-
What is an index fund?
A stock index is a benchmark, which measures the performance of several stocks. For example, the well-known S&P 500 includes the 500 largest companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.
-
How do I invest in index funds?
Select the index fund or funds you want to trade. If you are a newbie, it’s better to choose well-known and broad market indices at first. Take into consideration an index sector (for example, Nasdaq 100 is a technological index) and its geography (Nikkei 225 - the leading index of Japanese stocks).
-
Are index funds safer than individual stocks?
A stock index is an already well-diversified portfolio. Diversification is one of the main pillars of trading stocks. It simply means having a range of various assets to minimize the risks of unexpected price movements of one asset. Therefore, indices are more sustained to unexpected market shocks than individual stocks and thus considered as low-risk investments.
-
How to start trading?
If you are 18+ years old, you can join FBS and begin your FX journey. To trade, you need a brokerage account and sufficient knowledge on how assets behave in the financial markets. Start with studying the basics with our free educational materials and creating an FBS account. You may want to test the environment with virtual money with a Demo account. Once you are ready, enter the real market and trade to succeed.
FAANG
FAANG
FAANG is an acronym referring to the stocks of the five most popular and best-performing American technology companies: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Alphabet (formerly known as Google). In addition to being widely known among consumers, the five FAANG stocks are among the largest companies in the world, with a combined market capitalization of nearly 7.1 trillion dollars as of August 5, 2021.
Any ETF that has at least 1% exposure to each of the FAANG stocks can be called a FAANG ETF. And because of the FAANG importance in the financial world, there are more than 35 major FAANG ETFs.
The term was coined by Jim Cramer, the television host of CNBC's Mad Money, in 2013, who praised these companies for being “totally dominant in their markets”. Originally, the term FANG was used, with Apple—the second “A” in the acronym—added in 2017.
In a nutshell about each “Faang”
1. Facebook Inc. (FACEBOOK) is an online social media and social networking service company founded in 2004. The company’s primary revenue stream comes from online advertisements. Facebook also owns several prominent subsidiaries, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus VR.
Facebook currently lists over 2.5 billion active users, and it was the most downloaded mobile app in the world during the 2010s. It is available in 111 different languages to anyone who claims to be at least 13 years old. As of August 2021, the social media giant’s market capitalization is over $1 trillion.
2. Amazon Inc. (AMAZON) is a diversified technology company operating in e-commerce, consumer electronics, and cloud computing industries. Jeff Bezos established the company in 1994 as an online bookstore. Amazon is now the world’s biggest e-commerce retailer based on market capitalization. The company owns several subsidiaries, including Whole Foods Market (chain of supermarkets) and Twitch (live streaming platform).
Amazon operates in countries around the world. By 2018, its two-day delivery system (Amazon Prime) listed over 100 million subscribers worldwide. As of August 2021, Amazon’s market capitalization is more than $1.69 trillion. Price chart for AMAZON is available online.
3. Apple (APPLE) is a multinational technology company based in California, known for selling consumer electronics such as phones, tablets, and computers. It was founded by Steve Jobs and two others in 1976, making it the oldest of the FAANG stocks. Apple went public in December 1980, with an IPO that raised over $100 million (at $22 per share).
Nowadays, Apple is the largest IT company in the world. In addition, on August 2, 2018, it became the first U.S. company with a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. As of August 2021, its market capitalization is almost $2.4 trillion, with revenues of almost $347 billion. Look for the APPLE stock live chart with FBS.
4. Netflix Inc. (Ticker: NFLX) is a media provider that provides customers with subscription-based online streaming of films and TV shows. Recently, the company entered the content-production industry, producing its own movies and TV shows.
Netflix counts almost 200 million paid subscriptions worldwide, making it a dominant player in the entertainment industry. It operates in over 190 countries and also produces a variety of Netflix Original content. As of August 2021, its market capitalization is over $228 billion. You can follow NETFLIX's historical price data with FBS.
5. Headquartered in California, U.S., Google (GOOGLE) specializes in providing internet-based services and products. It was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and is perhaps best known for its web search engine. The company went public in August 2004, offering almost 20 million shares at $85 per share.
Google Search is the United States’ dominant internet search engine. Its success triggered the creation of numerous other products, including work and productivity services (Google Docs, Google Sheets), email (Gmail), and video sharing (YouTube). Also, Google developed a mobile operating system called Android, which runs most of today’s smartphones. As of August 2021, Google’s market capitalization is $1.8 trillion, trading under its parent company, Alphabet. GOOGLE stock line chart will help you trade better.
Some have raised concerns that the FAANG stocks may be in the midst of a bubble, whereas others argue that their growth is justified by the stellar financial and operational performance they have shown in recent years. One thing’s for certain is that the level of volatility sometimes shown by FAANG stocks—and the huge influence these stocks can have on the market overall—is a source of concern for some investors.
All of the FAANG stocks are available in FBS in form of CDFs, so you can participate in trading with the world’s most influential stocks.
2024-05-29 • Updated
