Why trade the markets?
There are many businesses all over the world which use the financial markets to buy and sell products to meet their needs. At the same, there are masses of individuals and organisations who buy and sell the same financial products purely because they want to make a profit from the changing prices.
If you have cash in a high interest bank account or a managed long-term savings plan, chances are, your money is being used for trading. The money may be pooled into a larger fund which your bank uses to trade the markets and raise more cash (interest) for you, the bank and other investors.
But instead of trading in this ‘passive’ way, more and more people are taking a more active role in helping their money grow, by trading directly on the financial markets themselves. While trading is generally riskier than leaving money in a bank, it does give people the opportunity to earn more money than they would otherwise gain through interest on their savings.
It's not just the 'professionals' who can make money through trading. Anyone, with a little study and practice, can develop trading skills and learn how to minimise their risks. Trading can be a rewarding way for you to make better returns on your cash. But remember that trading could also lead to losses. If you are thinking of giving trading a go, you should learn the basics and first practice trading with play money. When you are ready to trade for real, you should begin with small amounts and only trade with money you can afford to lose. 
Learn how to trade the financial markets
Stock Markets
What are stock markets?
The basic purpose of a stock market is to enable companies to raise money by selling shares in their ownership. A share, also known as stock or equity, is therefore a small piece of ownership in a company. The price of a share generally reflects what people think the prospects of a company are going to be in the future.
Let’s say the NICE clothing company wants to expand its business and open more branches, but it doesn’t have enough money to do this. The company could borrow money, or, it could choose to give away portions, or shares, of its company in return for the cash it needs by listing on a stock exchange. This means that information about its activities becomes public, and anyone can buy or sell its shares. If many people think the NICE company will do well in the future and they buy shares, this could cause the NICE share price to rise.
There are many stock markets around the world, some of the most famous ones include the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. The combined share prices of the largest companies listed on a certain exchange are sometimes represented by a stock index, like the Dow Jones-30 or the FTSE-100. If the share prices of the big companies in an index go up, so can the value of the index itself.