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Stock brokers: A stockbroker is a person or company who buys and sells stocks on behalf of another person or company. Stockbrokers earn their living by charging a commission on the purchase and sale of stocks.A stock broker is useful in matching up stock buyers and sellers. A transaction on a stock exchange must be made between two members of the exchange - a typical person may not walk into the New York Stock Exchange (for example), and ask to trade stock. Such an exchange must be done through a broker.
In addition to actually trading stocks for their clients, stock brokers may also offer advice to their clients on which stocks, mutual funds, etc. to buy
Bulls and Bears Markets: A bull market tends to be associated with increasing investor confidence, motivating investors to buy in anticipation of further capital gains. The longest and most famous bull market was in the 1990s when the U.S. and many other global financial markets grew at their fastest pace ever
In describing financial market behavior, the largest group of market participants is often referred to, metaphorically, as a herd. This is especially relevant to participants in bull markets since bulls are herding animals. A bull market is also described as a bull run.
Dow Theory attempts to describe the character of these market movements
Bear market : A bear market tends to be accompanied by widespread pessimism. Investors anticipating further losses are motivated to sell, with negative sentiment feeding on itself in a vicious circle. The most famous bear market in history was the Great Depression of the 1930s
Prices fluctuate constantly on the open market; a bear market is not a simple decline, but a substantial drop in the prices of a range of issues over a defined period of time. By one common definition, a bear market is marked by a price decline of 20% or more in a key stock market index from a recent peak over at least a two-month period. However, no consensual definition of a bear market exists to clearly differentiate a primary market trend from a secondary market trend.
