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Finance is all about deciding what society is going to produce. It's about directing human labor. That's the main reason that finance exists. Example:
Now, while that may be the main reason finance exists, that doesn't mean that's what everyone in finance spends their time thinking about.
Further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finance
Q: Why does the stock market exist?
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Q: Why are there both stocks and bonds?
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Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the major difference between the two is that (capital) stockholders have an equity stake in the company (i.e. they are investors), whereas bondholders have a creditor stake in the company (i.e. they are lenders). Being a creditor, bondholders have absolute priority and will be repaid before stockholders (who are owners) in the event of bankruptcy.[3] Another difference is that bonds usually have a defined term, or maturity, after which the bond is redeemed, whereas stocks are typically outstanding indefinitely.
Q: Why do people in finance make so much money?
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Q: What are people talking about when they say that one country is competing against another economically? What do they mean when they say China is producing more engineers than the US and so will "beat" the US? I thought economists say that more productivity leaves everyone better off; is that wrong?
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Q: If the market capitalization of all publicly traded companies in the world is $50 trillion in 2008 and $40 trillion in 2009, does that mean that $10 trillion disappeared from the world? Where did that $10 trillion go?
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Q: What are ALL of the factors that have increased the valuation of ("the amount of money in") the stock market over the past hundred years?
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Q: It seems to me that many people in finance would agree that when some type of investment becomes thought of as "always going up", or "a sure thing", that can lead to that investment getting bid up to prices that don't make sense. For example, the housing bubble seems to have been caused in part by a widespread belief that housing prices would keep going up; that buying a house was "a sure thing". If this is true, what would be the effect of a widespread belief that the US stock market will always go up; that investing in it is "a sure thing"? What symptoms would suggest that it's being bid up to a price that doesn't make sense? And what kind of event (or series of events) might lead to the end of such a widespread belief?
Q: How can an investor be sure that the price of a stock that is undervalued by the market eventually will rise?
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Q: Why are there bull markets and bear markets? Will they always exist? Is the market always in a bull or bear phase?
Q: Why do they call it "being long" when you hold a security in the hope that its price will go up, and "being short" when you sell something you don't own in the hope that you'll be able to buy it cheaper in the future?
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The governor of Tennessee, having recently called a special session of the legislature of that state, on account of the extreme scarcity of money there, advises that treasury notes of the state be issued, to assist in forming a temporary circulating medium(?), and that the property of debtors be appraised, and then not liable to be sold short of two thirds of its appraised value. He states that in many instances the estimates of debtors have been swept away for a mere trifle compared with their value, and that many of those who have money hoard it up for the purpose of being enabled to prey on the distresses of those who are indebted. It is expected that the views of the legislature will accord with the recommendations of the governor.
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Q: What are the earliest books/writings on the stock market?
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Q: Why do financial crises seem to happen more often in the fall?
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Q: Is it true that speculators provide liquidity and thus are serving a useful purpose for society?
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Q: What's the difference between hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, mutual funds?
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https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8242456
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