EVALUATION OF THE LATVIAN STOCK MARKET AS AN INVESTMENT OBJECT

Abstract

Development of the securities market in Latvia compared with the countries of Western Europe, Scandinavia, and North America has started much later and has been slow; therefore, the interest of individuals and companies to actively participate in the capital market can be assessed as low. The stock market that is considered as one of the types of the securities market is an unstructured environment where every investor has to decide on how to invest. The potential investor interested in stocks as an investment object can buy shares of the companies and potentially earn money despite the fact that investments in stocks are considered as a very high-risk investment. The research aim: to evaluate the Latvian stock market as one of the investment objects. The scope of the research determines the topics covered: investment opportunities in the stocks of the regulated Latvian stock exchange. The research findings point out that the performance of the Nasdaq Riga stock exchange despite its relatively small number of the issuers of shares is effective. The author concludes that use of the investment accounts is not sufficiently promoted for private individuals, consequently, the culture of savings lags behind in Latvia. In order to educate the private investors and promote decision-making on the purchase of shares, it would be advisable for the Nasdaq Riga to provide the investors with concise information on the shares of the companies and their characteristics. The quantitative and qualitative methods of economics research, including the method of comparative analysis and synthesis, as well as statistical and graphical analysis methods are used in the research.