金融市场是买方和卖方一起交易例如股票、债券、大宗商品、衍生品和货币之类金融资产的市场。金融市场的目的是为全球交易设定价格、筹集资金和转移流动性和风险。尽管金融市场的构成成份很多，但是两个使用最多的是货币市场和资本市场。

 

货币市场用于短期目的，通常最多长达一年。相反，资本市场则用于长期资产，任何资产的成熟期限都会超过一年。货币市场和资本市场组成了金融市场的绝大部分，并且经常被同时使用以管理公司、政府和个人的流动性和风险。

 

资本市场

资本市场也许是使用最广泛的市场。股票和债券市场都受到密切关注并且他们的日常变动被当作世界市场一般经济状况进行分析。因此，在资本市场运营的机构，例如证券交易所、商业银行和所有类型的公司都受到详细检查。

 

在资本市场运营的机构进入市场为了长期目的筹集资金，例如合并和收购，以此扩大业务或者开展新业务或者进行其他的资本项目。企业为了这些长期目的筹集资金进入一个或多个资本市场。在债券市场，公司以企业债券的形式发行债务，而地方和联邦政府都可能以政府债券形式发行债务。类似的，公司也可以决定以在证券市场发行股票的方式筹集资金。政府机构不是传统的上市公司，因此不发行股票。发行这些股票或者债券的公司和政府机构被认为是这些市场卖方。

 

买方，或者说投资者买入这些股票或者债券进行交易。如果卖方，或者说发行方第一次在市场发行股票，那么这个市场被称为一级市场。相反，如果股票已经发行并且在买方之间进行交易，被称为二级市场。买方在一级市场销售时赚钱，而不是二级市场，尽管他们能影响他们股票在二级市场的定价。

 

资本市场证券的买方倾向于使用资金进行长期投资。资本市场风险巨大且通常不用于短期投资。只要有长期视野，许多投资者金融资本市场的目的是进行退休或者教育储蓄，这意味着他们年轻并敢于冒险。

 

货币市场

投资者通常在进入资本市场的同时进入货币市场。资本市场需要投资者承受风险和有耐心，而货币市场则是进行短时间投资的场所，其时间周期通常是一年或者更短。资本市场使用的金融工具是股票和债券，而货币市场使用的金融工具则是存款、抵押贷款、承兑汇票和汇票。在货币市场运营的机构为中央银行、商业银行和承兑机构等。

 

货币市场为个人、企业和政府机构提供不同的功能。进入货币市场的主要原因是获得流动性。发行短期债务的目的通常是维持营业开支或者运营资本而不是为了资本增额或者大型项目。公司可能想快速筹集资金所以进入货币市场，或者他们只是想支付工资。货币市场在确保公司和政府维持流动性中占据重要角色，使其不会出现资金匮乏并且不需要进行代价昂贵的贷款持有超额资金并错失获得利息的机会。

 

另一方面，投资者在货币市场投资非常安全。不像资本市场，货币市场的风险很低，规避风险的投资者非常愿意进入货币市场。有固定收入的老年人通常使用货币市场因为这些投资类型非常安全。

 

总结

资本市场货币市场间存在类似和不同。从发行方或者说卖方的角度来看，两个市场都提供一个必要的业务功能，那就是维持充足的资金水平。进入两个市场的卖方目的取决于他们的流动性需求和时间周期。类似的，投资者或者说买方进入市场的目的也不同，资本市场提供高风险投资，货币市场提供安全性高的资产，货币市场回报通常低但是稳定，而资本市场提供高回报。资本市场回报的大小通常和其风险水平直接相关，但是也会出现例外。

 

由于缺乏风险使投资者不能利用这些非正常情况获取高回报，资本市场被认为是长期有效短期低效的。这些非正常情况正是资本市场投资者意图掌握的。货币市场意图安全，他们偶尔会出现负回报。无论长期或者短期，资本市场或者货币市场，那些疏忽大意造成的风险都是投资者需要注意的重点。

 

Financial Markets: Capital Vs. Money Markets 

By Kristina Zucchi, CFA 

A financial market is a market that brings buyers and sellers together to trade in financial assets such as stocks, bonds, commodities, derivatives and currencies. The purpose of a financial market is to set prices for global trade, raise capital and transfer liquidity and risk. Although there are many components to a financial market, two of the most commonly used are money markets and capital markets. 

 

Money markets are used for a short-term basis, usually for assets up to one year. Conversely, capital markets are used for long-term assets, which are any asset with maturity greater than one year. Capital markets include the equity (stock) market and debt (bond) market. Together the money and capital markets comprise a large portion of the financial market and are often used together to manage liquidity and risks for companies, governments and individuals. 

 

Capital Markets

Capital markets are perhaps the most widely followed markets. Both the stock and bond markets are closely followed and their daily movements are analyzed as proxies for the general economic condition of the world markets. As a result, the institutions operating in capital markets - stock exchanges, commercial banks and all types of corporations, including nonbank institutions such as insurance companies and mortgage banks - are carefully scrutinized. 

 

The institutions operating in the capital markets access them to raise capital for long-term purposes, such as for a merger or acquisition, to expand a line of business or enter into a new business, or for other capital projects. Entities that are raising money for these long-term purposes come to one or more capital markets. In the bond market, companies may issue debt in the form of corporate bonds, while both local and federal governments may issue debt in the form of government bonds. Similarly, companies may decide to raise money by issuing equity on the stock market. Government entities are typically not publicly held and, therefore, do not usually issue equity. Companies and government entities that issue equity or debt are considered the sellers in these markets. 

 

The buyers, or the investors, buy the stocks or bonds of the sellers and trade them. If the seller, or issuer, is placing the securities on the market for the first time, then the market is known as the primary market. Conversely, if the securities have already been issued and are now being traded among buyers, this is done on the secondary market. Sellers make money off the sale in the primary market, not in the secondary market, although they do have a stake in the outcome (pricing) of their securities in the secondary market. 

 

The buyers of securities in the capital market tend to use funds that are targeted for longer-term investment. Capital markets are risky markets and are not usually used to invest short-term funds. Many investors access the capital markets to save for retirement or education, as long as the investors have long time horizons, which usually means they are young and are risk takers. 

 

Money Market

The money market is often accessed alongside the capital markets. While investors are willing to take on more risk and have patience to invest in capital markets, money markets are a good place to "park" funds that are needed in a shorter time period - usually one year or less. The financial instruments used in capital markets include stocks and bonds, but the instruments used in the money markets include deposits, collateral loans, acceptances and bills of exchange. Institutions operating in money markets are central banks, commercial banks and acceptance houses, among others. 

 

Money markets provide a variety of functions for either individual, corporate or government entities. Liquidity is often the main purpose for accessing money markets. When short-term debt is issued, it is often for the purpose of covering operating expenses or working capital for a company or government and not for capital improvements or large scale projects. Companies may want to invest funds overnight and look to the money market to accomplish this, or they may need to cover payroll and look to the money market to help. The money market plays a key role in ensuring companies and governments maintain the appropriate level of liquidity on a daily basis, without falling short and needing a more expensive loan or without holding excess funds and missing the opportunity of gaining interest on funds. 

 

Investors, on the other hand, use the money markets to invest funds in a safe manner. Unlike capital markets, money markets are considered low risk; risk-adverse investors are willing to access them with the anticipation that liquidity is readily available. Older individuals living on a fixed income often use the money markets because of the safety associated with these types of investments. 

 

The Bottom Line

There are both differences and similarities between capital and money markets. From the issuer or seller's standpoint, both markets provide a necessary business function: maintaining adequate levels of funding. The goal for which sellers access each market varies depending on their liquidity needs and time horizon. Similarly, investors or buyers have unique reasons for going to each market: Capital markets offer higher-risk investments, while money markets offer safer assets; money market returns are often low but steady, while capital markets offer higher returns. The magnitude of capital market returns is often a direct correlation to the level of risk, however that is not always the case. 

 

Although markets are deemed efficient in the long run, short-term inefficiencies allow investors to capitalize on anomalies and reap higher rewards that may be out of proportion to the level of risk. Those anomalies are exactly what investors in capital markets try to uncover. Although money markets are considered safe, they have occasionally experienced negative returns. Inadvertent risk, although unusual, highlights the risks inherent in investing - whether long or short term, money markets or capital markets.

 

本文翻译由兄弟财经提供

文章来源：http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/052313/financial-markets-capital-vs-money-markets.asp