[giDdfezP]

I think the views of the stock market here are a bit too harsh. To say its rife with corruption seems to be a bit of an overstatement. I'd like some more proof before believing that. No doubt, there is some foul play with insider trading but that is illegal and there is foul play in many aspects of life.

Most people who trade in the stock market either go in blind, follow analysts like it's Haq, or give their money to professionals to invest. The first will almost guarantee you a loss, the second and third require you to actually pick a worthy candidate and not just any Tom, **** and Harry that seems to know what they are on about. Otherwise you risk someone playing around with your money and losing it.

Those people who invest themselves usually do it without much knowledge and suffer big. And when they do they sometimes unfortunately have a tendency to think foul play is going on. A lot of people will see a stock rise, buy based solely on that and expect it to continue to rise. When it falls and they lose they can't understand what bucked the trend. Others who are a bit more well versed will actually look into a companies quarterly reports and see what the state of the company is. Unfortunately many people even then lack the ability to pick out the necessary information.

For example. By law a company has to provide correct information on all their earnings, assets liabilities, profits etc etc. false information will cause in legal backlashes against the company. However, even by telling the truth companies can hide their failings by using language and figures which a laymen can't recognise as meaningless waffle.

Have you ever heard a report from a company saying:

"we had a terrible 3 months. Profits have decreased substantially due to a mix up in the management."

Instead what you'll see is:

"we had a great quarter. Sales have breached a record amount. Up 20% from our previous high. As a result profits of £12m were earned"

All that might be true but it's waffle. Record sales and record profit alone don't tell you anything about whether a company is struggling or doing well. Of the people who bother to read these reports, they see a glowing report and invest heavily, and when the company fails and their shares fall they can't understand what went wrong and they automatically think there is foul play.

Making money from stocks is not an easy thing. It required hours worth of research and analysis of companies before you can decide who to invest in.

The only issue is whether it's halaal or not as some say it's halaal and there's haraam. Jazaakallah Abu Hajira for providing some links on this. I'm slowly working my way through them.

I think you touch upon an important issue - one needs to have a good understanding of the sector and business they get involved in. Because essentially, this is all about business and how well a business is performing. If you research a sector or are a proffesional in a particular field, you will know what trends and stats to lookout for in the particulars of this sector. If you can do this yourself or take the advice of someone who is considered an expert in the sector, then you are better informed before taking the risk. One othe rthing is to have a longterm outlook, not the riches over night approach. Otherwise, you leave yourself open to the whims of market forces.

What many do not understand is just how corrupt the city and many financial centres are. It does not get out until something really bad happens and insiders start spilling the beans. Take for example the Libor scandal, that has virtually effected most households in western Europe and America, loans and anything esle tied to the London banking system. There were rumuors about it before, buts only now has the extent of the scandal become clear. These are the same institutions and financial houses who are bulwarks of the markets and some of the most important constituents thereof.

Anyone who understands what card-counting is in Casino's - basically, the equivalent is done by all the big institutions in London and New York (and beyond). They do it using extremely powerful programmes to effect the price how they would like it. They have leveraged financial instruments which on face value are promoted as being safety tools should markets become adverse - what they really do, if you elect to take them up, is give over what you intend to do to the very companies that set the spread when you sell.

Also, it is not right that financial houses that are (in reality) virtually broke, continue risky market trading activities while they are getting bailed out by the taxpayer. Just look at JPMorgan, losses growing bigger and bigger from its trading arm, but no doubt a bailout will ensure they can carry-on as usual and get into even more of a mess. Its the height of arrogance and corruption, but they are immensely powerful as a group and little we can do to change that. In the US, UK, there have been finacial troubles for a few years now, yet not a single law has been passed to properly regualte these people and what activities they can get involved in. Such is their stranglehold on government, while they hold the taxpayer to ransom.

What they need to start looking at is the regulators, former bankers and market people. These need to be chnaged to atleast start doing a decent job. It would be better for Muslims to avoid the markets in current times. There are so9 many better ways to use your money.

As for whether it is halal or haram, I believe Mufti E Desai has issued a Fatwa on this issue with great insight. Its somewhere on this topic in the forum.

Allahu A'lam