't matter how good your strategy is. Investor Glossary won't suffice to give you a well-rounded course on investing, but it's a handy reference to have along the way.
