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Volume OneAn Interactive Ebook

A field guide to the stock market

Pink &Profits

Eight short chapters on what the stock market is and how to start investing — in plain words, with no jargon.

Press the arrow to turn the page

Foreword

Before we begin

Never bought a share before? Perfect. This book was written for exactly you.

No jargon

Plain words only. If a term matters, we explain it the moment it appears.

No hot tips

We don’t do “trust me” picks. We do boring habits that repeat every month.

No pressure

You can start with a few dollars a month. Small and consistent beats big and rare.

Four parts, eight short chapters. Read it in one sitting, or jump straight to the chapter you need today.

Foreword02 / 16
Contents

Eight chapters, four parts

Part One

The Basics

  • 01What is a share?
  • 02Your money makes money

Part Two

How the Market Works

  • 03Where can I put my money?
  • 04How you actually buy

Part Three

Managing Risk

  • 05Prices go down sometimes
  • 06Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Part Four

Your First Steps

  • 07Start today
  • 08Your one-page checklist
Contents03 / 16

Part One

The Basics

What you are actually buying.

Chapters one and two. What a share really is, and why time is your best friend.

Part One04 / 16
Chapter 01

What is a share?

A share is one tiny piece of a company. Buy one, and you literally own a little bit of that business — the buildings, the brands, the products, all of it.

You are not betting. You are becoming a (very small) owner.

01

If the company does well, you do well

As the company grows and earns more, its shares usually become worth more too.

02

You get small owner perks

Some companies pay you a cash bonus every year (a “dividend”), and you can vote on big company decisions.

03

The price moves every day — that is normal

Share prices bounce around daily, but that only matters on the day you buy or sell. Long-term, the company’s results are what count.

Chapter 01 · The Basics05 / 16
Chapter 02

Your money makes money

One hundred dollars a month, left alone, at an average seven percent a year. Your money earns returns — and those returns earn their own returns. Time does most of the work.

10 yr
$86,500
20 yr
$260,500
30 yr
$610,000
40 yr
$1,312,000
Money you contributedGrowth, earned by waiting

Illustration only, assuming a steady 7 percent annual return. Real markets are uneven and returns are never guaranteed.

Chapter 02 · The Basics06 / 16

Part Two

How the
Market Works

Where your money can go.

Chapters three and four. The three places to put your money, and how buying actually works.

Part Two07 / 16
Chapter 03

Where can I put my money?

There are lots of things to invest in. As a beginner, you really only need to know these three.

Index funds

One fund that owns hundreds of companies at once — like buying a slice of the whole market. Cheap, easy, and the favorite first step for beginners.

Individual stocks

You pick one company yourself. Higher possible reward, but bigger risk if you pick wrong. Great to learn with, in small amounts.

Bonds & savings

You lend your money and get paid interest. Slower growth, but much calmer. Good for money you need soon.

Chapter 03 · How the Market Works08 / 16
Chapter 04

How you actually buy

Market order

Buy right now, at today’s price. Simple and fast — this is what most beginners use.

Limit order

Only buy if the price drops to the number you set. More control, but it may never happen.

Fractional shares

Buy a slice of a share instead of the whole thing — so a few dollars is enough to start.

The price on the app

What buyers pay$42.10
What sellers want$42.14
Last trade$42.12

The tiny gap between the two prices is the small cost of trading. Big, popular stocks have tiny gaps — another reason beginners do well there.

Chapter 04 · How the Market Works09 / 16

Part Three

Managing
Risk

Staying calm when prices swing.

Chapters five and six. Why prices bounce around, and how spreading your money keeps you safe.

Part Three10 / 16
Chapter 05

Prices go down sometimes

Stock prices bounce up and down. It feels scary, but it is completely normal — and it is the reason investing pays more than a savings account in the long run.

Dips are only losses on paper until you sell. Investors who panic and sell in a downturn lock in the loss and miss the recovery.

The market going down is survivable. Panicking and selling is what actually loses money.

Recovering from a drop

If it dropsYou need
10 percent11%
20 percent25%
30 percent43%
40 percent67%
50 percent100%

The bigger the drop, the harder the climb back. This is why staying calm matters so much.

Chapter 05 · Managing Risk11 / 16
Chapter 06

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Spreading your money across many companies means no single bad day for one company can wreck you. It is the cheapest insurance in investing.

Spread across

Many companies

One index fund can own hundreds of companies, so it does this for you automatically.

Spread across

Industries & countries

Tech, health, energy, banks — and markets all over the world. They take turns doing well.

Spread across

Kinds of investments

Stocks, bonds and savings behave differently. Mixing them makes a bad year much softer.

The simple test

If one piece of bad news would hurt everything you own at the same time, spread it out more.

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Part Four

Your First
Steps

Simple habits, started today.

Chapters seven and eight. The four steps to begin, and the checklist to finish with.

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Chapter 07

Start today

01

Open one simple account

Pick a well-known broker with no account fees and a clean, simple app. Boring is good.

02

Pick one low-cost index fund

One fund that owns hundreds of companies is the perfect first holding. No expertise needed.

03

Automate it

Set an automatic transfer on payday, so investing happens without you thinking about it.

04

Start small

Even a few dollars a month works. You can always add more later — starting is the hard part.

Watch the fees

$10,000 invested for thirty years, growing at seven percent a year:

At 0.05% a year in fees$76,100
At 1% a year in fees$57,400

Same market, same effort. A small yearly fee quietly eats a huge slice of the outcome — choose cheap funds.

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Chapter 08

Your one-page checklist

I know what this money is for, and I won’t need it for at least five years.

I have an emergency fund saved up first.

A cheap index fund sits at the core of what I own.

My fund’s yearly fee is tiny — under 0.2 percent.

My investing happens automatically, on payday.

No single stock is more than a quarter of my total.

I know what I will do when the market drops — nothing.

I check in once a year, on a calm day, then leave it alone.

If every box is true, you are investing better than most people who talk about it. If one is false, you now know exactly what to fix next.

Chapter 08 · Your First Steps15 / 16
ClosingVolume One

The long game

You don’t need to be smarter than the market. You just need to stay in it longer than everyone else.

You now know what a share is, why time matters, where to put your money, and how to start. Everything left is repetition: keep investing, keep calm, keep waiting.

This ebook is general education. It is not financial, tax or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation of any security, fund or strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of the money you invest, and past performance does not indicate future results. Figures shown are illustrations, not forecasts. Consider speaking with a licensed adviser about your own situation.

Closing16 / 16