Introduction to companies, stocks, and making money from investing: The World’s Simplest Guide to the Stock Market by Edward W. Ryan

Discover the essential knowledge you need to navigate the stock market with confidence and build a prosperous investment portfolio. “The World’s Simplest Guide to the Stock Market” by Edward W. Ryan is a must-read for anyone looking to demystify the world of investing and take control of their financial future.

Dive into this comprehensive guide and gain the insights and strategies necessary to make informed investment decisions and maximize your returns in the stock market.

Genres

Personal Finance, Investing, Stocks, Wealth Management, Financial Planning, Money Management, Beginner’s Guides, Financial Education, Financial Independence, Self-Help

“The World’s Simplest Guide to the Stock Market” is a comprehensive introduction to the world of investing, specifically tailored for beginners. Edward W. Ryan breaks down complex financial concepts into easily digestible information, providing readers with a solid foundation in understanding companies, stocks, and the potential for generating wealth through investing.

The book covers essential topics such as the basics of the stock market, different types of stocks, fundamental and technical analysis, portfolio diversification, and risk management. Ryan employs clear explanations and real-world examples to illustrate key concepts, making the content accessible to readers with little to no prior knowledge of investing.

Throughout the guide, Ryan emphasizes the importance of long-term investing, patience, and emotional control when navigating the stock market. He provides practical strategies for identifying promising investment opportunities, conducting thorough research, and making informed decisions based on individual financial goals and risk tolerance.

Additionally, the book addresses common misconceptions and pitfalls that novice investors often encounter, offering guidance on how to avoid them. Ryan also discusses the role of financial advisors and provides insights on when and how to seek professional assistance in managing investments.

Review

“The World’s Simplest Guide to the Stock Market” is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to enter the world of investing and build a solid foundation in stock market knowledge. Edward W. Ryan’s clear and concise writing style makes complex financial concepts easy to grasp, empowering readers to take control of their financial future.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its accessibility. Ryan assumes no prior knowledge of investing and gradually builds upon each concept, ensuring that readers have a comprehensive understanding before moving on to more advanced topics. The use of real-world examples and analogies helps to contextualize the information, making it relatable and applicable to everyday life.

The book’s emphasis on long-term investing and emotional control is particularly commendable. Ryan stresses the importance of patience and discipline in the face of market fluctuations, encouraging readers to focus on their overall financial goals rather than short-term gains or losses. This approach promotes a healthy and sustainable mindset towards investing.

While the book provides a solid introduction to the stock market, it may not delve into the intricacies of more advanced investment strategies. However, this is to be expected given its target audience of beginners. Ryan’s guide serves as an excellent starting point, equipping readers with the necessary tools and knowledge to continue their learning journey and explore more complex investment concepts.

Overall, “The World’s Simplest Guide to the Stock Market” is a must-read for anyone looking to demystify the world of investing and build a strong foundation in stock market knowledge. Edward W. Ryan’s clear, concise, and accessible writing style makes this book an invaluable resource for beginners seeking to take control of their financial future.

Recommendation

Many Americans’ fortunes are closely tied to the stock market, and yet few investors receive any formal training in what stocks are or how they work. Into that breach comes stock trader Edward W. Ryan, who offers this simple, easy-to-digest explanation of what stocks are and how to buy them. This guide is as basic as the title promises — Ryan doesn’t delve into economic theory, and he gives only glancing coverage of advanced trading tactics. This is very much a Stock Market–101 guide, delivered in clear, engaging prose that market newcomers will welcome.

Take-Aways

• Companies are the cornerstone of the stock market — and people are the most important part of any company.
• Executives and directors are responsible for delivering performance.
• Capital — a fancy word for funds — is the lifeblood of any company.
• A share of stock represents the partial ownership of a company.
• Becoming a shareholder is a straightforward process.
• Valuing stocks is a combination of art and science.
• Companies become available to individual investors through initial public offerings.
• Most US stocks trade on one of two markets.

Summary

Companies are the cornerstone of the stock market — and people are the most important part of any company.

Anyone can grasp the concept of what a leader of a small business is: This person sets the tone and tenor, decides the strategy, and generally calls the shots. At larger, publicly traded companies, the layers of complexity get confusing. But whether the company in question is a Fortune 500 firm with thousands of employees or a small business with a handful of workers, the general idea is the same: Businesses are all about people.

“Companies can seem like complex behemoths, but at the end of the day, they are only as functional as the people running them.”

The executive team of a publicly traded company is typically made up of a chief executive officer (CEO), a chief operating officer (COO), and a chief financial officer (CFO). The CEO is similar to a ship’s captain — this officer is in charge. The CEO gets the credit when things go well and takes the blame when business sours. While the CEO focuses on broad strategy, the COO is more focused on day-to-day details. The CFO, meanwhile, is in charge of financial and accounting functions, including monitoring performance, preparing financial statements, and calling attention to red flags.

“Some entrepreneurs understandably want to maintain complete control of their company, and perhaps in some cases their investors are happy to give it to them.”

Publicly traded companies also have boards of directors. The purpose of the board is to act as a steward for investors — a CEO and other executives have wide-ranging power, and the directors’ role is to make sure that executives are behaving rationally and responsibly. Some companies distribute power and oversight, while others concentrate it. At Meta, for instance, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is both chairman and CEO of the company. In addition to inside directors such as Zuckerberg, companies appoint outside directors, people from other organizations whose experience allows them to provide guidance and feedback.

Executives and directors are responsible for delivering performance.

A savvy investor looks at a company’s financial statements in the same way that a sports fan scrutinizes a box score. To the uninitiated, the numbers seem pointless. But to those who know how to read the scorecard, the statistics become fascinating. They reveal an untold tale of successes and failures. Publicly traded companies release three types of financial documents that tell their story: the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement.

“The income statement shows the battle, but the balance sheet shows the war.”

Here’s a breakdown:

• The income statement — This document looks at how much money is coming in (identified as “revenue” or “sales”) against how much is going out (“expenses”). Investors should look at both sides of the equation — increasing revenue is a sign of health, but if expenses are rising more quickly than revenue, that could serve as a warning sign. The income statement subtracts expenses from revenue to show net income for a given quarter or year. While the income statement is an important document, investors should keep it in context — profit or loss is part of the story, but not the whole story.
• The balance sheet — While the income statement shows how much money is going out and coming in, the balance sheet is a scorecard of what a company owns and how much it owes. Things it owns are considered assets, while money it owes is counted as liabilities. Subtract liabilities from assets, and the answer is the company’s net worth. These categories are further separated into current assets, which include liquid property such as inventory, and long-term assets, which can include real estate and machinery.
• The cash flow statement — This document illustrates how money is coming in and out of a company, and how cash is being used. The cash flow statement provides a view of a company’s finances from a different angle. Net income doesn’t necessarily equal cash, and cold hard cash is an important component of a company’s long-term health.

Capital — a fancy word for funds — is the lifeblood of any company.

After people and performance, the final major ingredient for a successful company is capital. This is just a fancy way of saying the money that funds operations and growth. Companies can choose from two sources of capital: debt, or borrowed money, and equity, or sharing a stake in the operation. While most large companies rely on both debt and equity, some of the highest-flying publicly traded companies relied heavily on equity to gain their footholds.

“Like a tree sucks water from the ground to fuel its growth toward the sky, a company needs a source of capital to expand its business.”

Consider the case of Uber: The rideshare company raised several hundred million dollars before ever turning a profit. Equity investors will extend capital if they believe they’ll get a return in the future. In the case of Uber, the bet paid off. The company was valued at $75 billion before it became profitable.

A share of stock represents the partial ownership of a company.

Publicly traded companies split up the ownership of the enterprise into shares, and those shares of stock are then sold to investors. If you own a share of Intel or some other publicly traded company, you own a piece of that business. Each publicly traded company is identified on its stock exchange by a shorthand symbol of usually one to four letters. Starbucks trades as SBUX, while Home Depot is HD.

“A stock split…is a simple math trick with no bearing on one’s results as an investor.”

Buying a share makes you a shareholder, and it’s important to remember that the value of each share changes constantly, as does any given company’s number of shares outstanding. Companies are free to increase or decrease the amount of shares outstanding at any time. A stock split increases the number of shares issued by the company and therefore dilutes the value of each share. Companies also can reduce the number of shares, which boosts the value of each share. Stock splits also show that judging a company by its share price is almost useless. For instance, after Amazon shares surged to $2,875 over a long period of growth, the company did a 20-for-1 split. Overnight, one share worth $2,875 became 20 shares at $139.25 each. The move made individual shares more accessible to small investors, but it had no overall effect on Amazon’s valuation or on the wealth of individual shareholders.

Becoming a shareholder is a straightforward process.

The most direct way to buy stocks is to open a brokerage account. You’ll have to provide identifying information such as your Social Security number, birthdate, and address, and you also need to answer a few basic questions about your financial situation and risk tolerance. The four largest brokers in the United States are Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, E*TRADE, and TD Ameritrade. While 20th-century investors routinely received physical stock certificates, that practice faded long ago. Once you’ve set up an account and made an investment, you’ll own the shares via something called “street name.” Say you open an account with Fidelity and buy shares of Apple. Apple has no idea that you’re a shareholder. It simply knows that Fidelity owns its shares, and from there the broker parcels out the shares to you as its client. A little risky, perhaps, but fraud is rare, and the Securities Investor Protection Corp., or SIPC, provides up to $500,000 of coverage to investors who hold shares in street name.

“When you purchase a stock, be it through a broker or from the company itself, you can request to have the actual paper certificate sent to you.”

After you become a shareholder, you’re eligible to vote on matters that require shareholder approval. For instance, before Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter in 2022, shareholders voted on the matter. Your brokerage will inform you of the vote, and the company’s board outlines its recommendation. However, shareholders are not required to participate in shareholder votes — and in many cases individual investors don’t bother. While 90% of large, institutional investors cast their shareholder ballots, just one-third of individual investors do so.

Valuing stocks is a combination of art and science.

The very precise value assigned to each share of stock suggests that valuing a stock is an exercise in objectivity. In truth, valuations are driven by a variety of subjective matters. You could think of pricing a stock as similar to valuing a house. A prospective seller or buyer would look at what price the house next door sold for recently, and then adjust for unique features such as location or recent renovations. By the same token, investors routinely compare one stock to shares of a similar company.

“In practice, equity valuations are often similar to how you might assess the value of your home.”

One rule of thumb for stock valuation is the price-to-earnings ratio, also known as a P/E ratio or multiple. If a share of Nike sells for $100, and the company’s most recent annual earnings per share was $4, then the P/E ratio is 25. Or, put another way, an investor pays $25 for $1 of earnings. To extend the house analogy, a Nike investor would look at a similar stock to see how it’s valued. Say, for instance, Under Armour shows a multiple of 20, indicating a slightly lower valuation. From there, it’s up to an individual investor to determine what story the P/E ratios show. Maybe Nike is overvalued. Or perhaps Under Armour has stronger prospects for future growth. Either way, deciding which stock is the better buy requires some subjectivity.

Companies become available to individual investors through initial public offerings.

The process, known as an IPO, allows companies to raise money by selling shares on the open market. For instance, the quick-serve restaurant chain Sweetgreen long operated as a private business. Shares could be held only by the founders and by institutional investors such as private equity firms and venture capitalists. Then, in late 2021, Sweetgreen went public through an IPO. Shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SG, and any individual investor who wanted shares could buy them.

“A company can’t just list it on a website and attract the millions or billions of dollars they are looking for.”

Issuing shares through an IPO remains a time-intensive process. Nearly all companies going public hire investment banks to shepherd them through the IPO. The investment bank markets the new issue to mutual funds, hedge funds, and other institutional investors, and these large players provide the bulk of the capital raised through the IPO. The sales pitch is conducted through a process known as a roadshow, in which company executives tell their story to potential investors. It’s a bit like a more sophisticated version of the Shark Tank reality series. Assuming that investors are interested and no setbacks befall the company after a period of months, the shares begin trading on a stock exchange.

Most US stocks trade on one of two markets.

Once a company becomes public, its shares trade on a stock exchange, the formal market where shares are bought and sold. In the United States, the two dominant platforms are the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq Stock Market. The NYSE is the home of traditional financial companies such as JPMorgan Chase and industrial firms such as Caterpillar and ExxonMobil. The Nasdaq launched in 1971 and is known as the home of technology issues. A listing is a momentous occasion for a company, but delistings also are possible. Struggling companies that fail to hit certain requirements can be removed from the exchanges. In that case, they often become over-the-counter or “pink sheets” companies, a status that relegates shares to a decidedly second-tier status in the minds of investors.

“Now, thanks to the internet and good old capitalistic competition, it couldn’t be easier to use an online broker and submit your own orders through the broker’s website.”

Most of the major brokerages charge no commissions on trades, although it’s likely that you’re paying in another way. At the no-commission firms, there’s a good chance you’re getting something less than the best deal. However, most investors are unlikely to notice this upcharge – it might amount to only pennies per trade. When you buy shares of a company, you have a choice of types of trades. One common method is the market order — you agree to buy the stock at whatever the asking price is at the moment your trade is executed. Another option is a limit order, a strategy for shopping for a slightly better deal. Say Apple shares are trading at $151, but you want to pay less. Putting in a limit order at $150.50 would allow your trade to be executed if Apple stock falls to that level during the trading day. But if Apple doesn’t dip to $150.50 by the end of the day, your order would be canceled. Index funds are an important investment vehicle for individual investors. These funds simplify the process by allowing individual investors to buy the performance of a major index, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Standard & Poor’s 500, or the Nasdaq.

About the Author

Edward W. Ryan has spent more than 15 years in institutional equity sales and proprietary trading. His first book, The World’s Simplest Stock Picking Strategy, has been translated into six languages.