Have you ever been around a friend who flips the pages of newspapers and heads straight for the stock exchange daily price list and starts rambling about the stock he bought and how well they are doing. He doesn't seem to take a hint when you don't say a word and goes on to ask which stocks you bought lately. Silence...., he looks up and catches on, you don't know a thing he's talking about. Welcome to the club because i certainly have been there! If you are like me you feel a little dumb and your curiousity about the capital market is piqued. The problem is, when you decide to educate yourself about investing, all the books your find are as interesting as a Greek is to a Chinese villager. Thankfully, you are in the right place. We will introduce you to some investment jargon and tell you as simply as possible what they mean.

Investing simply means putting your money somewhere and expecting to make more money out of it. Every one tries to figure out a way of making money with as little effort as possible. You can achieve this in a place called the Capital Market .

A capital market is where people (individuals, corporations, Governments) lend or borrow money. These people borrow money from the public to fund their businesses. They do this by allowing people give them money in return for a share in their company. In other words, when you buy shares of a company, you become a part owner or in the investment jargon, shareholder of that company. This means if the company gains you gain too according to the number of shares you buy. With time you will learn how to buy shares of companies that make profits and not losses.

Another way of making money in the capital market is by buying bonds. A bond is a legal document proving that you borrowed someone money and the person has to pay you back with interest. There are some fancy names associated with bonds, the amount you loaned is known as "principal" or "face value" and the day you will be paid back or "redeemed" is known as "maturity date".

What's the advantage of investing in the capital market? Here are a few:

• When you invest in the capital market, instead of working for money, your money works for you. Just imagine companies employing thousands of people to work, make a profit and give part of it to you!
• You don't need to have millions to invest in the capital market. You can start with little and watch it grow.
• As a shareholder of a company, you have certain rights and priviledges. For instance you have the power to influence certain decisions a company wants to make.

Now you know investing is not as complicated as you thought but how do you get in the game? Don't worry, you will get the nitty gritty of that in our capital market manual. Keep checking out our site and we will keep you posted on when that will be ready.