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Privately held companies don't have to reveal much about their operations and financial health.

While thousands of securities trade on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Stock Market, thousands of others are traded over the counter in the U.S.

It's not always bad for a company to issue more stock. If a company uses the money raised to grow its business effectively, shareholders can still win.

he SIPC protects against your brokerage failing — though not against your investments simply falling in value, or companies you hold shares in declaring bankruptcy.

If the lender doesn't receive its regular payments, it may foreclose on the property.

It's often used as a proxy for the entire U.S. stock market, but it's an index of only 30 companies.

A dividend yield is the result of dividing the annual dividend amount by the current stock price, so a lower share price will result in a higher yield.

Earnings seasons are noteworthy because if results are better than predicted or expected, a company's stock price can jump

There are penalties both for failing to file and failing to pay, and in the first months, the failure to file penalty is larger.

To use the rule, you add the revenue growth rate to the profit margin, and if the total is 40 or more, you have a satisfactory result.