Stocks and stocks market is probably the first trading market we’ve heard about – it’s been around for years, and certainly has no plans for ceasing operation anytime soon. This is a market of choice for a lot of traders, thanks to the vast knowledge base and low level of entry due to online brokerages, where an electronic stock broker does the buying and selling of orders on the client’s behalf.
A stock or share, also known as a company’s “equity” is a financial instrument representing ownership in a company or corporation and represents a proportionate claim on its assets and earnings, what it generates in profits.
Stock ownership means that the shareholder owns a slice of the company equal to the number of shares held as a proportion of the company’s total outstanding shares. For instance, an individual or entity that owns 100,000 shares of a company with one million outstanding shares would have a 10% ownership stake in it. A lot of companies have outstanding shares that run into millions or even billions.
