Before we can answer that we need to look at the definition of what a crash is. What may surprise you is that there is no specific definition that all economists agree on. However, the general definition of a stock market crash is when there is a double digit percentage loss across the market. This loss takes place in only a few days, as opposed to the several months or years associated with the typical bear market.

Most people assume that the answer to “how does the stock market crash occur” is based on actual events. There is some truth to this, and it certainly can be a factor that leads to a crash, but there have been enough examples of bad events happening with no resultant crash, that it is clear there is something more going on.

The driving factor in most stock market crashes is panic. This panic may be caused, in part, by some event, but more often than not there is no logical basis for it. For whatever reason, a few investors get skittish, and start selling on a large portion of stock at a reduced price. Then other investors take notice, and they to start selling; thinking that there is an actual event driving this selloff at lower prices. Once this selling off that’s the mainstream investors, a crash ensues.

What we’re really looking at here, isn’t anything based on logic. Instead, it’s an economic Domino effect. Again, it’s always possible that there is some event that causes the initial selloff by the few investors, but that’s not enough to explain the overall crash. For example, let’s say there is a skirmish in a Middle Eastern country that is a large supplier of the world’s oil. A few investors get nervous about some of their holdings, and decide it’s better to sell at a loss now than to risk an even greater loss in the future. However there is no real way for them to know which way any particular stock is going to go, and yet they believe they are taking an educated risk.

Then, as other investors get wind of this mini-selloff they decide to start selling their stocks because they now perceived a real problem; even though there really isn’t one. And that’s the basic answer to how does a stock market crash occur.

The online stock trading software should include enough information to show true comparisons between the stocks. There should be adequate information regarding the past trends of the stocks for several months and as well as the current value of the stocks. There should information regarding the projected value of the stocks as well. This information should be set up so that one can compare the stocks side-by-side to find the best stocks to invest in. This information should also be easily availible, and not require a lot of work to access. The best online stock trading sites offer this information in several platforms, with each platform offering a different level of comparison and complexity.

Having easy access to the information is one part of the online stock trading comparison. Another very important thing to review is the difficulty involved in the purchasing of stock. This is very important because with a program that is too complex in its purchasing processes, there little opportunity for one to invest, making the whole process worthless. The best online stock trading companies offer simple processes for stock purchase. This allows one to easily purchase stocks and invest in the companies one wishes to invest in.

To find the perfect online stock trading sites with the best programs, one can do a couple things. Either one can evaluate each program individually, or one can read different reviews on each program or site. The advantage to personal evaluation is that one can determine his or her ability use the website. This allows one to know, not guess, on his or her understanding of the website and the applications of the site. With reviews, one can check more websites faster, but lacks the personal knowledge of each website.

The websites may offer a good way to review the complexity of each program, although some features will be locked until a membership application and fee is done. This is the best way to find the best online stock trading program. The reviews for the stock programs can be located at TradingCapital.com, Stocktradingblog.info and Tradedecision.com. These are a few of the best websites for stock program reviews. Each of these websites offer an in depth analysis of the different programs used by various stock trading companies. This is the second best but fastest method of researching the programs available.

Here is a list of the best reasons to use the internet stock trading instead of a brick and mortar institution.

1. You can keep track of your financial data in real time. With a stock broker, you have to stay on the phone with him or her in order to watch your money rise and fall. This is a real problem, because most stock brokers have a lot of clients and do not want you taking up all of their time every single day of the week. With online stock trading, however, you can watch your stocks rise and fall in real time right from your computer.

2. The fees for stock trading websites are much lower than you would otherwise pay to do business via a stock broker. The internet has made day trading online possible, and due to the large volume of trades being made on any given day, the price per trade has taken a dive. Would you rather spend hundreds of dollars per trade or as little as ten bucks?

3. The internet can give you more information than a stock broker ever could. Need to look up some information on that new drug company you just saw on CNBC? Just type the name into Google to find as much information as you could possibly desire about the company. Not enough? Just use the built in features that are inherent in nearly every stock trading site and online stock trading company.

4. No middle man to slow you down. Are your stocks falling faster than a boulder thrown from the Empire State Building? If you are working with a broker, you have to get to a phone, call him up, hope he answers, and then tell him to sell–and sell quickly. Not so if you are using online stock trading programs. Just click a button to buy or sell as you please.

5. Automated features that can save you from losing hundreds or thousands of dollars. This is a big reason to choose internet stock trading over brick and mortar institutions. Some stock brokers require that you give them the authority to buy and sell as they see fit. The internet, however, allows you to set up markers for when to buy or sell automatically so you never risk losing too much.

Now you have understand the benefits of online stock trading. Before you start your trading, I would like to you also know that online trading is a prefect tool for trading based on technical analysis. You can trade as many as times as you want, without having to fear the broker cost.

Here’s an online stock trading software that boost your profits.

Find out all you can about after hours trading and then you can make an informed decision as to whether or not this really is the right way for you to go.

The first thing you want to do, if you don’t already know, is to educate your self about stock market investing in general. There is quite a bit you’ll need to learn such as what all the different terminologies mean and how to pick which stocks to invest in by researching the company and it’s management to name a few. This is a step that cannot be skipped otherwise you will lose a lot of money. Lack of knowledge is the biggest reason people lose so much money when it comes to investing in the stock market. Don’t be a patsy, educate yourself first.

When you are deciding on which stocks you want to trade remember that only the NYSE and NASDAQ are traded after hours. You can make trades on these exchanges from 4:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. You don’t have this option with the American Stock Exchange.

When researching which stocks you want to invest in, try to identify those that have a lot of potential for growth. Even though after hours trading is a little different than if you were trading during normal stock market hours, you want to still look for solid stocks to invest in. The fundamentals of investing are the same with after hours as they are with normal hour trading. One good way to start is to take a look at stocks for companies whose products you use and like, then check out how steady their growth has been and whether or not their debt is low.

You will need to find a broker who offers after hour trading, not all of them do. Make sure before you choose a broker you know exactly what their fee schedule is and what you will have to pay fees on. Some brokers have a tendency to ‘nickel and dime’ you to death. Make sure you know going in what you’ll have to pay fees on.

Since you will get a better price when selling a stock that has a lot of people interested in buying that stock, you will likely make more on your stocks if you trade during normal exchange hours. One way to protect yourself from the volatility of after hour trading is to place a limit order.

This is a basic overview of how does after hours trading work. To make sure your investing doesn’t become a nightmare never be afraid to ask questions, and keep asking until you get an answer that makes sense, and educate yourself. Doing these things will help you achieve more of your investment goals.

These trades are commonly executed by various fund managers and large investment groups and you don’t need to panic and sell every stock you own since these trades are not necessarily indicative of the overall trends in the stock market.

When you think of bloc trades it’s a common misconception to think that it either involves a lot of investors or millions of shares, but in reality it only needs to be 10,000 or more shares that are being traded to be considered a bloc.

Even though bloc trades can be done by all kinds of investors, it’s usually done by fund manager or an investment group. Since these types of investors are buying and selling for thousands of clients at one time they do bloc trades often. While there is on limits on the number of bloc trades that can be done, due to the sheer volume of shares being traded they can be blocked if it seems like the volume of the trade could have a detrimental affect on the market as a whole.

To illustrate what this means here is an example: lets say that a fund manager wants to sell a million shares but there are only enough buyers for 250,000 shares. At that point a a market specialist will step in and buy these large blocs to hold for a little while until there are enough buyers for all the shares. If they didn’t do this the price of the stock would plummet since there would be way more supply than demand for the stock.

Since such a big influx of shares from one company can actually have an impact on the market, or ‘move the market’ it is closely watched by other investors. If the bloc is bought up by multiple small investors than this is considered to be bad news since the small investors aren’t as strong of an influence as the ‘big boys’. If, on the other hand, another big institution buys up the whole bloc it is just considered to be a redistribution of the companies shares and not a big deal.

The major disadvantages of trading blocs is that it can move the whole market if the bloc is big enough and if you are a smaller investor and a big fund manager trades large blocs of the same stocks you own, it will drive down the price of your stock since it will be seen as a potential problem with the company or the future price of the stocks when they are unloaded by the big investment houses.

Traditionally the hours for the stock market have been between 9:30 a.m. -4 p.m Monday through Friday except for a few holidays. In the early ’90’s things changed and larger financial institutions and individuals with extremely deep pockets were allowed to trade after hours online. Eventually after hours trading was opened up to anyone who wanted to use it.

The Electronic Communications Networks, or ECN’s, are what has made it possible for investors to make trades after the stock market has closed. This is all done over the internet. If you want to make trades after hours you will need to have a broker working for you whose firm has an ECN. Not all ECN’s are regulated by the exchanges. The role of the brokers is to use their ECN to match your order with another investor who wants to sell. If there are no takers, your order will be posted and hopefully there will be a seller that is interested.

Here are the basic steps you will need to follow to start trading after hours:

1. Find a brokerage firm that has after hour trading and open an account with them. It’s important that you fully understand all the fees associated with any trades you may make, and many brokerage firms will have a minimum amount required for opening an account. All firms will also have specific rules for after hour trading so make sure you find out all the ins and outs before you get started.

2. Once you’ve opened your account, you will need to make sure it is funded. While you can put as much in it as you like, per the brokerage house’s rules at least, you will more than likely have a minimum amount requirement.

3. Take some time to find which stocks you want to trade. It’s important that you learn how to properly research stocks before you start risking your money. There are a lot of places that can teach you the basics of stock market investing, this is a very valuable education and not something you want to skimp on.

4. Make sure you know exactly what you want to pay for the stock, or what you want to get for it if you are selling, before you place your orders. Most after hours markets only allow limit orders ( which means that you have to specify the exact price you are willing to take).

5. Place your market trade. Once you’ve set up your exact price you can place your order on the brokerage firms ECN.

6. You will receive an order acceptance by a member of the ECN who wants to buy or sell the same stock you are looking for.

7. If your trade was successful you will receive a receipt informing you of that fact.

I hope this brief tutorial on what is after hour trading has clarified things for you at least a little. Just remember, that the after hours market isn’t as closely regulated as the regular market and it could lead to problems. Be very careful and make sure you understand the rules and fee schedules before you risk your hard earned money.

Here is a breakdown of what the average quotes will have on them:

1. Price. This will tell you the most current price that stock was traded at.

2. Bid. This is the current price you would get for a stock if you were to sell it.

3. Ask. This is the lowest price a particular stock is currently selling for. The difference amount between the ask and the bid price is called the spread. The ask is generally the price you would pay to buy the stock.

4. Close. Also known as ‘previous close’ or ‘closing price’ this amount is the price the stock was sold at when trading ended the day before.

5. Change. The amount of change in the price the stock sold for between the previous close and the last trade.

6. Open. This will tell you what amount the stock trades for the first time it is sold on that particular day.

7. Day’s Range. This is the difference between the lowest and highest prices that a certain stock has been sold for during one trading day.

8. Yearly Range. This will tell you the highest and lowest amounts that a stock has been traded for in the last year. It can also be called ‘52 week range’.

9. Volume. This is how many shares of a particular stock were traded during one day.

10. Average Volume. This is how many shares traded on one days worth of trading that has been averaged out.

11. Market Cap. This is the value of the outstanding shares of a company.

12. Dividend. This number will tell you the amount of money that has been paid in dividends for the last year. While this doesn’t mean that shareholders will continue to make this amount, it’s generally not a popular idea for companies to cut dividends.

12. Dividend Yield. This number will divide the amount of the dividend by the stock price to let shareholders know what they can expect to make in the unlikely event that the dividend and the stocks price stay at the same level for next year.

13. Earnings Per Share or EPS. This will let shareholders know how much profit the company has made in the preceding year.

14. Price / Earnings Ratio. This number will tell you the ratio of the price of the companies stocks to the EPS.

When you learn to read stock market quotes the above list includes the most commonly found figures, though they may not be the only ones. Learning all you can about investing, before you start putting your money up for grabs, is an extremely smart strategy. More often than not when you hear about someone who ‘lost their shirt’ in the stock market it’s because they simply didn’t know what they were doing. While even the experts will lose once in a while, you will lose less and make more if you take the time right from the start to learn what it’s all about. This article will help you with that.

If a top level manager or CEO wants to sell their companies stock they have to notify the SEC. This is because, for the most part, if a CEO is selling the shares from their own company it’s likely that they have access to some information that doesn’t look good for the company. The theory is that they shouldn’t be able to profit, or avoid a loss, just because they have information that is not available to the general public.

You generally hear about the illegal form of insider trading, and usually when someone is going away to prison for it, but there are legal ways of doing insider trading. If a company employee with less than ten percent holdings in the company wants to buy or sell their companies securities, this is perfectly legal. Someone who has a more than a ten percent share in the company can also trade their companies securities, as long as they notify the SEC, but cannot make trades based on important information that they are privy to due to their employment with the company.

Lower level employees don’t really have to worry about insider trading even if they trade the securities of their employer, simply because they aren’t privy to any real sensitive information in the course of their employment.

Many people don’t understand that they can’t defend themselves against a charge of insider trading by simply saying they didn’t know they were doing something illegal. It’s expected that when you are in a position of knowing this type of non- public information that you also understand that to use that information to gain financially is an illegal activity.

The SEC has a full disclosure rule which states that if a corporation accidentally discloses non- public information they have to provide the same information to the general public. The SEC does have procedures in place that would allow the corporation to repair the damage done by a deliberate or accidental leak of insider information.

Despite what you may hear on your local nightly news, there are a few types of insider trading, and not all of them are illegal. It’s a crime to use your position a company as a way for you to either make money on a securities transaction, or to avoid losing money by selling the stock of your company because you know there are troubled waters ahead.

Before you get involved in any type of stock trading, make sure you take some time to find out all the ins and outs, after all, this is your money that you’re using so you want to be as informed as you possible can be.

Without a broker to represent you at the stock market, you would have to find people who might be interested in your stock and negotiate prices on your own. This could be a costly and time-consuming endeavor. Probably not much stock would get bought and sold if everyone had to do it on their own.

The stock market has a special effect on stock prices. Since all of the stock is bought and sold at one particular venue, in the U.S. that venue is the New York Stock Exchange, investors can watch their stock rise and fall moment by moment. Therefore, they can have an instant reaction to prices, deciding whether to buy or sell based upon the fluctuations of the stock market.

Any business wanting to sell shares on the stock market must, first, incorporate. Owners of the corporation hold shares of stock in that corporation. The value of their stock is controlled by the fluctuation of the market. In fact, the value of the corporation is controlled more by the fluctuation of the market than by its actual earned profit. Some people wonder if the stock market is or is not a truly good way to value a corporation.

Each corporation has a group of owners, known as shareholders. The shareholders elect a board of directors to make the major decisions regarding the corporation. The board of directors decides how many shares of stock in the corporation will be offered. These shares of stock are then held either privately or publicly. Privately held shares of stock are not bought and sold on the stock market. Only publicly held shares of stock are bought and sold on the stock market. A corporation with privately held shares of stock is probably owned by a group of people who all know one another and sell their shares of stock back and forth, among themselves. A corporation with publicly held shares of stock is owned by any number of people who buy and sell their stock openly, on the stock market.

When a corporation initially sells its shares of stock on the stock market it is called an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Let’s say that the corporation initially sells one million shares of stock at seventeen dollars per share. In this manner the corporation raises seventeen million dollars. The money, after the brokerage fees are deducted, is then invested in the corporation for equipment, operations and employee costs. The people who purchased shares of stock in this corporation via the stock market are betting that the corporation will use this money to make a profit. These shareholders can then receive a return on their investment through dividends or by selling their shares on the stock market, at a profit.

Stock market tickers consist of a constant list of the buying and selling done on the stock market. Each time a stock moves up or down, it is a tick. The term is derived from the days back when stock market transactions where tracked via the telegraph and results were recorded on a ticker tape. These days, the term ticker is applied to scrolling digital information like news or stock market prices.

Among the many free stock market tickers is one from NASDAQ. This particular brand of free stock market tickers is offered as a browser toolbar. As an investor surfs the web, his or her stock information is visible at a glance. When the investor is not navigating the web, the ticker is available as a desktop application.

Investment journals, search engines, newspapers, business consultants, and more offer stock market tickers. Almost any business concern with a direct or peripheral interest in the market, offers free stock market tickers.

You can get free stock market tickers at cool tick, share ware connection, stock market ticker downloads, business.com, naconsulting.com, brothersoft.com, free stock market tickers, aol.com, top share ware, get free stock market tickers, custom market watch, share ware connection, free downloads center, file dudes, smart stocks, wareseeker, stock charts, ez stock exchange, quote links, etrade.com, stock market traders chat, pcquote.com, softplaz.com, stress free trading, and many other places as well.

One of the best free stock market tickers is available through Market Browser. It’s one of the best tickers because it offers other analytical tools as well. You have to register for the software, but it is free. The program appears as an icon on Windows. When you click on it, you can use any of several analytical applications, such as technical indicators, charts, and even research SEC filings. Among free stock market tickers, this application best fits the more advanced investor, thinking in terms beyond just current market prices.

I’ve mentioned that most of the search engines offer free stock market tickers. Among the best of the tickers offered by search engines is the one from Yahoo. The Yahoo application is highly customizable and features charts, streaming quotes, and news. You can alter color schemes, time applications, and a range of items, as you desire. To get the Yahoo free stock market tickers and other applications, enter a search under Yahoo finance badges, and let the link take you there.

One thing to be wary of when using free stock market tickers is information overload. It is possible to become obsessive and to begin over-trading as a result of information overload.