Stocks and shares This topic will be divided into 2 lessons (30 min. each) - in one, focus on reading, in the other one, analyze the video (How does the stock market work? - Oliver Elfenbaum) video for discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7HKvqRI_Bo - read and discuss the article form the pdf (transcription below in the reading part) - highlight the new vocabulary, discuss it, add pictures - discuss the questions - analyze the vocabulary using parallel from the pdf, then do matching game: use definitions below+use pictures - make sure the student understands the basics of the graphs: stock market index, bonds, hedge fund, curves - to plummet and to rocket, bear and bull market, etc. - discuss the video above, make the student watch it 2 times at least, atop after the first half (2 min.), then discuss and catch up for the second part till the end, write the key words on the board menawhile - discuss the quotation from the beginning of the video - What are bull and bear markets, and what is their significance? (Bull market and bear market are said to be two opposite phases in a market. In a bull market, stock prices continue to rise over a period of time, whereas in a bear market, prices continue to decline over a period of time.) more Samuelson´s quotations: The stock market has predicted nine of the last five recessions. Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas. Vocabulary: Bond - a document given to someone who invests money in a government or company, promising to pay back the money with interest; Hedge fund - a financial organization that invests money that has a high risk of being lost but which may make a very large profit Public company - a company whose shares you can buy on the stock exchange Private company - a company owned by a person or group of people who do not sell shares (=the right to share profits) to the public To go public - if a private company goes public, it becomes a public company by selling shares to people Flotation = IPO = Initial public offering - the sale of shares in a company for the first time To underwrite - to protect a company from loss by agreeing to buy any remaining shares that are not bought by the public when the shares first become available for sale Ordinary shares = common stock - the majority of the shares into which the capital of a company is divided. The people who own these shares have the right to a part of the company’s profits. To match up - to find someone or something that forms the right combination with someone or something else; Share index = stock index - an official list of the average price of shares of a particular group of companies on a particular stock exchange Bull market - a situation in the stock market in which the prices of shares are rising; Bear market - a situation in the stock market in which the prices of shares are falling; To outperform - to do something better than someone or something else; Implication - a possible effect or result To rocket - to rise extremely quickly or make extremely quick progress towards success; Recession - a period when trade and industry are not successful and there is a lot of unemployment; To shoot up – to increase quickly by a large amount To loom - if something unpleasant or difficult looms, it seems likely to happen soon [looming recession]; To plummet - to fall straight down very quickly from a high position; To recover - if a country, economy etc. recovers after a difficult period, it begins to get stronger and return to its earlier state; Bailout - money that someone gives or lends to a person or organization with financial problems video for more vocab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ue6OxXdHcw Reading: The Stock Market In conversation, media, and the news, it's common to hear talk of "the market," short for the stock market. And while most everyone knows about the stock market, once again, few actually know what it is, how it functions, and what purposes it serves. The stock market is the platform through which shares — or pieces of ownership of a company — are bought and sold by investors; investors who own shares of a company are referred to as shareholders. Thus, the stock exchange allows investors to potentially improve their worth (provided the stock price of their investments increases, or provided they receive dividends, or small, pre-planned payments from a company paid to shareholders), and companies to have the benefit of being publically operated, and also, for company founders to cash-in on stock (by selling their shares of the company once it goes public). Trading shares is a relatively straightforward process. Through a licensed stockbroker, brokerage firm, or trading website, one simply places an order for the desired number of stock in a designated company; a small fee is usually paid to the party responsible for performing the trade (be it a person, firm, or website). There is always another individual looking to sell or buy a particular stock, given the magnitude of the exchange, and there are therefore almost never delays in the process. There are also a number of other, more complex stock purchase and sale types for buyers and sellers to choose from. Anyone who owns stock in a company owns a piece of its assets relative to their share count. For example, a company with a stock limit (which is determined during an IPO, or initial public offering, wherein a company's initial price and stock count are set before it debuts on the exchange),of 100 (hypothetically speaking, of course) would be 25% owned by an individual who possessed 25 shares.