One of the best ways to secure your future – besides a healthy diet – is a healthy bank balance. And generally, there are two ways of making money: one by working for it, and the other by making your money work for you. Investments are for those who prefer the latter.
When you invest, your money is planted in areas where it can really grow and flourish. In which case, your robust financial health beats inflation hands down. This is where investments have an upper hand over money kept in a ‘savings’ account.
With clever investments, you'll have a lot more money for things like retirement, education, recreation – or you could pass on your riches to the next generation so that you become your family's most cherished ancestor!

Bonds (Debt)
A bond is a financial asset issued by governments, companies, banks, public utilities and other large entities which can come under fixed-income securities.
When a bond is purchased, your money is lent out to a company or government. In return, they agree to give you an interest on your money and eventually pay you back the amount you lent out. Bonds in a way are quite safe and stable but they come at a cost. Because there is little risk, the returns are also limited.
Stocks (Equity)
Stock is a security issued in the form of shares that represent an ownership interests in a company. The owners of the company’s stock are called stockholders or shareholders and they receive profit or loss of the company as per the percentage of stock they own. The benefit of owning a stock is that you profit as the company profits. However, stocks are volatile as they fluctuate in value on a daily basis and the returns aren't guaranteed. But the upside is that equities have relatively higher potential returns when compared to bonds.
Mutual funds
Quite simply, a mutual fund is a mediator that brings together a group of people and invests their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities. Each investor owns shares, which represent a portion of the holdings of the fund. Thus, investment in mutual funds is one of the most viable investment options for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost.

Corporates can raise money in two ways – by either borrowing (debt instruments) or issuing stocks (equity instruments) which signify ownership and a share of residual profits. The equity instruments are typically of two types – common stock and preferred stocks.
Common stock (or a share): It stands for an ownership position and provides voting rights.
Preferred stock: It has features of both common stock and bonds and hence a "hybrid" instrument. Preferred stock holders get paid dividends which are stated in either percentage-of-par (the value at which the stock is issued) or in rupee terms. If the preferred stock had a Rs.100 par value, then a Rs.6 preferred stock would mean that a Rs. 6 per share per annum in dividends will be paid out. This fixed dividend gives a bond-like characteristic to the preferred stock.

The behavior of the price movement of a stock is said to predict its future movement. One such approach is called technical analysis and is based on the past movements of the individual stocks as well as the indices.
Here the idea is plotting the price movements over time to discern certain patterns which can assist in predicting the future price movements of the stocks. On the other hand there is "fundamental analysis", where the forecasting is done on the basis of economic, industry and company data. Technical analysis is used more as a supplement to fundamental analysis rather than in isolation.