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Every day, billions of stocks are traded on the New York Stock Exchange alone.
仅仅在纽约证券交易所，每天就有数十亿的股票被交易。
But with over 43,000 companies listed on stock exchanges around the world, how do investors decide which stocks to buy?
然而，有超过43000家公司的股票都能在全球证券交易所进行交易，投资者该怎么决定要买哪些股票？
To answer this question, it's important to first understand what stocks are, and what individuals and institutions hope to achieve by investing in them.
为了回答这个问题，我们首先要了解股票是什么，以及个人和机构希望通过投资获得什么样的回报。
Stocks are partial shares of ownership in a company.
股票，是一个公司所有权的部分股权。
So by buying a stock, investors buy a share in the company's success -- or failure -- as measured by the company's profits.
通过购买股票，投资者就投资了公司的一部分成功--或者一部分失败--这取决于该公司的利润。
A stock's price is determined by the number of buyers and sellers trading it; if there are more buyers than sellers, the price will increase, and vice versa.
一支股票的价钱取决于股票交易的买卖人数；如果买的人比卖的人多，股票价格就会增长，反之亦然。
The market price of a share therefore represents what buyers and sellers believe the stock, and by association the company, is worth.
股票的市场价格代表了买卖双方对股票的看法，以及对公司价值的看法。
So the price can change dramatically based on whether investors think the company has a high potential for increasing profitability -- even if it isn't profitable yet.
因此，股价可能会根据投资者是否认为该公司有提高盈利能力的巨大潜力而发生剧烈变化，即使该公司暂时还没有盈利。
Investors aim to make money by purchasing stocks whose value will increase over time.
投资者通常为了盈利而购买随着时间增值的股票。
Some investors aim simply to grow their money at a faster rate than inflation diminishes its value.
有些投资者只追求短时间内的利润，从而避免通货膨胀而导致利润减少。
Others have a goal of "beating the market," which means growing their money at a faster rate than the cumulative performance of all companies' stocks.
其他投资者则持有“击败市场”的目标，也就是让他们的资金增长速度快过所有公司股票的累计收益表现。
This idea of "beating the market" is a source of debate among investors -- in fact, investors break into two main groups over it.
这种“击败市场”的想法引起了很多投资者的争论--事实上，基于这一想法，投资者可以大致分为两派。
Active investors believe it is possible to beat the market by strategically selecting specific stocks and timing their trades,
积极投资者认为有可能通过选择特定股票和交易时机来击败市场，
while passive investors believe it isn't usually possible to beat the market, and don't subscribe to stock picking.
而被动投资者认为，市场几乎不可能被击败，而且不会刻意选择某些股票进行投资。
The phrase "beating the market" usually refers to earning a return on an investment that exceeds the Standard & Poor 500 index.
“击败市场”这个说法通常是指，在超过标准普尔500指数（S&P500）的投资中获得回报。
The S&P 500 is a measure of the average performance of 500 of the largest companies in the United States, weighted by company valuation,
S&P500是一个针对美国最大的500家公司平均表现的衡量标准，以公司估值为加权，
meaning that companies with a higher market value have a larger effect on the S&P
也就是说，市场价值较高的公司，对S&P指数有着更大的影响，
again, market value corresponds to what investors believe a company is worth rather than actual profits.
重申一下，市场价值反映的是投资者所认可的公司价值，而不是该公司的实际利润。
The S&P doesn't directly represent the market as a whole -- many small and mid-range stocks can fluctuate according to different patterns.
S&P并不能直接反应整个市场--很多小型和中小型股票价格会随着不同趋势而产生波动。
Still, it's a pretty good proxy for the overall market.
即使这样，S&P500依然是评估整体市场的一个有效指标。
It's often said that "the stock market behaves like a voting machine in the short term, and a weighing machine in the long term"
人们常说，“短期来看，股市就像一台投票机器，而长远来看，则更像一个秤重机”，
meaning short term fluctuations in stock prices reflect public opinion, but over the longer term, they do tend to actually reflect companies' profits.
这就意味着，短期的市场波动反映了大众的看法，但长远来看，它们往往能真实地反映出公司的盈利状况。
Active investors aim to exploit the short term, "voting machine" aspect of the market.
积极投资者的目标就是利用短期内的市场“投票机器”原理获益。
They believe the market contains inefficiencies:
他们认为市场的整体反应相对迟缓：
that stock prices at any given point in time may overvalue some companies, undervalue others, or fail to reflect developments that will impact the market.
股价价格在特定时间内会高估一些公司的价值，低估其他的，或者无法有效地反映出能够对市场产生影响的发展趋势。
Active investors hope to exploit these inefficiencies by buying stocks they think are priced low.
积极投资者希望利用市场的滞后效应，买进价格过低的股票。
To identify undervalued stocks, they may investigate a company's business operations, analyze its financial statements, observe price trends, or use algorithms.
为了辨认被低估的股票，他们会调查公司的商业营运状况，分析其财务报告，观察价格走势，或运用计算机算法。
Passive investors, by contrast, put their faith in the long term "weighing machine" aspect of the market.
反之，被动投资者把希望寄托在长期的、“秤重机”模式下的市场形势。
They believe that even though markets may exhibit inefficiencies at any given point, over time those inefficiencies balance out
他们认为，股市虽然在特定时间点会表现得信息滞后，但随着时间的推移，这种滞后就会被抵消掉，
so if they buy a selection of stocks that represents a cross-section of the market, over time it will grow.
如果买进的股票能够反映整个市场的大体趋势，随着时间的推移，就会实现增值。
This is usually accomplished through index funds, collections of stocks that represent the broader market.
这一过程通常是通过“指数基金”来实现，即一类代表更广泛市场的股票集合。
The S&P 500 index is one of many indexes. The overall goal is the same for all index funds: to hold stocks for the long term and ignore short-term market fluctuations.
S&P500只是众多指数的其中一种。所有的指数基金都有共同的目标：长期持有股票，忽视短期市场波动。
Ultimately, active and passive investing aren't mutually exclusive
如此一来，积极式投资和被动式投资就并非水火不容，
many investment strategies have elements of each, for example, choosing stocks actively but holding them for the long term as passive investing advises.
不同的投资策略都有各自的原理，比如，被动式投资通常会建议积极选股，但长期持有。
Investing is far from an exact science: if there was one foolproof method, everyone would be doing it.
投资绝非一门精准的科学学科：如果存在万无一失的投资手段，那么所有人都会趋之若鹜。
