Bookmark this guide and refer to it whenever you come across a confusing term.

A to Z Stock Market Glossary for Beginners

A – Ask Price

The ask price is the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for a stock. It’s one side of the stock’s price quote, the other being the bid price. If you want to buy shares immediately, you must pay the current ask price.
Example: If a stock’s ask price is ₹150, you’ll need to pay ₹150 or more to purchase it right away.

B – Bid Price

The bid price is the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for a stock. It’s the counterpart to the ask price in a stock quote.
Example: If the bid price for a stock is ₹145, you’ll get ₹145 per share if you sell right now.

C – Capital Gains

Capital gains are the profits earned when you sell a stock at a higher price than you bought it for.
Example: If you buy a share at ₹200 and sell it at ₹250, your capital gain is ₹50 per share.

D – Dividends

Dividends are a portion of a company’s profits shared with its shareholders.
Example: If a company declares a ₹5 dividend and you own 100 shares, you’ll receive ₹500 as a payout.

E – Equity

Equity represents ownership in a company.
Example: Owning 100 shares of a company with 10,000 total shares means you own 1% of that company’s equity.
Note: Equity holders benefit when the company grows.

F – Futures Contract

Futures are contracts to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price on a future date.
Example: You agree today to buy 100 shares at ₹500 next month, expecting the price to rise.

G – Growth Stock

Growth stocks are shares of companies expected to grow faster than average.
Example: A tech startup that reinvests earnings and increases revenue rapidly may be a growth stock.

H – Holding Period

The time between when you buy and sell a stock.
Example: Buying on 1st Jan and selling on 31st Dec gives you a 12-month holding period.

I – Intraday Trading

Buying and selling stocks within the same trading day.
Example: Buy at ₹100 in the morning and sell at ₹105 by afternoon.

J – Junk Bonds

High-yield bonds with lower credit ratings and higher risk.
Example: A struggling company may issue junk bonds offering higher returns to attract investors.

K – KYC (Know Your Customer)

A verification process to confirm investor identity and prevent fraud.
Example: Submitting ID and address proof when opening a trading account.

L – Liquidity

The ease with which an asset can be converted to cash.
Example: Stocks of large companies are highly liquid due to active trading.

M – Margin Trading

Borrowing money to buy more stocks than you can afford with your own capital.
Example: With ₹10,000 of your own and ₹10,000 borrowed, you can invest ₹20,000.

N – NAV (Net Asset Value)

The value per share of a mutual fund or ETF.
Example: Assets of ₹10M minus liabilities of ₹1M with 1M shares = NAV of ₹9.

O – Open Price

The price at which a stock first trades when the market opens.
Example: If a stock opens at ₹200, that’s the open price for the day.

P – P/E Ratio (Price-to-Earnings Ratio)

A valuation metric comparing stock price to earnings.
Example: Price ₹200 / EPS ₹10 = P/E ratio of 20.

Q – Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

Financial quarters used to report company performance.
Example: Q1 = Apr–Jun, Q2 = Jul–Sep, Q3 = Oct–Dec, Q4 = Jan–Mar (India fiscal year).

R – Resistance Level

A price level at which a stock tends to stop rising.
Example: If a stock keeps failing to go above ₹500, that’s its resistance level.

S – SIP (Systematic Investment Plan)

Investing fixed amounts in mutual funds regularly.
Example: ₹2,000/month SIP can grow significantly over time due to compounding.

T – Technical Analysis

Using charts and indicators to forecast stock price movements.
Example: A moving average crossover can signal when to buy or sell.

U – Upper Circuit

The maximum price a stock can reach in a day as set by the exchange.
Example: Stock with 10% circuit and open at ₹100 can’t go beyond ₹110 that day.

V – Volatility

The degree of variation in a stock’s price over time.
Example: A stock swinging between ₹100 and ₹150 is highly volatile.

W – Watchlist

A list of stocks you’re monitoring for potential investment.
Example: Add Infosys, TCS, and Reliance to your watchlist for daily tracking.

X – X-Dividend Date

The cut-off date to qualify for a dividend.
Example: If X-dividend date is April 25, buy before this to receive the dividend.

Y – Yield

Return from a stock (usually via dividends), shown as a percentage.
Example: ₹10 dividend on ₹200 stock = 5% yield.

Z – Z-Score

A measure of a company’s financial health and bankruptcy risk.
Example: Z-score below 1.8 may indicate high financial distress risk.

Understanding stock market terms is the first step toward confident investing. With this glossary, you’re better equipped to read market news, make smarter decisions, and build long-term wealth.

The post Stock Market Terms Every Beginner Must Know (A–Z Glossary) appeared first on Market Mantra.

To help you get started on the right foot, we’ve listed the 10 most common mistakes that beginners make in the Indian stock market — and how you can avoid them.

1. Investing Without Understanding the Basics

Many beginners invest blindly without knowing how the stock market works. They follow tips, trends, or what friends say without learning the fundamentals.

Why it’s a mistake:

• Lack of knowledge leads to poor decisions.
• You may end up investing in risky or unprofitable stocks.

How to avoid:

• Learn basic concepts like stock, dividend, P/E ratio, Sensex, Nifty, etc.
• Read beginner-friendly books, take free courses, or follow credible financial blogs and YouTube channels.

2. Following Stock Tips Without Research

Taking investment advice from unverified sources is risky. Social media, WhatsApp groups, and even some YouTubers promote stocks without proper analysis.

Why it’s a mistake:

• These tips are often based on speculation or manipulation.
• You may end up buying at the peak and selling at a loss.

How to avoid:

• Always do your own research (DYOR).
• Use platforms like Screener.in, Moneycontrol, or TickerTape to analyze stock fundamentals.

3. Trying to Time the Market

Beginners often try to buy low and sell high. In reality, timing the market perfectly is nearly impossible — even for experts.

Why it’s a mistake:

• Can lead to missed opportunities.
• Often results in panic-buying or panic-selling.

How to avoid:

• Adopt long-term investing or use SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) for consistent investing.
• Trust in rupee-cost averaging over time.

4. Investing Without Setting Clear Goals

Investing aimlessly is like sailing without a compass. You need clear financial goals to guide your investment choices.

Why it’s a mistake:

• You might exit investments too early or hold on too long.
• Wrong choices can derail your financial plans.

How to avoid:

• Define your goals: retirement, buying a home, child’s education, etc.
• Match investments with your time horizon and risk profile.

5. Putting All Your Money in One Stock

Many beginners bet everything on one “multibagger.” While it might look like a shortcut to wealth, it’s very risky.

Why it’s a mistake:

• If the stock fails, you lose a large portion of your capital.

How to avoid:

• Build a diversified portfolio across sectors and market caps.
• Don’t invest more than 5-10% of your capital in a single stock.

6. Ignoring Company Fundamentals

Just because a stock is cheap doesn’t mean it’s a good buy. Price alone doesn’t reflect the quality of the company.

Why it’s a mistake:

• You may end up investing in a poorly managed or debt-heavy company.

How to avoid:

• Study the company’s financials, management, earnings, and business model.
• Track important ratios: P/E, Debt-to-Equity, ROE, ROCE, etc.

7. Overtrading or Intraday Trading Without Experience

The idea of earning quick money through intraday trading is tempting. But most beginners lose money due to lack of knowledge, discipline, and tools.

Why it’s a mistake:

• Emotional trading leads to poor decisions.
• High brokerage and taxes can eat into profits.

How to avoid:

• Focus on long-term investing initially.
• Trade only when you’ve gained experience and have a proper strategy.

8. Panic Selling During Market Corrections

Markets go up and down — that’s normal. But beginners often panic and sell at a loss when they see a sudden dip.

Why it’s a mistake:

• You lock in losses instead of giving time for recovery.
• Emotional decisions kill long-term growth.

How to avoid:

• Stay calm and assess the situation.
• If your investment is fundamentally strong, hold for the long term.

9. Not Reviewing Your Portfolio Regularly

Investing and forgetting is not a good strategy. The market changes, and so should your portfolio if required.

Why it’s a mistake:

• You may hold underperforming stocks too long.
• You might miss new opportunities.

How to avoid:

• Review your portfolio every 3–6 months.
• Rebalance if your goals, risk appetite, or market conditions change.

10. Ignoring Tax Implications

Many beginners forget that stock market gains are taxable. Without understanding capital gains tax, you may end up with unexpected tax liabilities.

Why it’s a mistake:

• Short-term gains (< 1 year) are taxed at 20%.
• Long-term gains (> 1 year) over ₹1.25 lakh are taxed at 12.5%

How to avoid:

• Plan your exits wisely to minimize tax.
• Keep records of your trades and consult a tax advisor if needed.

Conclusion

The stock market is a powerful wealth-building tool — but only if used wisely. By understanding and avoiding these common beginner mistakes, you can improve your chances of success and make better investment decisions.

Remember: Patience, discipline, and knowledge are your best friends in your investing journey.

The post 10 Common Mistakes Beginners Make in the Stock Market And How to Avoid Them appeared first on Market Mantra.

How to buy stocks?

When a person wants to buy a stock share, they do so either by personally purchasing it from an existing shareholder or by placing a trade order in front of the exchange. In a trade order, the buyer of the share does not physically have to make the purchase, but has to place the order and the exchange will buy the share and assign the bid and ask price to it at a later date. The share will be listed in the market at that price.

How to make money with stock market?

How does a person make money on the stock market? Well, by purchasing a share when there is high demand, but the share itself is too expensive. This will give the seller a great profit on their share of the overall market.

In the past, most people knew nothing about the mechanics of the stock market. Today, this is very different. Websites give all sorts of information on how the stock market works and the factors behind the value of a share.

How exactly does the stock market work? Well, the price of a share of a stock rises or falls, depending on several factors, including the current state of the economy, economic conditions in other countries, the outlook of the company itself, and various other factors. If a company issues stock that they believe will be worthwhile, but they haven’t been able to turn a profit in the past, their investors may try and get them to do so by offering a certain amount of company stock at a reduced price. In return, investors will receive cash.

Who benefits from the stock market?

All investors, even those who don’t invest, benefit from the rise and fall of the market as each share of stock provides investors will sell off into a profit. The larger investor usually ends up with more money because of the profit margin. The profit margin is the difference between the price of the actual stock and the offer price. So, investors who buy large amounts of shares will have more profit.

The stock market goes up when companies that need capital to raise money (such as a new company) issue shares in the market for a reasonable price, but then they are unable to meet the requirements and receive funding. This will cause a drop in the price of the shares. A drop in the share price will result when there is no funding, and the company goes out of business. Some companies are able to float the market, and the price of the shares does not move.

Why is the stock market profitable for some people, but not for others?

Many people can buy large shares of stock for a relatively low price. For example, if you buy a large share of the company when it has low supply, you will earn a higher profit. In addition, many people can also buy small amounts of shares that they can hold on to for a long period of time, meaning that they will enjoy a high profit for years.

How does the stock market work if there are no buyers in it? Since it is a open market 24 hours a day, it follows that the prices will continue to rise and fall over time. This is one of the reasons why the market sometimes goes up, and sometimes it goes down. The prices will drop if supply is so low that no one is willing to buy at that time, such as when a new product or service is available for a particular business.

So, now you know how the stock market works. It is something to look forward to if you are looking to make some money.

Note: Author of this post Saheem

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Bank Fixed Deposit, Corporate Fixed Deposit, PPF, KVP, NSC, Tax Saving Bonds are few options to invest money But in these options money gives return in single digit 6% to 9% only and the inflation also increases same way in during these years. So ultimately the value on the investment gives zero returns at the end of the investment period. If someone get more than this have to pay income tax as per their tax slab.

When we are talking about stock market investments, that they give the highest potential returns in two digits or if you vast knowledge of the stock market, one can double their money in two to three years time.

Advantage of stock market investments:

• There is no lock-in period while other saving instruments have lock-in period as per their term & conditions.
• In need of any emergency you can sell your shares and get the money in 3 working days in your bank account.
• In property investment, it is very difficult to sell it easily when anyone facing financial crisis or during the slowdown in the property market. Also there is risk of fraud and cheating in this segment.
• Stock market gives freedom to choose the sector or any company you like or have the detail knowledge of the company process or any other related information about the future growth etc.
• Apart from giving high returns on investment from stock market you can save tax also i.e. short term gain tax slab 15% and long-term gain tax 10%.
• If you are new to stock market, the simple way to invest in Index fund i.e. Nifty index fund & BSE index fund where you will get the return as per return of the Index performance. Here you need not to worry about how to choose the stocks and their other credentials. Index fund is a bucket of top performer stocks in their sector. If any stocks not do better as per index measure they will remove from the bucket list and new stock take place of the not performing stock.
• Investment in stock market is purely a long-term process. If you really multiply your money first choose the good beaten down stocks and invest in them step by step. After a period of 3 to 5 or may be more your return can 2 to 3 times.
• Investment in stocks is a tension free work comparing to job or traditional business. There are many up and downs in the job and business as compare to do trading in stocks.

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In block deals minimum transaction quantity of shares 5 lakhs or minimum price should be Rs.5 crore. this type of deals always happened between two parties when both parties agree to buy or sell share at an agreed price and tell the same to stock exchange.

This type of deal always execute in a single transaction on separate trading window that why this deal will not show to those peoples who trade in normal trading window. this window called ‘block deal window’.

block deal window opened only for 35 minutes in the morning of trading hours from 9:15 am to 9:50 am. Every block deals trade has to result in delivery.

As per the rule set by security exchange board of India (SEBI) trade price of stock should vary from -1.0% to +1.0% of current market price or previous day closing price and SEBI also set the rule for the stock brokers to disclose the block deals on the daily basis made thought the Data upload software.

Stock exchanges should show the information about the block deals to public on the same day after the marketing hours with the information like client name, stock name, number of quantity of shares to trade and trade price.

Bulk Deals:

Bulk deals is a trade where total quantity of shares sold or bought is more than 0.5% of the total number of equity shares of a listed company.

Transaction of bulk deals order always visible to everyone because bulk deals always execute from the normal trade window provided by the stock broker during the marketing hours.

As per the SEBI rule stock brokers, who facilitates the trade, is mandatory to tell to stock exchange about the bulk deals transaction when they happened.
If bulk deals happened in single transaction then that case stock brokers should tell to stock exchange immediately or if bulk deals happen in multiple transaction then that case stock brokers should tell to exchange within one hour to closure of trading.

Who participants in bulk and block deals:

Percentage of money and shares in bulk and block deals are very high, retail investor can’t take part in such type of transaction. Mostly, mutual funds, foreign institutions, financial institutions, insurance companies, banks investors take part in suck kind of trades.

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Liquid, Dept and Equity fund cut-off time

Different fund types Liquid,Dept and Equity funds having different cut-off time. Investor can allotted the NAV of previous day, same day or next working day. it will depend on the time what time investor have applied for mutual fund scheme and when fund get the money. cut-off time for the Equity, Dept fund is 3pm while cut-off time for liquid fund is 2pm.

Liquid Funds – you will apply in Liquid fund before the 2pm and transfer the money to fund before 2pm then that case you will get the NAV of the previous day or you will apply in a fund after 2pm then you will get the NAV of same day.
Note: you will applied in fund before 2pm but fail to send the money before cut-off time then you will not get NAV of previous day.

Equity and Dept Funds – cut-off time for Dept and Equity funds is 3pm. if you will applied before the 3pm then you will get the NAV of the same day or you will applied after the 3pm then that case you will get the NAV of next working days.

if investor want to invest Rs.2 lakhs or more than Rs.2 lakhs then that case investor need to make sure to transfer the money to mutual fund house before the cut-off time. if will not transferred then that case cut-off time rules will applied according to the time when fund house will get the money.

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For an example a group of investors want to buy a land or other property and price of this property is Rs.10 Lakh. Now if we will divide this investment in the unit of Rs. 100 then a 10,000 units will be create then a investors can buy a number of units per own investments. if you want to invest Rs. 1000 thousands of rupees then you can buy 10 units.

What should in your mind before invest in mutual funds:

Before the investment investors should always keep four things in a mind.

1. Past performance: As you know no one can’t predict future performance of fund but we can check the past performance of fund and on the behalf of past performance we can easily decision of investment in fund.

2. Fees: All mutual funds charge a little fee for managing your investment. a fee of fund will be charge as per your investment which will cut your investment.

3. Buy or Sell Price: You buy mutual funds at the fund’s current net asset value (NAV) with addition to other sales charges. Mutual funds are redeemable – you can sell your mutual funds at the current net asset value with less any expenses and charges for recovery.

4. Risk Reward: Mutual is subjective to market risk. The level risk and your investment depends on what funds type you invest in.

Where to buy mutual funds:

1. By mutual fund companies official site
2. By net banking account or directly from the banks
3. Mutual funds dealers
4. Investment firms
5. Life insurance companies

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Let’s try to explain mutual fund in a very easy way. Let’s suppose that you as an investor have no idea of shares and stocks markets. You need professional help and skill. All you should need to invest in a mutual fund scheme.

Types of Mutual Funds:

As per your future goals and your investment, Mutual fund give you the choice to invest you money across different resource classes like equity, debt and gold.

1. Equity Funds / Growth Funds

Funds that invest most of the money that they are collected from investors into equity shares are called equity/growth funds. Growth Funds are high risk mutual fund schemes and investors can make losses money because most of the money linked to the stock markets. These type of scheme are best suitable for investors who are investing own money for long-term growth.
There are different kinds of equity/growth funds such as Diversified funds, Sector specific funds, Tax saving and Index based funds.

A. Diversified Funds

These funds give you the advantage of diversification by investing in organizations spread across sectors and market capitalisation. They are generally meant for investors who look exposure over the market and do not want to restricted to any specific sector.

B. Sector Funds

These funds invest primarily in equity shares of organizations in a specific business area or industry. While these funds may give higher returns, they are more risky as compared to diversified funds. Investors need to timely keep a watch on the performance of those sectors/industries and should exit at a proper time.

C. Tax Saving Funds

These funds offer tax benefits to investors under the Income Tax Act, 2961. Opportunities provided under this scheme are in the form of tax rebates under section 80 C of the Income Tax Act, 1961. They are most suited for long investors looking for tax rebate and searching for long-term growth.

D. Index Funds

These funds invest money in the same pattern as famous securities exchange lists like CNX Nifty Index and S&P BSE Sensex.

2. Liquid Funds / Money Market Funds

These funds invest most of their money in safer short-term instruments like Certificates of Deposit, Treasury and Commercial Paper. They are ideal for Corporates, institutional investors and business houses who invest their money for very short time of periods.

3. Debt Fund / Fixed Income Funds

These Funds invest money into debt schemes including corporate debt, corporate bonds, debentures, government securities, debt issued by banks, commercial papers and other money market instruments. They are most suited for the medium to long-term investors who are averse to risk and looking regular and steady income. They are less risky than equity funds.

4. Balanced Funds

These funds invest money both in equity shares and debt (fixed income) instruments and these fund give both growth and regular income. these fund might alter their investment way based on market conditions. They are ideal for medium to long-term investors willing to take moderate risks.

5. Gilt Funds

These funds are the most secure fund compare to other funds because they invest most money in Central and State Government securities and are well suited for the medium to long-term investors who are averse to risk. Government securities have no default risk.

How to invest in mutual funds?

If you are an investors then you can directly invest in a mutual fund through the mutual fund websites. lots of mutual fund give the facilities to apply directly by simply register on their site and use the own login information for apply in mutual fund scheme.

In another way you can hire the services of a mutual fund advisor. If you are investing directly, you will invest in the direct plan of a mutual fund scheme. If you are investing through an advisor, you will invest in the regular plan of the mutual fund scheme.

Note: Before invest in the mutual fund scheme you should need to complete your KYC (Know Your Customer) information. This is mandatory before invest in mutual fund scheme.

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Advantage of offer IPO

The primary advantage of going public via IPO is the capacity to raise capital rapidly by getting a larger number of investors.

An organization would then be able to utilize that money to advance the business, be it as research, infrastructure, or extension. Furthermore, by issuing shares, more current, lesser-known organizations can create reputation, in this way expanding their business openings. There’s additionally the esteem of being recorded on a noteworthy stock trade to consider, which is an inspiration for a few organizations that go the IPO. At long last, IPOs can enable developing organizations to draw in new ability by offering advantages like investment opportunities.

Disadvantage of offer IPO

Once an organization goes public, it must answer to its investors. At the point when investors pick up a huge possession stake in an organization, they can vote to override administration decisions, or vote to get ride of management and executives through and through. What’s more, since open organizations regularly feel influenced to perform well for their investors, they here and there settle on poor business decisions, giving up long time growth short-term profit.

What is Book Building?

Book building is the procedure by which a guarantor attempts to decide at what cost to offer a first sale of stock (IPO) in view of interest from institutional investors. A financier builds a book by accepting orders from finance administrators, showing the quantity offers they want and the price they will pay.

Process of book building

Book building is really a value disclosure technique. In this strategy, the organization doesn’t fixed a specific price for the offers, however rather gives a range of price, e.g. Rs 120-135.

When offering for the offers, financial specialists need to choose at which price they might want to offer for the offers, for e.g. Rs 120, Rs 125, Rs 130 or Rs 135. They can offer at the offers at any price inside this range.

In view of the request and supply of the offers, the last price is settled. The most reduced price (Rs 120) is known as the floor price and the higher price (Rs 135) is known as top price.

The price at which the offers are assigned is known as cut off price. The whole procedure starts with the determination of the lead supervisor, a venture broker whose activity is to convey the issue to people in general.

Both the lead supervisor and the issuing organization settle the value run and the issue measure. Next syndicate individuals are procured to acquire offers from the investors. Regularly the issue is kept open for 3-5 days.

Once the offer time frame is finished, the lead administrator and issuing organization settle the price at which the offers are sold to the investors. On the off chance that the issue cost is not as much as the top value, the investors who offer at the top cost will get a discount and the individuals who offer at the floor cost will wind up paying the extra cash.

For e.g if the cut off in the above illustration is settled at Rs 130, the investors who offer at Rs 120, should pay Rs 10 for each offer and the individuals who offer at Rs 135, will wind up getting the discount of Rs 5 for each offer. Once every investors pays the real issue value, the offers are apportioned.

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Positively trending markets are characterized by the market. A market constantly going up over some periods of time and a people think and assume that stocks price will rise and start putting money into the share market then they called market is bullish.

Bear market is completely reverse to the bull market. A market continuously going down over some periods of time and a people think and trusting that stock price will down and start releasing money into the share market then they called market is bearish.

What to do in bull and bear market?

In a bullish market, people’s need to take the benefit of rising price by purchasing the stock beginning period and after that selling them later when the price have achieved their peak. In a bullish market, investors can invest own money into more equity with a higher chance to making a good returns.

While in a bearish market, the chance of losing prices are higher because market price continuously down and the end of down side is not often in sight. Even if investors do decide to invest with the hope of an up trend, investors are likely to take a loss before an turnaround occurs. In the bearish market traders can take the advantage of short selling by sell the stock for short of time.

Interesting Fact:

• The expressions “bear” and “bull” are named after how every animal strikes, a bull will drive its horns up into the air, while a bear will swipe down. These terms were then related to the position of a market: if the market was up, it was seen as a decidedly bull market; if the market was down, it was seen as a decidedly bear market.

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