What is Stock?
You can gain ownership rights of a company by investing in its stock. A stock/share is a unit of your partnership in the company. The value of each share of the company is determined by dividing the total capital investment of the company by the number of shares. For example, if the total value of a company is $100 and the number of shares is five, the value of each share shall be $20. If you own one share, you have 1/5th ownership of the company. If you want to increase/decrease your ownership of its stock, you need to buy/sell its shares. The words 'stock',' share', or 'equity' are generally used to convey the same meaning.
Stock Trading
Stock trading, therefore, means buying or selling the shares of the stock of a company. Stock trading takes place within certain parameters of a system. For example, you cannot directly buy the stock of any company from the company itself. You have to buy and sell its shares through a broker who is registered with the stock exchange where the company is listed. The shares are sold and bought at the market prices prevailing at a given point of time. Again, the price of the stock cannot be determined arbitrarily by the seller or the buyer. It is determined by a combination of certain market forces comprised primarily of supply and demand, which in turn, is linked with performance of the company and so on.
Stock Trading System
As a general practice, it is practically impossible for a person or a group of people to raise the huge amount of capital, which is required to finance a venture. In order to do so, the sponsors of the company make a public announcement of their intent to start a company and invite the general public to buy its shares. The company decides upon the overall capital required to finance the venture, the number of shares or units and the price of each share. It then appoints brokers to receive subscriptions from the public. This first step is called the initial public offer-IPO.
If you cannot buy the company's stock at the time of its initial offer, you can buy it later on as well, but the price of the share of the company will depend upon its performance and the supply and demand of its shares.
Stocks of various companies are traded at stock exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ) and American Stock Exchange (AMEX).
There are two main types of exchanges, physical and virtual.
Physical Exchange
The NYSE is an example of a physical exchange system where stock trading takes place face to face. In other words, there is a concrete building where the trading actually occurs. Most people may be familiar with the chaotic images of the stock exchanges on TV or in movies. Watch the CNBC television and you will be able to see the 'crazy guys with the blue jackets frantically wave about the pieces of paper and yell out prices'.
Virtual Exchange
The second type of stock trading exchange system is the virtual exchange. The word 'virtual' refers to a computer image of a real situation. The virtual exchanges are like computer networks as they are linked to each other through the Internet. The entire trading in stocks and shares takes place electronically. The NASDAQ, also known as the OTC -- over the counter market, is an example of the virtual exchange. Since it is virtual, there is no trading floor like the one at the NYSE. All trading takes place through a computerized network of dealers. The brokers charge commissions both on the sale and the purchase of the shares. The stock of each company is identified by a shorthand code called symbol or a ticker symbol. The symbol usually consists of letters. Sometimes it may be numbers or a combination of letters and numbers, for example, MSFT is Microsoft, C is Citigroup, and GOOG is Google.
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