A share of stock represents fractional ownership in a publicly-traded company, and gives shareholders voting rights and a residual claim on assets and earnings. Investors buy shares of stocks with the expectation that their price will rise over time, generating a return on investment. However, stocks can also go down in value if the company experiences financial trouble or if consumers stop spending on the goods or services they offer. Consequently, investors are advised to diversify their investments across many different companies and industries.
Companies issue stocks to raise money for a variety of reasons. They can use the proceeds to pay off debt, or they can fund growth plans that they wouldn’t be able to finance with new loans alone. In addition, investors can profit from the company’s earnings in the form of dividends or capital gains. Dividends are payments made to shareholders, and capital gains are profits from selling shares for more than they bought them for. Whether or not they receive these dividends or capital gains depends on the type of shares that they hold. For example, common stockholders get to vote on matters such as company policies, board decisions and mergers and acquisitions, while preferred stockholders don’t have the same rights.
The market for stocks is made up of buyers and sellers who come together on exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. Exchanges track the supply and demand for a given stock and directly influence its price. When there are more buyers than there are sellers for a given stock, the price will increase. Likewise, if there are more sellers than buyers, the price will decline.
In order to trade stocks, investors must place an order with their brokerage firm, which tells them how many shares of a particular stock they want to purchase or sell and at what price. Then, they wait for their order to be filled. When it is filled, the transaction is complete. Some orders are executed immediately, while others may take a bit longer to fill depending on the circumstances.
Stocks can also be grouped into categories based on the overall value of their shares, known as their market capitalization. These groups include large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks. Large-cap stocks make up the majority of the stock market, while mid- and small-cap stocks each have about a 15% share. These groupings are useful for analyzing companies and measuring their potential for future success, but it is important to keep in mind that even very successful companies can experience setbacks from time to time.
Traders and investors also study stocks by industry or sector. Stocks in industries that depend on consumer spending tend to react in predictable ways to economic conditions. For example, when the economy slows, industries such as information technology and telecommunication services might see their shares decrease in value. On the other hand, industries that rely on people’s basic needs like utilities and health care might see their shares rise.