They have outperformed all other financial assets during the past 75 years. Had that dollar been invested in long-term Treasury bonds or Treasury bills instead, it would have been worth far less, as can be seen in the table below. This table is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an investment in any T. Rowe Price fund. Past performance cannot guarantee future results. This means that stock investors are the actual owners of the company in proportion to their number of shares.
Ownership generally entitles investors to certain rights.
The stocks of public companies generally trade in a liquid market where shares are readily bought and sold. All stocks are either listed or unlisted . Listed stocks trade on one of the established securities exchanges, such as the national New York and American Stock Exchanges, or on a regional exchange. The Nasdaq system serves as a national electronic marketplace for a broad variety of unlisted stocks that are actively traded. While most Fortune 500 corporations list their stocks on the national exchanges, many major companies in various industries choose to remain unlisted and trade on Nasdaq for a number of reasons.