What is Stock?
{{otheruses}} In [[Finance|financial]] markets, '''stock''' is the partial ownership of a company. Shareholders bear the financial ([[Limited liability corporation|but not legal]]) risk of the corporation, and receive [[Dividend|dividends]], which are a piece of the [[net income]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dividends: A Complete Guide|url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividend.asp|access-date=2022-04-19|website=Investopedia|language=en}}</ref> 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 <u>all</u> 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 exchange]]s. 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== {{reflist}} == Other websites == * The [http://www2.westfriesarchief.nl/news/42/1/129/oudste-aandeel-ter-wereld-ontdekt-in-het-westfries-archief.html Oldest Share] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911200006/http://www2.westfriesarchief.nl/news/42/1/129/oudste-aandeel-ter-wereld-ontdekt-in-het-westfries-archief.html |date=2010-09-11 }} in the world, issued by the ''Dutch East India Company'' ''VOC'', [[1606]]. *[http://www.stockmarkettrivia.com Stock Market Trivia: History of Stocks] *[http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2002/0502dollar.html Who Decides Stock Prices?] *[http://www.oldcompany.com/ Researching Old Company Stock Certificates] {{stub}} [[Category:Finance]]