Reading the Market: From Confusion to Clarity

WEBVTT

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Hey there, and welcome to Faith in Finance, where

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your values and your financial vision come together.

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I'm your host, Geil Thompson, Registered Rep

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for Joseph Eden Capital, a sister firm of Joseph

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Wealth Management. Every week, I'll be walking

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with you through the tools, truths, and strategies

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that help you build wealth with purpose, clarity,

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and peace. Because your money isn't just about

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what you have. It's about what you're building.

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Let's get started. baby This week, we're diving

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into something that intimidates a lot of new

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investors, and that's the stock market. But here's

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the truth. The stock market is not a mystery.

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It's not a gamble. And it's not reserved for

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Wall Street insiders. It's simply a marketplace

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of ownership. And if you want to build wealth,

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you have to understand how it works. Let's start

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with what you're actually seeing when you look

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at the stock market. So whether it's on CNBC,

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Yahoo Finance, Money News, your phone, because

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you can use your phone too, you'll see a little

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ticker scrolling across the bottom of that screen.

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And sometimes it can feel like a jumble of letters

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and numbers and arrows all moving really fast.

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But once you understand what those pieces mean,

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it becomes a lot less intimidating. So here's

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the breakdown. First, you'll see something called.

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A ticker symbol. I like to think of a ticker

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symbol like a nickname. It's a short version

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of a company's name that we use to identify it

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in the marketplace. For example, Apple's ticker

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symbol is AAPL. Starbucks is SBUX. Tesla, TSLA.

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These aren't random letters. They're how investors

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quickly identify companies in the marketplace.

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Next, you'll see the stock price. That's the

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current cost to buy one share of that company.

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So, if Apple's stock price is $200 and you want

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to own a slice of Apple, it'll cost you $200

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to get in the game. It's just that simple. Now,

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right next to that price, you'll usually see

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a green or red arrow. Green means the stock is

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up compared to where it closed yesterday, meaning

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the price that it closed at at the end of the

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day. Red would mean it's down from the price

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that it closed at yesterday. It's a quick visual

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like a thumbs up or a thumbs down, letting you

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as the investor get a feel for how that company

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is doing on today. But here's the bigger picture.

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You're not just watching numbers move. You're

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watching trust. You're watching confidence and

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you're watching fear move in the market. That's

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what I call capital in motion. So now that you

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understand individual stocks, let's talk about

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the market as a whole. You've probably heard

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someone say the market is up today or the market

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is down today. But what are they actually saying?

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Well, it's simple. What they're using is what

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we call a market index. to tell us how the market

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is performing. A market index is basically a

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summary. It tracks the performance of a group

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of companies so that we can get a sense of the

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overall mood. Let me introduce you to three big

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ones. Number one, the S &P 500. This tracks the

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500 largest companies in the U .S. Think of it

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like a broad snapshot of the American economy.

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If the S &P is doing well, it usually means the

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economy is doing well. The Dow Jones, or we shortly

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phrase it as the Dow. This one follows 30 big

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name companies across different industries. Companies

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like Microsoft, McDonald's, Coca -Cola and Nike.

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It's one of the oldest indexes and people watch

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it to track big business stability. The Nasdaq.

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This index is more technologically or tech heavy.

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It includes companies like Apple, Amazon, Google,

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and other innovative giants. If tech is booming,

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watch the NASDAQ. It'll usually show it first.

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Here's why this matters. These indexes help you

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read the room. If the S &P, the Dow, and the

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NASDAQ are all rising, investors are feeling

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confident. There's optimism in the air. And if

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they're all falling, it usually means that something

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has spooked the market. Maybe it's economic news,

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interest rates, threat of a war, tariffs. We

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saw how those have affected the market or a major

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global event. You don't have to know everything,

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but if you can track these three indexes, you'll

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always know what kind of environment you're investing

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in. And remember, as builders of wealth, we don't

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just react to environments. We respond with wisdom,

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strategy and positioning. All right. So now you

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know what a stock is, how to spot its price,

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how to track the market as a whole. But what

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happens when you actually look at a company online,

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like on Yahoo Finance or Google Stocks? And you

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see one of those charts with a bunch of lines,

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numbers and dates. Don't worry, I've got you.

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We're going to break it down. The chart is basically

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a picture of how the stock has performed over

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time. And once you know what to look for, it

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becomes one of your greatest tools as an investor.

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Here are three things to focus on. Number one,

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time frame. Usually one day, one year, five year

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views. We'll also talk about it. There's different

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other time frames you can use depending on the

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type of investor you'll become. You'll see options

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to view stocks movements over different periods.

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One day shows short term activity. Maybe the

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stock had a rough morning, could be having a

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bad day. Some news broke out. Anything could

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happen. But don't take that as the overall picture.

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You can also look at a one year chart. which

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shows a bigger trend. It is generally growing

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or either shrinking, but it lets you know how

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the company has performed for that year. A five

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-year gives you the long game. How has this company

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performed through market ups and downs, good

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times and bad? Because let's just be clear, a

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lot can happen in five years. So what's our lesson

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from all of this? A drop today doesn't mean failure.

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So if you look at a stock symbol or you look

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at its chart and maybe you see red, it doesn't

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mean failure. Zoom out to see the full picture.

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Now, let's talk about something called trade

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volume, right? This tells you how many people

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are buying or selling that stock right now. Higher

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volumes mean a lot of activity. And that usually

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means something's going on. News, earnings, hype,

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or fear. Think of it like a busy line at a restaurant.

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People are clearly paying attention to something

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because why else are they all in the line? Let's

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then look at a 52 -week high and low. This shows

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the highest and lowest prices that that stock

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has reached in that year, in the past year. It

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helps you understand whether the stock is pretty

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stable or is it bouncing around like a roller

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coaster. Why it matters? A stock that's always

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near its high might be overvalued. One that's

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near its low might be undervalued or it could

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be in trouble. Either way, it tells a story.

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Let's take an example. Say you look up a ticker

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symbol, AAPL, or Apple. You'll see its chart,

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its price history, recent news, earnings reports,

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and more. Here's the key. Don't try to read everything.

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Look for patterns. Look for consistency. Is the

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line generally moving up over time or is it moving

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down? Do they bounce back after a dip or do they

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continue to just keep going down? Are there any

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major spikes or crashes that we should be concerned

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about? See, a bull market means prices are rising

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and there's economic optimism. A bear market

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means prices are falling and there's more fear

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or recession talk. Just like seasons, markets

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shift. Wealth builders don't panic. They prepare.

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I'll say that again. Wealth builders don't panic

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when markets shift. They prepare. They read the

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signs and move accordingly because we've talked

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about it. We talked about positioning. Now, listen.

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I know this may seem like a lot for a new investor,

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but listen, this segment, I want you to listen

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to it, not just once, but listen to it about

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three times until it starts to make sense. But

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also do the practical steps. Look up those ticker

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symbols because too often people avoid investing

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because they're afraid of what they don't understand.

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But God didn't give us a spirit of fear. The

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market isn't just math. It's emotion in motion,

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driven by patterns and momentum. When you understand

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how capital moves, you stop reacting to noise

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and start responding with strategy. So I have

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a challenge for you. Let's make this real. I

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want you all to do something together with me.

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We're going to pick a company and I want you

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to pick a company that you use. It could be products

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that you use on a regular basis. We talked about

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Apple. You might be literally watching me on

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an Apple device right now. It could be Nike because

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maybe you're wearing some Nike shoes right now.

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All of these are publicly traded companies. Now

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do this activity with me. Let's go ahead and

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let's look up a ticker symbol because I really

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want to show you how this works. First, go to

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finance .yahoo .com. Now, while you're there,

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I want you to type in the word Nike. Because

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what we want to do is look at Nike, right? We

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want to look at how it's performing, how it's

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charting, what are some things that we can take

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to understand how the company's performing. Now,

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do this for me. When you get there, you'll see

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a one day, which is usually symbolized with one

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D. Or five day, 5D, one month, 1M, or one year,

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1Y. I want you to write down three things that

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you notice. Is the price trending up or is the

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price trending down when you look across those

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charts? What's the 52 -week high and low? That's

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usually located right underneath the chart. How

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many people are trading today? That's your volume.

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Remember we talked about trade volume? You don't

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need to be an expert. You just need to start

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observing because the moment you start paying

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attention, you stop feeling intimidated. And

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that's when you start building confidence, the

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kind that can grow your wealth over time. Now,

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if you're ready to invest with insight, not intimidation,

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we'd love to help you. We want to help you build

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confidence. We want you to feel like the market

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is something that's no longer. out of reach,

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but it's something you can participate in. If

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you need some assistance, visit us, josephwealthmanagement

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.com or call 800 -807 -2881 to schedule your

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consultation. Listen, let us build wealth that

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reflects your faith and fuels your future. I

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look forward to seeing all of you new traders

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in the market. Now, welcome to our faith perspective.

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Before we close, I want to offer a spiritual

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lens for everything we've just learned about

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reading the market. In First Chronicles 12 and

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32, the scripture says that the sons of Issachar

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understood the times and knew what Israel should

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do. That one verse captures the heart of this

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episode. Reading the market isn't just about

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stocks and trends. It's about discernment. knowing

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how to interpret what's moving around you so

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you can respond with wisdom. Just like the sons

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of Issachar were equipped to understand seasons

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and shifts, God invites us to do the same in

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the marketplace, not to react out of fear, but

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to move with clarity. Markets will always rise

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and fall. News headlines change daily, but kingdom

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-minded investors don't build on noise. They

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build on insight. So if you've been intimidated

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by the market or unsure of how to step in, I

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want to remind you, you have the mind of Christ.

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You have access to strategy. And just like the

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sons of Issachar, you can be trained to read

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the times and act with confidence. Your ability

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to interpret movement financially and spiritually

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is a gift. Let's use it well. The Faith and Finance

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podcast is intended for educational, informational,

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and entertainment purposes only. The views and

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opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are

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their own and do not necessarily reflect those

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of Joseph Wealth Management, Joseph Eden Capital,

00:15:17.269 --> 00:15:20.090
or any affiliated entities. Nothing shared on

00:15:20.090 --> 00:15:22.269
this podcast should be construed as personalized,

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financial, legal, tax, or investment advice.

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All investing carries risk, including the potential

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loss of principal. Listeners are strongly encouraged

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to consult with a licensed financial advisor

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or fiduciary who understands their unique circumstances

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before making any financial decisions. Joseph

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Wealth Management and Joseph Eden Capital are

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registered entities and operate in accordance

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with applicable regulatory guidelines. Business

00:15:46.470 --> 00:15:48.769
is conducted only in jurisdictions where they

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are duly licensed or exempt from registration.