Sectors of the Stock Market
The term market sector is used in economics and finance to describe a set of businesses that are buying and selling such similar goods and services that they are in direct competition with each other. Analysts divide the stock market itself into market sectors so that shares of companies that are in direct competition are listed alongside each other. One of the ways investors classify stocks is by type of business. The idea is to put companies in similar industries together for comparison purposes. Below are the most common sectors of the stock market.
How to use stock market sectors
Stocks sectors are helpful sorting and comparison tools. Don’t get hung up on using just one organization’s set of sectors, though. MorningStar.com uses slightly different sectors in its tools, which let you compare stocks within a sector. This is extremely helpful, since one of the ways to use sector information is to compare how your stock or a stock you may want to buy, is doing relative to other companies in the same sector.If all the other stocks are up 11% and your stock is down 8%, you need to find out why. Likewise, if the numbers are reversed, you need to know why your stock is doing so much better than others in the same sector – maybe its business model has changed and it shouldn’t be in that sector any longer.
Nasdaq quotes delayed at least 15 minutes, all others at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following terms and conditions.
Conference calls info supplied by OpenCompany
Fundamental data supplied by Morningstar
Stock quotes supplied by Telekurs USA
