What does the Nasdaq-Dow etc. tell me when they are in + or in - ?

Question

I mean do I know if my stocks did well or not !!!

Every time I look at the news they talk about for example, DowJones as lost ..... points or ...... % . So from that scale can I say if should invest in Dow today or in DAX etc.....

I don't know if i made my self clear, but I'm pretty new in this subject so I don't know how to express my self probably.

Any info about that would be helpfull !!!

I've been searching in the internet to learn more about stock market !!!

Answer 1

just because the overall market, as indicated by a particular index, trended one way or another on a given day doesn't tell you anything about how your investments did (unless you only invest in index-based mutual funds or ETFs).

For example, today the NYSE Composite lost a little more than 1%.  but that doesn't mean that everything in the index did the exact same thing - all an index is is an average.  today, while the broader market (as defined by the NYSE Composite) declined by 1%, 1/3 of stocks in that index actually went UP in value!

If you make smart, well-founded investments, then what the market as a whole does is almost irrelevant to you.  stock market indexes are just quick and dirty ways for newscasters to talk about the overall market action, without actually needing to understand anything.

Answer 2

Indices such as the Nasdaq and Dow explain how the market is doing as a whole. Watch it very closely to notice buying in selling opportunities in the market. If you own mutual funds it is a must that your keep abreast on the results. There is my recommendation for you.