By owning a company's stock, you own
a piece of a business as a silent partner (you do
not participate in the day-to-day running of the
business).
Investment in
individual stocks means that you choose the
companies you buy pieces of yourself (with the help
of advice from the internet, TV programs, Newspaper
articles, word of mouth from friends, ...etc.)
This is different
from Mutual
Funds, where the Fund Manager controls which
companies to buy, in return for a percentage of the
total value of the fund.
Historically, the
best investment vehicle are stocks, since they
provide the highest rate of return on investment for
the long run.
| Islamic
analysis of the Dow Jones companies |
You can read an Islamic
analysis of the Dow Jones (DJIA) companies.
Check it out and let us know what you think.
| Islamic
analysis of USA Industries |
You can also read
an Islamic
analysis of the USA Industry classification.
In the USA, each publically trading company is
classified within an industry. This will help you
screen companies quickly and exclude those that
engage in prohibited activities.
| Dow
Jones Islamic Market Index - DJIM |
Due to the growth
of demand for Islamic investment, and market indexes
tracking the Islamic portion of the market, Dow
Jones, the well known financial research
company, has invented the Dow
Jones Islamic Market Index complete with an Islamic
Scholars Advisory Board with well known
Scholars.
Before you buy a
stock in a company you like, check the DJIM
Companies list, which is sorted by the
company name.
| Speculation
on Stocks - Is it Islamically Correct? |
A common question
that Muslim investors have these days is: "Is
it Islamically acceptable to engage in stock market
speculation?". This topic has been discussed at
some length on the Islamic
Finance Network web site, Speculation
Forum.
Bear in mind that these are individual opinions by
people like you and me, and not scholarly studies,
although some very useful references to scholar's
opinions are stated. So, use your judgement.
| The
International Investor - TII |
This is a Kuwait
based company offering investment services and the
like. They have a London based advisor, The
International Investor Advisory Group - TIIAG,
which publishes several Islamic Indexes, including
the following:
| Zakat
(Alms/Charity) on Stocks |
On the Islam-Online
web site, Dr. Yusuf Al Qaradawi has a fatwa on How
to pay Zakat on Stocks?, in Arabic. He
stated the same opinion on the televised program
"Al Sahia Wa Al Hayat" on Al Jazira
Satellite channel on Sunday 2 January 2000, making a
distinction between "investing" and
"trading", whereas the latter treats his
stocks as liquid cash money, paying 2.5%, while
investors pay only on their gains/appreciation, but
at a rate of 10% (by analogy of gains from
agricultural land with no human irrigation [rain]).
Here are other
sources of information on paying Zakat on Stocks:
| Stock
Information, Quotes, Analysis and Research |
There are hundreds
of internet sites where you can get stock
information.
We take a look at some of the most popular ones
here.
There are many free
tools that will help you with your investing,
starting from selecting and screening stocks, to
monitoring your protfolio and watching the markets.
Here are some very useful tools that you can use...
| Site |
Description |
| Quicken
Stock Screening |
Here
is a very powerful tool where you can give
it your criteria and it comes back with a
set of companies that match those criteria |
| CNBC
Stock Screener |
Another
very powerful tool for stock selection. |
| SmartMoney
Tools |
Many
tools from SmarMoney again, including Your
Portfolio, Map
of the Market, Your
Calendar, Economy
Watch, Asset
Allocator, Broker
Meter, Dow
Tracker, Sector
Tracker, Chart
Center, Watchlist,
News
Ticker, Stock
Snapshots, and more. |
|
