Which are the factors that affect your investment..?

Factors influencing investment

Security markets

A security is a fungible, negotiable instrument representing financial value. Securities are broadly categorized into debt securities, such as banknotes, bonds and debentures, and equity securities, e.g. common stocks. The company or other entity issuing the security is called the issuer. What specifically qualifies as a security is dependent on the regulatory structure in a country. For example private investment pools may have some features of securities, but they may not be registered or regulated as such if they meet various restrictions.

Securities may be represented by a certificate or, more typically, by an electronic book entry. Certificates may be bearer, meaning they entitle the holder to rights under the security merely by holding the security, or registered, meaning they entitle the holder to rights only if he or she appears on a security register maintained by the issuer or an intermediary. They include shares of corporate stock or mutual funds, bonds issued by corporations or governmental agencies, stock options or other options, limited partnership units, and various other formal investment instruments that are negotiable and fungible.

Primary markets and secondary markets

The public securities markets can be divided into primary and secondary markets. The distinguishing difference between the two markets is that in the primary market, the money for the securities is received by the issuer of those securities from investors, whereas in the secondary market, the money goes from one investor to the other. When a company issues public stock for the first time, this is called an Initial Public Offering (IPO). A company can later issue more new shares, or issue shares that have been previously registered in a shelf registration. These later new issues are also sold in the primary market, but they are not considered to be an IPO. Issuers usually retain investment banks to assist them in administering the IPO, getting SEC (or other regulatory body) approval, and selling the new issue. When the investment bank buys the entire new issue from the issuer at a discount to resell it at a markup, it is called an underwriting, or firm commitment. However, if the investment bank considers the risk too great for an underwriting, it may only assent to a best effort agreement, where the investment bank will simply do its best to sell the new issue.

In order for the primary market to thrive, there must be a secondary market, or aftermarket, where holders of securities can sell them to other investors for cash, hopefully at a profit. Otherwise, few people would purchase primary issues, and, thus, companies and governments would be unable to raise money for their operations. Organized exchanges constitute the main secondary markets. Many smaller issues and most debt securities trade in the decentralized, dealer-based over-the-counter markets.

In Europe, the principal trade organization for securities dealers is the International Capital Market Association. In the U.S., the principal organization for securities dealers is the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which is the result of the merger of the Securities Industry Association and the Bond Market Association. The Financial Information Services Division of the Software and Information Industry Association [FISD/SIIA] represents a round-table of market data industry firms, referring to them as Consumers, Exchanges, and Vendors.

Public Offer and Private Placement

In the primary markets, securities may be offered to the public in a public offer. Alternatively, they may be offered privately to a limited number of qualified persons in a private placement. Often a combination of the two is used. The distinction between the two is important to securities regulation and company law. Privately placed securities are often not publicly tradable and may only be bought and sold by sophisticated qualified investors. As a result, the secondary market is not as liquid. Another category, sovereign debt, is generally sold by auction to a specialized class of dealers.

Stock exchanges

A stock exchange, share market or bourse is a corporation or mutual organization which provides "trading" facilities for stock brokers and traders, to trade stocks and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of securities as well as other financial instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. The securities traded on a stock exchange include: shares issued by companies, unit trusts and other pooled investment products and bonds. To be able to trade a security on a certain stock exchange, it has to be listed there. Usually there is a central location at least for recordkeeping, but trade is less and less linked to such a physical place, as modern markets are electronic networks, which gives them advantages of speed and cost of transactions. Trade on an exchange is by members only. The initial offering of stocks and bonds to investors is by definition done in the primary market and subsequent trading is done in the secondary market. A stock exchange is often the most important component of a stock market. Supply and demand in stock markets are driven by various factors which, as in all free markets, affect the price of stocks (see stock valuation).

There is usually no compulsion to issue stock via the stock exchange itself, nor must stock be subsequently traded on the exchange. Such trading is said to be off exchange or over-the-counter. This is the usual way that bonds are traded. Increasingly, stock exchanges are part of a global market for securities.

India Stock Exchanges are a structured marketplace for the proper conduct of trading in company stocks and other securities. There are 23 recognized stock exchanges in India, including the Over the Counter Exchange of India for providing trading access to small and new companies. The main services of the India Stock Exchanges all over the country are to provide nation-wide services to investors and to facilitate the issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments.

The introduction of the concept of the stock exchanges in India came with the breaking of the American Civil War and the idea materialized first in 1874 with the foundation of the Bombay Stock Exchange at the Dalal Street in Mumbai.


Currently, in all the India Stock Exchanges the trading system is computerized for more efficient and transparent trading. There has been a significant boom in the degree of development and volume of trading in the stock exchanges.

The two most important exchange houses of the Indian stock market are the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. Many of the regional stock exchanges have obtained the membership of these two stock exchanges in India. The index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, BSE Sensex is a value-weighted index composed of 30 companies.

Another significant feature of the India Stock Exchanges is the regulatory agency, Securities and Exchange Board of India or SEBI which supervises the activities of stock markets, regulates the functioning of stock exchanges and intermediaries and registers Foreign Investors trading in Indian scrips.