The stock market is in its simplest form just an auction but it is one with a sting in the tail for the unwary. To help you start understanding the stock market you need to think of what makes it work. Very simply the market is driven by supply and demand. That means that if there is only a very limited number of shares in a particular company available the demand for them will be far greater than if the market place is awash with them. The Bull market which had lasted throughout the 1920s had even led one eminent economist, Irving Fisher, to state that "Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." It seemed at the time that everyone in the nation was obsessed with the stock market and share dealing became the "in thing" to do. Just remember that there is no right or wrong there is only right for the individual concerned. As part of assessing your own comfort level you will want to feel comfortable that you can afford to risk losing the money that you are planning to invest. Obviously you don't want to lose it but if you absolutely can't afford to then you should look for something which carries a significantly lower level of risk. In fact as early as 1351 there was a law passed in Venice which was designed to stop people spreading rumors that would drive down prices. As more formal commerce spread around Europe so did the need to have stock markets. By around the 16th and 17th centuries Amsterdam had begun to become the main stock market in Europe. But there are some other considerations to make here. Here we list the four important points you have to look at when you are scouting for banks that can provide best saving accounts. (i) The first thing you have to look at is naturally the rate of interest. Since it is the bank that will be paying you the interest, you have to select the bank that provides you the highest rate of interest. One reason for this is because with all the abbreviations that the financial markets use you can sometimes find that you are looking for the wrong definition. That could be a major problem when your investments are at stake! Of course this is the age of the internet so as an alternative to books you can search for financial and stock market terminology online.