Monday 30 May 2011

How Interest Rates Affect Stock Market


The stock market is a place where people can participate in our economy as an owner of a business. People can do this by buying shares of stock in that business. A share of stock is a certificate of ownership in a company. The price of a share of stock is one way to measure the value of a business. If the value of a business goes up then the stock price goes up. If the value of a business goes down then the stock price goes down. If the stock market is doing well, then you can earn money. If the stock market is not doing well, then you can lose money. How the stock market is doing affects how our country is doing. If you do not have any experience with stock market investment, Stock Tips is really very helpful  to have a class before starting or try out an application that allows you to do business with imaginary funds.

The interest rate that applies to investors is the U.S. Federal Reserve's federal funds rate. This is the cost that banks are charged for borrowing money from Federal Reserve banks. Why is this number so important? It is the way the Federal Reserve (the "Fed") attempts to control inflation. Inflation is caused by too much money chasing too few goods (or too much demand for too little supply), which causes prices to increase. By influencing the amount of money available for purchasing goods, the Fed can control inflation. Other countries' central banks do the same thing for the same reason. In this critical juncture, effective Share Tips became the requirement of the hour.

Looking from another perspective, interest rates affect a company’s operations too. If a company borrows money from a bank, the high interest rate will raise the company’s cost of doing business. Therefore, a company has to work harder to generate higher returns and at the same time, aggressively cut its operational costs. Otherwise, the high interest rate will eat up into its profits. Moreover, if interest rates rise to a level where the company has problems paying off its debt, then the company’s survival may be in jeopardy. In that case, investors will demand an even higher risk premium. As a result, the fair value of the stock will fall even further.

Overall, the unifying effect of an interest rate cut is the psychological effect it has on investors and consumers; they see it as a benefit to personal and corporate borrowing, which in turn leads to greater profits and an expanding economy.

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