A security is any investment product that can be exchanged for value and involves risk.
 | | EVALUATING A SECURITY'S PERFORMANCE | | In investing, "performance" refers to how well a given stock (or other financial instrument) has done over time. As you've probably heard many times, "Past performance doesn't necessarily predict future performance." Nonetheless, just about 100% of investors will look at a stock's performance before buying it. Performance is one of the best ways to see at a glance whether that stock is likely to go up or down. | | Performance is important before buying new securities; you also need to keep a close eye on the performance of what you already own – your existing portfolio. | | Performance is about more than whether a particular stock has been going up or down. Sometimes you will want to look at a stock's performance going back three years, sometimes just three months or even three days or less. Performance is also relative. "Up" or "down," as compared to what? You need a yardstick. This is where benchmark rates come in. | | This lesson will give you the basic tools to evaluate the performance of an individual stock, bond, mutual fund or ETF — and of your portfolio as a whole, read on. | |  | | | | CONNECT WITH INVESTOPEDIA | | | | | | | |
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