What is the stock market?

As the name suggests, the stock market is a marketplace for the trading of stocks or shares. There are many stock markets around the world, and the UK’s main exchange is The London Stock Exchange (LSE).

To form a market index, company shares are grouped together, and their value is combined as a weighted average (the bigger the company the larger its effect on the value of the index) resulting in a figure. Generally, companies of similar size and value are grouped together. Often you hear the market being up or down. This relates to stock market indices rising and falling.

“If a company you hold shares in pays dividends, you’ll receive dividend payments. If a company is successful and manages to grow profits over time, the amount it pays out as a dividend can increase.”

A cryptocurrency, crypto currency or crypto is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange wherein individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger existing in a form of computerized database using strong cryptography to secure transaction records, to control the creation of additional coins, and to verify the transfer of coin ownership. It typically does not exist in physical form (like paper money) and is typically not issued by a central authority. Cryptocurrencies typically use decentralized control as opposed to centralized digital currency and central banking systems When a cryptocurrency is minted or created prior to issuance or issued by a single issuer, it is generally considered centralized. When implemented with decentralized control, each cryptocurrency works through distributed ledger technology, typically a blockchain, that serves as a public financial transaction database.