The basics
Stock (share)
A stock is a unit of ownership in a publicly traded company. Holding one means you own a small fraction of the business.
A stock is a unit of ownership in a publicly traded company. Holding one means you own a small fraction of the business.
A stock represents a slice of a company's capital. When a company goes public, it splits its value into millions of shares that anyone can buy and sell. A share price moves continuously based on supply and demand: more buyers than sellers pushes the price up, and the reverse pushes it down.
In trading, you don't necessarily buy a stock to hold it for years: you may aim for a short-term price move. That's the difference between investing (holding long term) and trading (profiting from the swings).
If a company is worth $100 million and has issued 10 million shares, each share is worth $10. If the market turns optimistic and pushes the price to $12, every holder has gained $2 per share, on paper.
Understanding a term is good. Applying it on a real platform with a clear method is better. That is exactly what we do in 5 days.