Stock

In financial markets, stock is the partial ownership of a company. Shareholders bear the financial (but not legal) risk of the corporation, and receive dividends, which are a piece of the net income.

A person or organization which holds shares of stocks is called a shareholder. The value of the stock multiplied by the number of shares owned by all shareholders is the market capitalization. This is the most common metric for valuing a publicly traded company.

Stocks can be bought and sold privately or on stock exchanges. Someone who buys and sells stock on the behalf of another individual is called a stockbroker.

In the United Kingdom and Australia, the term share is used the same way as stock is described in the United States.

Related pages
 corporation
 Joint-stock company

References

 Other websites 
 The Oldest Share  in the world, issued by the Dutch East India Company VOC, 1606.
Stock Market Trivia: History of Stocks
Who Decides Stock Prices?
Researching Old Company Stock Certificates

Category:Finance