Capital Market, Money Market

The capital market encompasses the trade in both stocks and bonds. These are long-term assets bought by financial institutions, professional brokers, and individual investors.

The capital market is where stocks and bonds are traded. Its movements from hour to hour are constantly monitored and analyzed for clues to the health of the economy at large, the status of every industry in it, and the consensus for the short-term future.

The overriding goal of the companies institutions that enter into the capital markets is to raise money for their long-term purposes, which usually come down to expanding their businesses and increasing their revenues. They do this by issuing stock shares and by selling corporate bonds.

Money Market

The money market is the trade in short-term debt. It is a constant flow of cash between governments, corporations, banks, and financial institutions, borrowing and lending for a term as short as overnight and no longer than a year.

The money market is a good place for individuals, banks, other companies, and governments to park cash for a short period of time, usually one year or less. It exists so that businesses and governments that need cash to operate can get it quickly at a reasonable cost, and so that businesses that have more cash than they need can put it to use.