Text 2. Money and the return it earns

Fundamental to all financial markets is the idea of earning a return on money. Money has to work for its owner. Here are some of the ways it can do so:

1. You deposit $1,000 with a bank, which pays you, say, 10 per cent a year interest. In other words, your $1,000 of capital earns you $100 a year, which is the return on your money. When you want your $1,000 back you get $1,000, plus any accumulated interest, not more or less. Provided your bank does not go bust, your $1,000 of capital is not at risk, except from inflation, which may reduce its purchasing power each year.

2. You use your $1,000 to buy securities that are traded on a stockmarket. Usually these will be government bonds (known as gilt-edged securities or gilts in the UK) or ordinary shares in a company. The former always provide an income; the latter normally do. Traditional gilt-edged securities pay a fixed rate of interest. Ordinary shares in companies normally pay a dividend from the profits the company earns. If the company's profits rise, the dividend is likely to be increased; but there is no guarantee that there will be a dividend at all. If the company incurs losses, it may have to cease paying a dividend.

But when you buy securities that are traded on a stockmarket, the return on your $1,000 is not limited to the interest or dividends you receive. The prices of these securities will also rise and fall, and your original $1,000 investment accordingly becomes worth more or less. So you are taking the risk of capital gains or capital losses.

Investors are generally prepared to accept much lower initial yields on shares than on fixed-interest stocks because they expect the income to rise in the future. Most investors in ordinary shares are seeking capital gains at least as much as income. Note that if you are buying a security, you are taking the risk that the price may fall whether it is a government bond or a share. But with the government bond the income is at least guaranteed by the government. With the share there is a second layer of risk. The company may not earn sufficient profits to pay a dividend.

To summarize: money can be deposited to produce an income; it can be used to buy commodities or goods, which are expected to rise in value; or it can be invested in stock market securities, which normally produce an income but show capital gains or losses as well. Of course, there are many variations on each of these items.