Bimal Kumar Thapa

THE IMPORTANCE OF BASIC EDUCATION ABOUT STOCK INVESTMENT

AND TRADING FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

THE IMPORTANCE OF BASIC EDUCATION ABOUT STOCK INVESTMENT

AND TRADING FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Bimal Kumar Thapa Bachelor’s Thesis Autumn 2018 Business Information Technology Oulu University of Applied Sciences

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ABSTRACT

Oulu University of Applied Sciences Business Information Technology

Author: Bimal Kumar Thapa Title of Bachelor´s thesis: The Importance of Basic Education about Stock Investment and Trading for Undergraduate Students Supervisor: Ilkka Mikkonen Term and year of completion: Autumn 2018 Number of pages: 29

Stock investing and the trading rate has been increasing day by day. The stock market is a gathering of millions of investors with diametrically opposing views. This research was done to highlight the importance of stock market education within undergraduate students. The primary objective of this thesis is to encourage the under graduating students to involve in stock market investing and trading. Furthermore, this research provides clear information on stock market investment and trading plan for students. Moreover, the thesis provides a stock investing plan for the students, and advantages of stock investment. The mixed of a qualitative and quantitative method is used. Materials for this research include journals, articles and different websites related to the stock market. Based on the research, the stock market investing education has a positive impact on the students. The result shows that a very few students have only involved in investing and many do not have experiences and knowledge about investing and trading in the stock market. The result shows that the number of students interested in having education about investing and trading is increasing. The students wants to involve in investing and trading.

Keywords: stock market, trading, investing,

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CONTENTS

1 TERMINOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 5

2 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 6

Objective of Research ................................................................................................. 7

Description of Research .............................................................................................. 8

3 DEFINITION ............................................................................................................................. 9

Stock market ............................................................................................................... 9

Trading & Investing ................................................................................................... 10

4 STOCK MARKET AND TRADING KNOWLEDGE FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS ... 13

Students as investors ................................................................................................ 13

Stock Investing plan for students .............................................................................. 15

5 IMPACT OF STOCK MARKET EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS ............................................ 17

Advantages of stock market investment.................................................................... 17

Investment risk in the stock market ........................................................................... 19

6 SURVEY AND RESULTS....................................................................................................... 21

7 CONCLUSION & DISCUSSION ............................................................................................. 24

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 26

APPENDICES...................................................................................................................................

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1 TERMINOLOGY

Mutual Fund: A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund from different investors. Each investor owns shares of the mutual fund. These investors may be retail or institutional. Bonds: A bond is a form of borrowing. The issuer of a bond must pay the investor interest for the using investors money. Bonds are referred to fixed-income securities. Annuities: Annuities are a series of payments made at the equal interval — for example, mortgage payments, monthly insurance payment. Life insurance companies and investment companies are the two sorts of financial institutions offering annuity products. Cryptocurrencies: Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currency. The cryptocurrencies are painful to counterfeit because of this security feature. There are lots of cryptocurrencies in the market. Some of them are Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum. Source: Investopedia, cited 19.11.2018

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2 INTRODUCTION

This research was conducted to highlight the importance of stock market education for the students

and to encourage them to involve in financial activities. Proper investing is very important to make

one’s financial life in order. It is equally important for everyone. The stock market is the place where

different types of stocks are bought and sold. Some people think that investing is like gambling so

that there is a higher chance of losing money, but it is not. The number of students who are involved

in the stock market is not so high. Thus, to encourage students to enter the stock market they

should get enough education and knowledge about it.

In the present situation, stock investment within the students is increasing. So, to engage in stock

market student must have adequate financial management and related knowledge. Financial

education is equally important to everyone. Financial education helps students in making wise

financial decisions. So, before they start involving in financial activities or making financial

decisions, it is more beneficial to provide the students with adequate financial knowledge. The stock

price is strongly affected by either the rational or irrational factor. There are many individual

investors, such as students who lack financial knowledge and information on the stock market.

Moreover, students can gain knowledge of a different virtual stock trading system which can provide

financial education, especially the domain knowledge of stock trading to enhance students' skills

and experiences of performing wise an investment before participating in the real-world stock

market. Thus, to train students how to become a rational investor is highly essential and attracts

students' attention and stimulates their curiosities in studying financial management, and related

knowledge are the main objectives of this thesis research. (Wu, Tseng, Chan, Hwang, Chu & Chen

2012, 1495-1505.)

The research is based on a mixed qualitative and quantitative research method. Besides, to get

more information and for the final result, the survey was conducted within the students of Oulu

University of Applied science.

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Objective of Research

The primary objective of this thesis is to focus on basic knowledge about the stock exchange and

trading within the undergraduate student of OAMK Business school. So, that they can engage in

financial activities in early time and learn basic about stock and the stock market. The student can

learn about the essentials of the stock market and understand various terminologies involved in the

stock market so, that they can identify the share market and involve in the share market. Nowadays

everywhere there is business, new startup companies are emerging, and the share market is

broader than before. To run the business, they allocate the number of shares in the market.

Moreover, students can involve some amount of money. Students can invest a certain amount of

money in the stock market. The student can gain knowledge of the basics of stock trading. Below

listed are some objectives of the thesis:

financial situation and possibilities of student involving in the stock market.

Financial management and investing plan for students.

To encourage the students to involve in investing.

To develop capabilities for students to make rational investments.

To attract students and stimulate their curiosities in the stock investment field.

Hence, these points mentioned above are the main objectives of this thesis research. After all the

research and survey result, the final result shows how much the undergraduate student is

interested in the stock market and how important it is for them.

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Description of Research

The thesis is about the importance of education about the stock market and trading for an

undergraduate student. Education is essential to everyone, and learning skills can play a vital role

in improvement and for success. Besides their field, anybody can involve in the financial market if

he or she has enough knowledge to start. The researcher is trying to find out about the student

involving in financial activities and its impact. If they are interested in investing in the financial

market and gain knowledge and if they would like to have a stock market knowledge with their study

period. The primary problem the student is facing is a financial crisis. Everybody has a limited

amount of money and debts in the entire period of study before graduating. So, many students are

doing a part-time job or taking loans to support their living and tuition fees of the school. Saving is

essential and if they know the stock market, they might involve in the financial market and could

make some money to support them.

This thesis is based on students who involve in the stock market. The student can be a passive

investor or an active investor and learn about the investing if they get an education from school and

can engage in financial activities are interested. This thesis is based on quantitative research and

qualitative research (articles, survey, journal). The researcher will do a survey within student

studying in Oulu University of Applied Sciences. Moreover, the survey question is if they have basic

knowledge about the stock market and trading, are they interested in gaining knowledge of the

stock market if they are already involved in the stock market. Also, after having the research result,

it shows how important the stock market education is to the students and how students can involve

in share market and start trading. Additionally, the thesis helps to encourage the student to involve

in the stock market and trading.

Moreover, at the end the researcher will briefly explain the research methodology, all the findings,

resulting from the research questionnaire and data analysis of the research.

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3 DEFINITION

In this part the author describes about the stock market, trading, and investing. This part of thesis

indicates what is stock market, trading, investing, and how it runs. As well as the comparison

between trading and investing.

Stock market

A stock market is a place where people go to buy and sell stocks. Different companies allocate

their shares to the public to raise the capital. Therefore, the stock market provides the market for

shareholders and companies. Stocks do not have a fixed value instead supply and demand

determines the value. It does not remain the same, and the value is fluctuating every time. The

stock market is called Bear market if the price is falling and bull market if the price is increasing.

So, fear and greed can be compelling sources in the stock market. The stock market is also called

public markets that exist for issuing, buying and selling stocks that trade on a stock exchange or

over the counter. The stock market gives companies an ability to quickly access capital from the

public to maintain balance in economic development. The primary purpose of the stock market is

to provide capital to the companies without incurring any debt and paying interest charges on that

debt. (Wikipedia 2018. cited 26.09.2018)

The stock market is a gathering of millions of investors with diametrically opposing views. Because

one investor is willing to buy and another one is selling. So, both investors cannot be right, and it

is antagonistic. Thus, one investor bears a loss and other gains a profit. Therefore, it is important

to become well skilled and learned on the investment investors are considering. There is always

rise and fall in stock prices, and there are many factors that determine it. These include media,

natural disasters, political and social unrest, risk supply and demand, and the opinions of right

investors. In simple, if there are more sellers than buyers, stock prices will fall. Oppositely, when

there are more buyers than sellers, the stock prices will rise. The stock market is very unpredictable.

So, the investor should understand the point at which stock prices are fairly valued, Understanding

the human decision-making process and other issues of the events that will cause a downturn. The

market activity determines the actual price of a stock. The two most important decisions an investor

will make are when to buy and when to sell. The best time to buy the stock is when other investors

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think that the market is falling and the best time to sell is when other investors are curious to buy

with the market condition. (Patton, M. 2015. Forbes. cited 26.09.2018)

The stock market is the place where investors transfer, deal and circulate of issued shares. The

stock market gathers speculators and investors. The current situation of share market represents

economic and financial surroundings of the country. The stock market is unpredictable, so the

values for the stocks change all the time. In the share market, there are different ways of deals with

stock. Some of them are bargaining and bidding deals, direct and indirect deals, spot trading and

futures trading. Investors can analyze the stock market by the following methods, fundamental

analysis, and technical analysis. The fundamental analysis method is based on traditional

economics, and the principal research object is its company value, financial management,

competitors. It is used to calculate long-term investment value and safety margin of the company.

Technical analysis is based on the historical change charts of share price and on predicting the

stock price fluctuation. (Investopedia. cited 26.09.2018)

Trading & Investing

Trading refers to buying and selling's securities or commodities, goods or services on a short-term

basis, hoping to make a quick profit. So, trading is an active style of participating in the financial

market for buying, selling or holding an investment for a period. Notably, a trader usually looks for

short-term price moves to profit in both rising and falling markets. (Folger, J. 2017 Investopedia.

cited 26.09.2018) In the stock market. The stock trader must have good knowledge and ideas of

market trends and how the market is performing. In trading, the trader does a technical analysis to

analyze the securities and forecast their trends in the future, by the data obtained through trading

activity. Trading activities are more active in the daytime, so the trader should have regular tracking

of stocks in the market. (Investopedia. cited:28.09.2018)

To gain a profit a trader should have enough knowledge, skills, ideas to be successful investor in

trading. There are numbers of rules to increase the odds of succeeding in the markets. Some of

them are as; the trader should always use a trading plan, treat trading like a business and give time

and must be up to date with the stocks trend. The traders must be aware of protecting their trading

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capital, and always become a student of the markets. The traders should risk what they can afford

to lose and to develop a trading methodology based on the facts.

Investing is purchase or sale of assets in order to gain more capital or income. Investing can involve

the purchase or sale of different stocks, land, real estate, interest-bearing account, shares of the

company. Investing in those things, investor will gain or loss in investment. The investor can invest

in a bank, with a broker or an insurance company, and one can invest directly through other several

forms. There are different types of investment. They are fixed term investment fund, stocks, bonds,

annuities, saving for college, cryptocurrencies, commodities, retirement. The income from investing

can come from many ways like financial profit, interest earnings or the appreciation of the asset.

Investing also means the long-term commitment. Every investment has a risk. (Investopedia. cited

28.09.2018)

Figure 1 shows the comparison chart between trading and investing. Trading and Investing both mean making money, but there is a slight difference between them. In trading, the trader wants to make money by buying and selling of goods, and in investing, the investor aims to generates good income in the future by investing in some plans and schemes.

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FIGURE 1. The comparison chart between trading and investing. (Key differences 2018, cited 09.10.2018)

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4 STOCK MARKET AND TRADING KNOWLEDGE FOR UNDERGRADUATE

STUDENTS

In this part of thesis, the author mention about the importance of stock market and trading

knowledge for undergraduate students. Moreover, it also shows the present situation about

students as investors and the stock investing plan for students. Additionally, this part also describes

the stock investing ideas and knowledge for the students.

Students as investors

The students are always keen to learn new skills, ideas and gain more and more knowledge to

enhance their great future. One of the options for students could be to invest in the stock market.

Investing while young age is always a good start. They can learn basic skills and knowledge about

the stock market and involve in stock investing and trading. Students should be careful about the

capital they invest and choose between long-term investment or short-term investment. For this,

students need to learn good investing books or online articles which will help them to gain

knowledge and become a successful investor. So, students can trade stocks or invest in bonds

with the laptop and internet connection sitting at home and in free time. So, by involving in the stock

market and trading they can get ahead financially before even embarking into the real world of work

and improving one's finances. There are different types of investments where students can invest

their funds. They are fixed term investment-fund, stocks, bonds, annuities, saving for college,

cryptocurrencies, commodities, retirement. There are lots of free practicing investing accounts. The

students can start with these accounts to practice with fake money and get the feeling of what it is

like to do investing when investors have enough real money on stake.

Stocks, shares, equities are different names but mean the same. Learning to investments is the

key to making more from one’s funds. The earlier they start, the better they get in the future. One

of the biggest investing myths is that investor needs much money to get started. Investing in stocks

for beginners is not so expensive. Investors can open an investing account without any funds too.

Many online brokers can help investors to start investing. So, the students can start to invest with

minimal money. It is better to start with a small amount of money. It means investors do not feel

nervous about risking much money in the starting phase. The students should invest consistently.

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Consistency is the key. The investors should follow up the indexing to get the better results.

Investing for the beginners is all about learning, so the students realize that they will make mistakes.

The investor should boost their investment when learning more about investing and put more

money into their efforts. So, that financial situation will improve. (Marquit, M. 2017. Student loan

hero. cited 23.10.2018)

Moreover, many experts think that college students are the best investors. Students are continually

learning and not afraid to make mistakes. So, students get the education and knowledge in building

wealth. As far everybody knows, investors do not need lots of capital to start investing but they

should have to know how to make it. For this general education is needed. When the students

become familiar with how the financial markets works, they can jump to invest in individual bonds

or stocks. There are lots of online brokerage firms where investors get helps and guide to start

investing. Investing does not always mean not gaining profit, but sometime investors have the

chance to lose all the principal too. To be a successful investor, they have to have time to follow

the markets and research the trade carefully. There are some tips for the college student to start

over investing in the stock market. (Latisha, S. 2018, Young Finances. cited 23.07.2018)

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Stock Investing plan for students

As much as anything else, investing is a habit and it is a good habit. The college years are an

excellent time to begin investing. The college student who are interested in investing can start

before graduation too. By this, the students already have the investment experience which

enhances their future. The student will cross a significant ‘'adult'' threshold investing – earlier in life

than most. Moreover, the real-world lessons learned in the process of investing could never be

learned by reading books and gaining knowledge through different sources. Students can make a

huge difference in their student life and after graduation. So, the students who gain experience in

college will have a significant advantage over those who have not. Saving some money and

investing can be a good outcome in the future. The best for students is to invest in low-cost, index-

based exchange traded funds (ETFs) which hold stocks. The most significant decision for the

students is deciding whether they want to go with a managed investment account, or self-directed

investing. In managed investing, every detail and financial activities are managed by the manager.

This includes everything from creating portfolio, allocation to choosing specific investments and

rebalancing the portfolio as per need. On the other hand, the investors can do self-directed

investing, where investors have to do all by themselves regarding all the activities, researching and

choosing specific investments, and when to trade. (Jeff, R. 2018. Good Financial Cents. cited

23.07.2018)

According to financial experts, there are few tips for college students who want to invest before or

while investing their funds in the markets. Investing is not difficult to start, but managing investment

is not easy. For this, the investors should acquire knowledge from different sources, mentors,

articles and expert views as well as from the brokerage firm. (Latisha, S. 2018, Young Finances.

cited 23.07.2018)

Learn as much as you can – To be a successful investor, the students should acquire investing

knowledge and techniques by reading reliable investing books, articles, online courses. The

investors should keep learning all the time to get a good result.

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Eliminate high-interest debts – To make a balance in the financial situation student should have

paid off high debts before starting any investment because it may make even worse in investors

financial condition.

Select a brokerage firm – To get started with the investment, investors have to create a brokerage

account. There are lots of brokerage firms which provide services via online or face to face. So, the

investors will be monetarizing, tips and information about the market.

Diversify your portfolio – Portfolio diversification is highly valued within the investors. So, investing

all the funds in a single company can result in financial disaster of the investor. Investors should

consider investing in various industries. For this reason, a diversified portfolio is needed.

Seek professional advice – The investors should always listen to the expert advice which helps

them to grow in the stock market. They can get useful advice.

Invest regularly – To gain more profit the investors should invest regularly and remain active and

patient in the market: the more investors involved in the stock market, the more investors learn and

the higher chance of gain profit on own investment.

All investments involve risk. The investors should understand that they could lose some or all of

their principal. It is often said that the higher the risks, the higher the potential reward in the

investing. The investors should consider many things before investing to gain in the future such as

history of the companies, the current market situation of companies. As the most successful

investor Warren Buffett says it ‘'Don't put all your eggs in one basket''. Being a student, the investors

should start the small break and investment money to diversify their investment portfolio.

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5 IMPACT OF STOCK MARKET EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS

In this part, the author describes about the impact of the stock market education for students. There

are both positive and negative sides. Moreover, this part also mentions the risks related to stock

investment. There are many advantages of the stock market investment as well as some risks in

the stock investment.

Advantages of stock market investment

Investing is always a good thing to proceed to make money. Investors do not have any guarantee

about the returns of their initial investment. The profitability of the investment in the stocks depends

entirely upon the rise and fall of the stock price. The stock market does not have the limited value

so that anyone can start with the small capital also. So, the stock investment can be the best choice

for a student to invest in the stock market. There are lots of advantages of investing in the stock

market as the students. The student can decide the number of stocks to reflect the time frame for

investing, risk, tolerance and financial situation. The best to do in the stock market are selling while

it rises and buying when it falls. (Fidelity. cited 25.10.2018)

Investment in the share market has become a favorite source of investment nowadays. The shares

investment is not like solid returns on investment, but there are always rise and falls of stock prices

in the market. So, the in-depth study of the ongoing market and ethical awareness and active

participation of market trends is the key for successful prediction of success. There are lots of

advantages in investing stock markets for students. Stock investment are tax-free investment also.

There are long-term investment possible from which they can gain more in the future. So, here are

some of the advantages of stock investment. They are as follows: (Stock Investing, Quora. cited

25.10.2018)

Easy Liquidity – It is one of the first benefits of investing. In stock market shares, investors can

decide by themself at any time what to do with their stocks. It is easier to turn out the stock

investment into cash very quickly.

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Flexibility – It is very flexible to invest in the stock market. The market prices always rise and fall at

every trade session, the price of stock market moves with the rapidity and flexibility of the stock

market.

Greatest returns – Investing in the stock market gives the most extreme returns than any investment

over the long term. So, the stock market investment is volatile and faster increase in value.

Business taste – Investing is also business. The investors get a real view about the business and

the financial activities in the stock market when they start. The students learn to invest and go into

the real world with financial activities.

Sole proprietorship – It is like own business because the investors who trade or invest in the stock

market is like a modern business style. When the investors invest in the stock market, then the

investors are starting their own business where their investment is their capital and responsible for

buying and selling of stocks. So, investing in the stock market is like an investor sole proprietorship

business.

Stock investment is quick and hassle-free investment compared to other investment. The stock

Investors gets the gains and dividend of invested stocks in a period. The students can buy minimal

amounts of shares with different systems with their capital. In general, investing in the stock market

has the possibility of obtaining a higher rate of return. Therefore, the stock market investment can

be a good investment for students.

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Investment risk in the stock market

The price of stock varies widely from time to time. Stocks are volatile investments. Stocks are long-

term investments with many short-term fluctuations in price. The price of stock varies widely from

time to time. Moreover, the factors that cause these price fluctuations are beyond the control of

the investors. There are many risks associated with the stock market. There are some risks that

investors can minimize. So, investing means taking risks. Investments is risky business. The major

types of risk for investors are economic risks, inflation, market value risk and investors being too

conservative. (little, K. 2018. The balance. Cited 25.10.2018) Stocks are volatile investments.

Stocks are long-term investments with many short-term fluctuations in price.

The investors invest to gain a profit on their investment, but returns are also not only the

consideration. Risk and return both are connected. The higher the risk of an investment, the higher

the potential return. There are no risk-free investments. There is always a possibility that the

investors will not get the return as expected or could lose all the money on that investment.

Sometimes, the investors could lose all entire investments also. The stock’s price change so

quickly. So, the investors should focus to risks, to achieve the investments goal. There are different

types of risks associated with stock investments, like market risk, liquidity risk, concentration risk,

currency risk, credit risk, reinvestment risk, and inflation risk. So, the investors should know about

the various types of risks to considered at various investing steps and for different goals. The

market price of stocks changes all the time depending upon demand and supply. The investors

cannot sell the investment at the fair price while selling because of the market situation. (Types of

investment risk. Cited 28.10.2018).

The other risks of the investments in the stocks is downsizing of dividends by the company because

of the poor performance in the market. The common stockholder investors are the last priority in

case of failure or bankruptcy of the business. So, the investors should make a wise decision on

investments to minimize the risks. The political climate can have an impact on markets, like

instability government, laws, taxes, rules and regulations. Therefore, investing and risk goes hand-

in-hand. The investors should be able to handle the risks, and some risks can be eliminated or

minimized by the effective management to reach a goal. (Chazin, D. 2017. Investopedia. Cited

28.10.2018)

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The stock markets have a lot to offer. Therefore, the to understand the market and be fully aware

of the risks. To make a good return from the investment in the stock market, the investors should

have knowledge, ideas, risk bearing capacity and patience. They should also be always up to date

with the market situation. The investors can check a potential investment by analyzing market risks,

inflation risks, economic risks, and liquidity risk. (Johnson, S. 2014. Yahoo! Finance. Cited

25.10.2018) There are many ways to manage these risks by holding a diversified stock portfolio,

investing for the long-term, patience on the fluctuation of prices, advices from the expert or

knowledgeable investors on the same field. The investors also should be cautious while buying

private and public stocks and trading stocks. (Risks of stocks. 2017. Cited 25.10.2018)

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6 SURVEY AND RESULTS

The primary objective of this research was to figure out the financial situation and possibilities of

students involving in the stock market, how to encourage the students to involve in investing and

to develop capabilities for students to make rational investments and how to attract the students

and stimulate their curiosities in the stock investment.

The mixed of qualitative and quantitative research method was used for the research process.

Mostly, the journal articles are used for the theory part. Moreover, to find out more results on this

research, the research questionnaire was made and surveyed within the students' group of Oulu

University of Applied Sciences.

A set of 10 questionnaires was prepared for a survey. The first part of questionnaires intended to

ask about the general information regarding the age group, gender group, and the stats of current

studies. Also, the second part of questionnaires intended to ask about their interest in the stock

market investment, whether their education field is related trading in investment instruments and

their experiences and knowledge about the investment instruments. So, the final part of

questionnaires intended to ask about the types of investment services they used and their source

of income and their invested amount of money and if they like to have stock market investment

education during their studies period. The questionnaire can be found in the Appendix 1.

The questionnaire was sent to different study groups of students of OUAS Business School. The

researcher got 17 responses.

In the first question of the survey, the respondents were asked about their gender. About the gender

group of respondents, out of 17 respondents, 9 respondents were male, 7 respondents were

female, and one respondent chooses to preferred not to say.

In the second question of the survey, the respondents were asked about the age. The group of

respondents is quite similar. From the total respondents, the age group 7 respondents were above

30, 3 respondents were between 25-30 and 7 respondents were below 25.

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In the third question of the survey, the respondents were asked about their current studies group.

Moreover, the survey results show that about 12 of respondents were from DIB group where 5.

respondents were from BIT group.

In the fourth question of the survey, the respondents were asked about if they are interested in the

stock market investment while studying. Out of 17 respondents, 11 respondents agreed that they

are interested in the stock market investment while studying, while 3 respondents agreed that they

might be interested after their studies and 2 respondents said that they were not interested in stock

market investment while studying.

In the fifth question of the survey, the respondents were asked if their studies include related to

trading in investment instruments. Moreover, about 12 respondents said, their studies are not

related to trading in investment instruments where 4 respondents said it is related to their studies

and one respondent said that he does not know yet because he is the first-year student and not

sure about it.

In the sixth question of the survey, the respondents were asked about their experience and

knowledge of investment instruments. Also, from the survey results, it shows that 7 respondents

do not have any experience and knowledge of investment instruments, and the same 7

respondents who have experience and knowledge about investment instruments. 2 said they have

knowledge and experience about cryptocurrencies and 1 respondent said they know mutual funds.

In the seventh question of the questionnaire, the respondents were asked about what types of

investment services they use, or they have used in the past. Moreover, from the result, the

researcher found that 12 respondents have not used any investment services yet, 3 respondents

used brokerage orders for trade in investment instruments, and 1 respondent have used investment

consultancy, and one respondent did not give an answer.

In the eight-question of the survey, the respondents were asked about their source of investments.

Also, from the result, it shows that 11 respondents use their savings for investment, 4 respondents

use their savings and borrowed loan for their investments. Moreover, two respondents did not

answer this question.

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In the ninth question of the survey, the respondents were asked about how much money they have

invested till now. Moreover, from the survey result, it shows that 10 respondents said that they have

never tried, 5 respondents said they had invested more than 5000€, 1 respondent said to have

invested about 1000€- 5000€ and 1 said to had invested less than 1000€.

In the last question of the survey, the respondents were asked if they like to have stock market

investment education in their studies period. From the survey result, it was found that most of the

respondents like to have stock market investment education in their studies period. 13 respondents

said they would like to have stock market investment education where 4 respondents said they do

not like to have in their studies period.

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7 CONCLUSION & DISCUSSION

The stock market is the place where investors transfer, deal and circulate of issued shares. Stock

investing has become very popular all over the world. The stock prices are uncertain and

unpredictable. The market value is irrational at times. Stocks are the risky investment, and in order

to generate higher returns, more risk has to be taken. Investing requires a contrarian personality,

a real genuine interest in finance, emotional stability, business skill and a habit of constant learning

and improvement. The successful investor Warren Buffet said that there are two rules. One: Never

lose money and Two: Remember the number one. So, before involving in the stock market, the

investors should have enough knowledge and ideas about the stock market. The research suggests

that in the long run, stocks have provided a better return than any other investment. The investor's

most valuable asset is knowledge. Knowledge is power.

Stock investment is so prevalent within the students also because virtually anyone can start an

investment in stocks. Moreover, there are lots of free practice investing accounts, which offered to

learn about investing with the fake money. So, starting an investment with the free practice account

helps the students to learn faster and feel the real stock market activities. Stock investment skills,

ideas, and knowledge are not hard to gain, so the investor should give enough time and habit of

learning. Investing in financial markets means investing in own business because the actions of

investors play an essential role to be a successful investor. The research also showed that investing

in stock markets for students is good to start for entering the financial market. It does not require

much of an effort to learn about personal finance, budgeting and some basics of stock investing.

Throughout the research, it was found that to become a successful investor it takes much hard

work, effort, passion, faith, and determination.

The conclusions and discussion are made from the questionnaire result from the survey within the

students of Oulu University of Applied Sciences. The results of the thesis are compared with the

main objectives of the thesis. From the survey result, it was found that most of the respondents like

to have stock market investment education during their studies period. Moreover, from survey

results, we can assume that among from sample survey form, they do not have any experience

and knowledge of investment instruments. Also, most of the respondents said that, their studies

are not related to trading in investment instruments. From the survey results, it also shows that

most of the students are interested in stock investment education and that they are interested in

25

the stock market investment while studying too. They would like to have knowledge and experience

about cryptocurrencies, mutual funds, bonds, and stocks.

Overall the thesis proves the importance of stock market education for undergraduate students.

Both fundamental and technical analysis is needed to be right investors. The author recommends

low-cost index funds for the overwhelming majority. The students should understand and have

sufficient knowledge, ideas, business skills about the stock market to establish as a successful

investor in the future. The effective financial planning, budgeting, effort, passion, faith, and

determination are needed to become a successful investor. Good investment requires a broad

research and frequent updates.

26

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APPENDIX 1

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