The stock market is something that school kids hear about every day on the news, in class, at the dinner table. They probably know that it s somehow closely related to the economy and economic good and bad times, but beyond vaguely sensing that the stock market is a sort of economic barometer, they may have little practical knowledge about what it is and how it works. This book provides both a broad overview of stock trading and a more fine-grained, "insider" perspective on the international buying and selling that both drives the economy and reflects its health, that both funds corporations and measures their performance, and that increasingly plays a central role in either wealth creation or wealth loss for ordinary American families. It s essential reading for all young people who will soon be embarking on their adult lives and making crucial decisions about their own money."