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What is the Economy?  The word economy means everything related to the production and use of goods and services in an area. Daily we buy many things (products) that come from many businesses, such as food, drinks, toys, cars, etc. When we buy or not buy such products it affects businesses, the economy and all of us.  

What is a Business? The Business offers goods and services to customers for money.  Businesses create jobs for people who work to make goods and or provide services for others who need them.  

Who are the Workers? The people who work at the businesses are also called workers.  Workers are paid money which they use to take care of their loved ones. When these workers are paid money they pay some money to the governments, called taxes, so that the government can provide the services to the communities where we live such as schools, police, fire stations, parks, roads, and many more.  

What are Goods? Goods are things that you can see, such as toys, balls, dolls, candies, cereals, etc.  

What are Services? Services are things that are done for others for money, such as a barber giving you the service of cutting hair, a waiter serving you food at a restaurant, etc.

What is a Stock? A stock is a share of a business.  So when you buy a stock of a company, say, McDonald’s, you become a McDonald’s shareholder or part owner of the business.  

What is DOW? The Dow (also known as DJIA or Dow Jones Industrial Average) tracks 30 large US company’s stocks and it is 100 years old. The DOW going up is good news as it indicates that the companies are expected to do well in the future.  

What is the S&P500? The Standard & Poor’s 500, is also called the S&P500. It tracks 500 companies and how they are doing. It is over 50 years old and most widely used because it is a better way to track the stock market. It represents over 7 out of 10 US public companies.  

What is the NASDAQ? The NASDAQ stands for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations System.  It sounds complicated but it is a highly computerized stock market.   It was started in 1971.  It has over 3,200 companies that are leaders in technology, communication, media etc.