According to the U.S. Department of Labor, approximately 320,000 brokers and traders are currently employed as securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents. Of those agents working solely in securities trading, around 143,000 work exclusively for brokerages and exchanges while nearly 57,000 are self-employed independent agents. Nearly 264,000 agents work with wage and salary compensation while the remaining agents receive only commission incentives. A total of 829,700 people are employed as security and commodity brokers or as service personnel.

          Stock Market Investing for fun and profit

Stock Market Trading:Demographics

Despite the potential to lose money, more than half of the wealth for more than 91 million Americans is tied into the financial markets through equity investment. Even during bear market periods, the number of Americans investing increases and the markets continue to grow. The following list describes a number of reasons investors enter markets in hopes of increasing their wealth:

• Wealth Generation - Stock market returns are money that is earned from existing wealth. This simple concept is the driving force behind all investment.
• Potential for Exponential Returns - Stock shares purchased at a low price has the potential to double and triple in value in very little time. Small companies sometimes referred to as "penny stocks" due to the low cost of their shares, can become profitable overnight, turning small investments into six-figure returns. In some cases, major companies can enjoy major gains in stock value upon news of a popular product or major merger. The incentive of fast-cash returns on investment lures many to play the market in hopes of earning wealth.
• Most Lucrative Form of Return - While savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and other forms of savings return money for funds deposited, no savings instrument comes close to matching the return of the financial markets. Even with compound interest and regular savings, the same funds invested in a divested mutual fund are very likely to bear a higher return.
• Increased Sense of Economic and National Safety - In past years, investment in the stock market was uncommon. The popular perception cited it as a practice of the very wealthy. When the public first sought to earn wealth through the stock market, the result was the Great Depression, the worst financial crisis in American history. The lasting impact of the depression resulted in low investment all the way up until the 1980s.

However, relative economic security, but a potential for another major market crash, and a somewhat increading confidence in economic prosperity is starting to lend a new optimism to investment in the financial markets. The improbability of major land wars or the destruction of a company's assets lends itself to an investment friendly market. As a result, it is touted as an instrument for achieving nearly all forms of financial goals.

• Long-Term Financial Goals - The stock market has returned an average of 10% on investment since the end of World War II. Long-term investment is more secure and more likely to return considerable wealth. Therefore, saving for retirement, education, or other long-term goals through the stock market offers considerable advantages.
• Dividends, and Other Incentives - Just as equity investments have advantages over other forms of investment and return, the special nature of investing in a bonified company allows for special incentives known as "dividends." These one-time disbursements of profits offer additional return revenue that can be reinvested into the stock as it continues to grow. Long-term investment in profitable companies can result in far greater returns on investment than the actual growth of the stock might reveal.

Other, less cited incentives for investment are as follows:

• Belief in a Company's Mission or Purpose - Most Americans are avid product consumers. By nature, capitalism molds the preferences of customers into a powerful tool they can use to make or break companies. Stock investment is an extension of this practice that allows consumers to invest only in companies whose products they enjoy. Citing "efficient market" theory, investors will sometimes invest only in company brands they know and trust, no matter what financial analysis may say to the contrary. This investment trend is one way analysts can sometimes gauge the performance of a stock.
• Moral Protest or Support - Stock mutual funds, or funds diversified across several companies with a defined investment purpose, can take on many shapes and sizes. Some funds are known as "good company" funds that adhere to certain environmental principles during production of their products or throughout their business practices. Still other mutual funds can take on religious or national security concerns. Investors who either refuse to give money to, or wish to only invest in, certain companies will take advantage of these funds despite financial performance.
• Compensation Through an Employer - Often employees of companies will receive stock incentives as compensation for their work. While the employee agreeing to receive the incentives denotes the intention to invest, some employees do not have knowledge of the function of the markets and do not pursue portfolio management. The primary incentive behind stock options is the ability for the employer to provide compensation to employees cash-free, using the potential for market return as the perceived advantage for all parties involved.
• To Take Advantage of Foreign Growth - Stock markets, mutual funds, and other investment instruments are the only way investors from other nations can take advantage of profits or economic growth in other nations. For instance, any mutual fund that only invests in India-based companies is currently a hot-button item for many stock investors due to the steady growth of the Indian economy.
• Gambler's Delight - Because the stock market can return or lose the investor money, "winners" and "losers" are inherent, making the market an essential game. Like any game with potential for financial loss, those with a predisposition for gambling their finances will sometimes turn to the short-term invest market as a form of recreation.
• Cultural Pressure - Stock investment began as a form of competition amongst wealthy industrialist. While more than half the nation's assets are invested in the current market, the trend towards those with upward economic mobility has yet to cease. The performance of one's stock portfolio can be seen as a conversational piece and a major part of one's social experience amongst certain segments of society.
• Estate Continuance - Siblings and relatives of deceased loved ones who were equity owners will sometimes turn to investment managers to continue oversight of those investments.

Seasonal Buying Habits

Historically speaking, stock market investments are the most sensitive products on the face of the Earth. No single form of financial transaction is more susceptible to factors such as the time of year, current events, the weather, or even political victories than the stock market. Understanding these trends is vitally important to that seeking short-term investment gain or for those brokers seeking to net potential investors.

One of the most reliable, though not the most potent, indicator of stock market activity is the holiday buying season. Consumers infuse the retail economy with billions of dollars each year during the buying season. Companies anticipate this new demand and take steps to provide hot-button products and special incentives. Vendors, such as department stores and online shopping sites, take special steps to accommodate purchases and to widen their inventories.

This trend is common knowledge amongst the business world and is played up in the news media as an indicator of overall economic wealth. However, the "Christmas effect" has a two-fold effect on the health and growth of the stock market. Neither coincides with the same calendar as the seasonal buying increase.

The first aspect for consideration in regards to the stock market and the holiday buying season is simple: never bet on the obvious players. Companies, such as toy makers and retail outlets, likely already have their stock prices valued according to profits generated during the season. Instead, the savvy investor must take the time to consider companies that have the potential to increase profits for the first time during the Christmas season. Examples might include a consumer electronics vendor or purchasing trend that has garnered attention earlier in the year and is likely to incur major sales gains during the upcoming season. So long as the stock was not valued highly during the previous shopping season, there is potential for gain if sales and profits surge.

Companies prepare their earnings forecasts to compensate for expected increases in sales and company profits. Because this is a prediction of sales to occur during the final fiscal quarter of the year, these forecasts are typically made in the third fiscal quarter. In addition, stock market related media outlets make predictions and value stocks earlier in the year in order to foreshadow a surge in revenue. Therefore, "preseason" stock selection should occur in the summer or early fall months in order to be relevant.

After the Christmas season concludes, investors can anticipate either small growth or small declines in the value of stocks based on the overall performance of the season. If a stock is overvalued before the season, a poor season will warrant a steep drop. If it is undervalued, reverse logic applies. Therefore, one can gamble based on intuition and analysis of overall economic health as to whether gains will be made investing before the season or if buying opportunities will present themselves afterwards.

Overall, the Christmas buying season does have an impact on the market. However, because large-scale public companies are already entrenched in the valuation and earnings potential process, it is best to stick with small private equity firms and companies in their first year of seeking financing. This is the best way to take advantage of a potential surge in profits and valuation after the conclusion of the buying season.

Catastrophe and tragedy are two other predictors of stock market activity. Natural disasters incur the most noticeable and predictable affect on economic activity and stock prices tend to fluctuate accordingly. For instance, flooding in farming areas near the Mississippi river will cause commodity prices for popular crops in the area, such as corn and wheat, to rise. Companies producing goods that use those commodities will raise prices on produced goods. This move will typically cut into profits and cause a price drop.

Savvy investors will recognize this fluctuation soon after the crisis has occurred and will wait for related stocks to drop in price. Due to modern disaster relief efforts and the lack of a change in the demand for such products, investment when these stocks drop is one way to make money through the market. In many cases, losses and gains are relatively small. However, diversifying wealth across many of these stocks can help to ensure greater overall gain.

International events and news take on similar importance. Unrest in the Middle East, the primary world provider of oil and petroleum products, can lead to commodity price shifts. Stability in the region can have the converse affect. Often, this is the reason international news of high importance to economic activity is included in financial news programs and other media.

National tragedies, such as the attacks of September 11th, have the greatest unnatural affect on the stock market. Because they depress consumer confidence, reduce economic priorities in favor of national security concerns, and cause considerable loss of life and treasure, they typically lead to bear markets and recession. The recession of 2001-2002 was partially caused by the attacks, though it was also the shortest recession in the history of the U.S. financial markets.

Depending on its nature, national military or State intervention can affect sectors of the market considerably. For instance, the war in Iraq has lead to a steady, unceasing climb in the stock of Haliburton, Inc. stock since the start of the war. This is a direct result of high-subsidy government contracts with guaranteed profit incentives being provided to the corporation. Conversely, competitors of Haliburton and industries that rely on growing government subsidy have most likely suffered on an unquantifiable level as a result.

Election results also have a small, yet immediate, effect on the health and growth of the market. For instance, after the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004, the market climbed by more than 100 points. In most developed nations, election victories for politicians identifying with the conservative political wing are "good" for the market due to their protectionist and pro-growth principles.
This is not necessarily so for undeveloped nations or those that does not partake in some form laisez-faire, liberal economies. In most cases, victories by conservative politicians in these nations have a detrimental affect on foreign investment and growth. Monitoring the political situations of foreign governments can be of prime importance for many investors.

The moral implications of investment after calamaties and election results may seem nefarious to the uninitiated investor. However, the ambiguity of financial markets allows them to respond to the natural state of economic activity, therefore making investment morality unclear. In addition, investment in companies that have been adversely affected by disaster helps them to recover from adversity, which might be classified as a moral "good" instead of a method for taking advantage of tragic circumstance.

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